The club was saddened to learn of the passing of lifetime supporter Nigel Goodlad after a short illness.
Nigel, a regular in the Chesterfield College (East) Stand, had just been elected to the position of vice chair of the Supporters’ Forum, having been part of the committee since its inception. He encouraged supporters to outline any less than ideal matchday experiences they had witnessed, home or away, and he would always bring them to the committee and ensure they were followed up.
A former William Rhodes pupil, Nigel had become a leading authority on Chesterfield FC matchday programmes and owned one of the most substantial private collections. He had recently been helping heritage officer Peter Whiteley to compile and catalogue the club’s own collection.
Back in August, he appeared on 1866 Sport’s Weekend Warm-up, alongside fellow collector Ian Benison, talking about the importance of programmes. The show is still available as a podcast and is a fitting tribute to Nigel’s clear love and knowledge in this area as well as his passion for the history of the club as a whole. He could also talk a mean game about shopping trollies!
Back in the 1990s, Nigel was heavily involved with SIFA (Spireite Independent Supporters Association) and he also helped to arrange transport to away matches as well as having a spell in the Saltergate press box, covering the Spireites for a variety of the local newspapers that used to proliferate in the town.
In the 2010s, he was right at the heart of a group of supporters who sought to uncover some of the more dubious practices that were associated with the club and its associates at the time, work that undoubtedly helped to pave the way for the Community Trust to take over the club in 2020.
Under the tag of ‘SpireiteNag’, Nigel was a regular contributor to Bob’s Board, always a voice of reason in his 5,000+ posts. One of his last posts was to announce the passing of his fifty-year friend Pete ‘Wolfy’ Hunt. Nigel knew just about every long-standing supporter and each of them will have called Nigel a friend.
Aged just 69, Nigel leaves his wife Sue, the two remained incredibly in love and devoted to each other, son James, his partner Lauren and grandson Oscar. Condolences to them, the rest of his family and many friends.
Nigel Goodlad, 1955-2024. Devoted family man. Staunch Spireite. RIP
