By DAVID COULTER

Last updated at 08:20, Wednesday, 20 March 2013

FOOTBALL: AFTER going strong for more than 40 years, Ivor “the Engine” Gray has finally run out of steam.

Ivor Gray has given 40 years’ service to junior football.

Nicknamed the Engine by his admirers, Ivor Gray MBE has handed in his resignation as the chief of the Tynedale Mini-Soccer League and he will relinquish his many roles at the end of the current season.

Highly regarded across the district for his tireless work in local youth football, Ivor will be a big miss to the mini scene which caters from U8-U10 level.

The Stocksfield resident took on an administrative role in junior football in the 1970s after an involvement in the formation of the Hexham and District Sunday League, and he has been running various football leagues for youngsters ever since.

Such has been the impact Ivor has had, he was invited down to Buckingham Palace in 2004 where he was made an MBE for his services to youth football.

In most recent years, he has been the starring light in the smooth running of the Mini-Soccer League and he has helped thousands of young footballers from Tynedale develop their skills.

Those that have progressed to the professional game after starting out in the Mini-Soccer League include Stocksfield’s Fraser Forster (Celtic), Prudhoe YC brothers Ben (Barnsley) and Jak Alnwick (Newcastle United), Wark’s Brad Potts (Carlisle United) and Prudhoe YC’s George Honeyman (Sunderland).

Ivor’s resignation means that the Mini-Soccer League will require a new president, secretary, fixtures secretary and press officer ahead of next season.

First published at 07:41, Wednesday, 20 March 2013
Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk