FROM football club official to tourist attraction volunteer, charity fundraiser to working family man Brian Watson was always busy.

Yet the 56-year-old from Bishop Auckland was so modest, loved ones say he probably had little idea of just how much he was appreciated for all his good work.

Number one in his life was his family- wife Christine and daughters Lucy and Helen- and his second love was the town of Bishop Auckland where he lived, in Newlands Avenue.

A lifelong fan of Bishop Auckland FC, Mr Watson became a volunteer in 2008 and played a key role in the club’s move from Kingsway to Heritage Park Stadium. He was a club director and the driving force in managing and securing funds for pitch refurbishment last summer and helped with maintenance and security at the ground.

Lucy, 24, said: “He was always there doing something, splodging on the pitch in his wellies moving water or cutting grass.”

Chairman Nick Postma said: “Brian had a steady influence on the club, he was very calm and collected in his views. He spent an enormous amount of time working with grounds men to get games on.”

The Bishops will pay tribute to Mr Watson at a future home game with a minute’s silence and black arm bands.

Mr and Mrs Watson were excited about developments at Auckland Castle and Eleven Arches’ Kynren: An Epic Tale of England.

The couple, who married in 1989, volunteered with Kynren and his enthusiasm led to Lucy and Helen joining in.

Mrs Watson, who worked backstage while the others performed, said: “He wasn’t a likely actor, didn’t really like attention but he was part of something for the town, with others so had to be involved.

“It is something we can look back on and say we all did together.

“He wanted to get involved at the castle in future too.”

Mr Watson, an electrical engineer at Black & Decker in Spennymoor for 40 years, and his wife and friends cycled from Staindrop to Suffolk in 2014 for the Great North Air Ambulance and London to Paris in 2015 for Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity.

He died on January 11 after a short illness.

Helen said: “He would never complain, was friendly and chatty but a quiet man.”

Mrs Watson added: “Brian was a lovely, gentle person, the same with everybody, had a great sense of humour and probably had no idea of the impact he had.”