Bristol Rovers was saddened to learn of the passing of former Supporters Club Chairman John Malyckyj following a short illness.
A staunch Bristol Rovers supporter, John was a Supporters Club Committee member from 1997 until 2003 and then served as Chairman for 20 months from 2004.
A minutes’ applause will be held in John’s memory in the 64th minute of Saturday’s match against Mansfield Town, and Bristol Rovers encourage all attending Gasheads to show their appreciation for John’s hard work and devotion to the Club.
Whatever the task in hand, John was very much hands on, as he was with all of the Rovers’ related projects he became involved in over the years.
When Rovers returned to Bristol to play at what was then known as The Memorial Ground, John and a small, dedicated band of supporters, were instrumental in conceiving the idea of selling draw tickets on matchdays to raise funds to provide a roof over what is now known as The Thatchers End which was an open terrace at that time.
One of a group of six dedicated fans, he was there at the launch of what we all know as the 50/50 matchday draw and was a proud member of the group that saw the scheme come to fruition when the roof was finally erected in late November 1999.
Then it was on to Raise the Roof 2 which later raised sufficient funds for the provision of a roof over the Family Terrace, and, of course, the Share Scheme, which was launched in 2003, designed to give the Supporters Club a say in Boardroom matters, eventually leading to two full directorships.
An excellent public speaker, John later turned his hand to writing and broadcasting. His witty and refreshing programme articles, which went under the heading of Pirate Eye, were always well researched and often called out some of his fellow contributors in a humorous fashion. His targets often retaliated in their own columns and the quartet of John, Rick Johansen, Steve Slade and Nick Day provided supporters with some lively reading material.
As for broadcasting, for a number of years John could be found in one of the commentary positions up in the East Stand where he and/or John or Dominic Kay provided invaluable match commentary for Gasheads in hospital, via The Bristol Hospital Radio Service.
And we shouldn’t forget the cycling, which became something of an obsessive hobby for John outside of family and Rovers commitments.
On hanging up his mic, John took to watching his beloved Rovers from the comfort of an Executive Box, with close friends that included the aforementioned Nick Day to whom he remained extremely close and who was a tremendous support to John and his family following his cancer diagnosis last August.
He bravely continued his writing career, often from his hospital bed and sometimes when in pain, chronicling his cancer journey. His words were brave and often humorous, in what must have been worrying and troubled times. He himself took inspiration from reading Sir Chris Hoy’s autobiography, of his cycling career and his battle against cancer.
Activist, public Speaker and volunteer, John was all of these things, and more, to Bristol Rovers Supporters Club.
Above all, though, John, who passed away on 10th March, was a husband, father and grandfather, and everyone at the Club joins the Supporters Club in sending our sincere condolences to John’s family and many close friends at what is an incredibly sad time.