Tributes to “real good guy” junior football coach
TRIBUTES have poured in for the manager of an under 16s football team, described by friends as “one of the real good guys”.
A minute’s silence was held on Sunday by teams of amateur club Bealonians FC as a mark of respect for dad-of-three Grant Marzell, who died of a heart attack the previous Sunday.
The 40-year-old of Newbury Park first came to Bealonians in 2001, and for the 2004/05 season he became manager of the under 16s team.
Recalling his friend’s coaching career, Bealonians FC youth secretary Gary Lazarus, said: “It was the under 12s in the 2006/7 season that brought Grant his finest day as a manager.
“From the bottom of the league in 2004 to the day I watched Grant lead his team out on to the Averly FC Stadium pitch into the League Cup Final, a win that wouldn’t just make us League Cup winners, but double winners, as Grant took his first steps into the Bealonians role of honour.”
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Mr Lazarus added: “Throughout my years in football and life I have met some real characters, and I can honestly say Grant is one of the real good guys and will be sadly missed.
“Most importantly, Grant became a father figure to the boys in his team. He commanded respect, he told them when they was wrong, and backed them to the hills when they were right.
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Bealonians FC has senior teams and junior teams which play at Redbridge Sports and Leisure Centre, Forest Road, Barkingside and Beal High School, Woodford Bridge Road, Redbridge respectively.
