In memory of Darren Alexander

It is some 20 years since I first met Darren Alexander. At that time there was only one online forum for Spurs supporters: the original (and best) Spurs-List established by Bruce Munro. Prompted by Norman Fenton, I had established a football team for members of the Spurs-List, and ran training sessions every Sunday in Barnet. I had sent out a request for additional players, and received an e-mail from Darren, then operating under the e-mail address of teddy@lerman.co.uk. He showed up at our next training session, volunteering to play in goal, a position he occupied for several years as the Internet Hotspurs went from strength to strength. From that time on, Darren and I rapidly became firm friends. It wasn't too long before we were schlepping together to away matches, usually in his car. And he always went out of his way to ensure there was a steady supply of beigels from Brick Lane to keep us nourished on both legs of the journey. At the time Darren also had some Oasis CDs, which became a staple on those journeys. This was during the middle 1990s, when Spurs' performances were much poorer than anything some supporters are moaning about today.

When the woman who became my wife came over from Israel for a trip in 1996, we piled into Darren's car for the trip to Blackburn. Ever since that time, Darren became an effective member of our family. He attended our wedding, our son's brit milah and his bar mitzvah. Last year he even gave up going to see Spurs play a cup game in Leeds as he had promised to be at my daughter's bar mitzvah. For a Spurs fan as committed as Darren to miss a match is almost unthinkable, but his devotion to his closest friends and family meant that he would always go above and beyond. Although Jewish, Darren was very liberal in his approach, yet fiercely proud of his heritage. Every year around this time, my wife and I would invite Darren to join us for the Passover seder, although he never did manage to come along.

In recent years this devotion to Spurs has taken up his time in his role as joint Chairman of the Supporters' Trust, a job he undertook with all of his usual passion and commitment. It is sadly ironic that he passed away before learning of the CPS decision not to prosecute the 3 Spurs fans who had been arrested for chanting "yids", a campaign which was close to his heart as a Spurs supporter, as a Jew, and as a believer in important values such as freedom.

Darren was also a man who, despite having a very large circle of friends and acquaintances, felt the absence of a special woman in his life. In the past year or so he became attached to Katrina, the soul-mate he had been seeking. My thoughts and prayers go out to her, and also to Darren's immediate family, for whom his loss is the greatest.

There are too many anecdotes to include in a short tribute to my great friend, Darren. I remain numbed by the suddenness of his passing, and bereft at his loss. Those who knew him knew him to have an appetite for life which matched his appetite for more things more epicurean (ask me about the burger he demolished at Leicester Forest). He was a man with whom I shared many values and many adventures. He was a man who was always there for me when needed, and I hope that I was there for him in his too-short life.

We pass but once through this short life, but it is made happy by the wonderful people we meet along the way. Darren was such a shining light, now extinguished. He shall be missed greatly.