Amateur football President Frank Alletson dies

Frank Alletson

The President of the Rochdale Online Alliance Football League, Frank Alletson, has died.

Mr Alletson became President of the league during the 1998/99 season after serving as Registration and Benevolent Fund Secretary from 1965/66 and then as Chairman in the mid 1970s.

Jason Croke, League Chairman, said: “Frank was a gentleman and an ambassador for the game and he will be sadly missed.”

Following National Service in the RAF, where he refereed inter-camp games, he registered with the Lancashire Football Association and Rochdale Sunday Schools League and refereed his first fixture on 26 September 1953. When he retired he became a member of the league committee.

He was elected Vice-Chairman of the Alliance League when it was amalgamated in 1982/83, became Chairman in 1988/89 and was later elected President, regularly watching matches on the playing fields across Rochdale.

In 2004, he received the Football Association 50 year Order of Merit for his long service to football at the Lancashire Football Association AGM.

Mr Alletson’s funeral service will take place on Thursday 14 January at St Mary’s C of E Church, St Mary’s Gate, Rochdale at 1.30pm followed by his internment at Rochdale Crematorium at 2.20pm.