Vale: Roy Little

Former Hamilton AFC captain and club life member Roy Little has died, aged 75, in Papamoa

Littlehadbeensufferingfrommotorneuronedisease,whichhadsetonquitequickly. Inhisplayingdays,RobertMcGregor(Roy)Littlecaptainedthe1976Hamiltonteamto the northern league and Air New Zealand Cup double, in what was arguably one of thefinestteamstoevercomeoutoftheWaikatoprovince

Despite conceding a height advantage to almost every opponent he came up against, in a first-team career with Hamilton that spanned 23 years, Roy carved out a reputationbiggerthanmost.

Little was born in Northern Ireland in 1949 and became a foundation member of Hamilton AFC as a teenager when the club was formed in 1964. Not till 1987 did he play his last game of northern, or national league, when he turned out against Papakuraattheageof38

Previously he had made 54 national league appearances for Hamilton between 1977 and1982,amongstanestimatedtotalof800first-teamappearances

Little’s passing marks the end of an era. He was there at the start of Hamilton AFC –and there at the end, as a committee member when the club merged with Waikato United in mid-1992. He was one of just nine Hamilton AFC life members. Little then servedasaboardmemberwithWaikatoUnitedforfiveyears

Of many highlights over a lengthy career, top of the list for Little was attaining national league status for Hamilton, achieved by winning the northern league in 1976. That same season Hamilton cut a swathe through the cream of national league clubs as well, to win the $10,000 early-season Air NZ Cup, beating GisborneCity3-1inthefinalatNewmarketPark.

‘Graham Jones, a veteran of more than 100 appearances for Waikato United (and many more for Melville United), worked for Little as an electrician for 10 years, and described him as a bubbly bloke who absolutelylovedfootballandfishing

“His only downside was he was such a keen ManchesterUnitedsupporter,”Jonesmused

AservicewasheldforLittleathishomeonMarch20, attendedbymanyformerHamiltonteammates

MatthewD'HOTMAN QuintonKIPARA

Coach:JarrodYOUNG

AssistantCoach:JetLIM

GKCoach:NeilMOUNCHER

Analyst:KshitijGOHEL

Physio:JamesYOUNG

Trainer:BenTAYLOR

Manager:DannyMILNER