John Mortimore, who passed away in late January at the age of 86, played nearly 300 games for Chelsea but it was in Portugal where he was an acclaimed hero winning the Primeira Liga and Taça de Portugal twice as manager of Benfica.
In his teens Chris Wright played cricket against John and so, when we started walking football here, Chris approached him to ask permission to put his name to the trophy for the first international walking football trophy against Cove Rapidly Ageing Pensioners (CRAP). John was a very unassuming man and was delighted to receive regular updates about EAWF.
His death received extensive coverage in the Portuguese press.
The image below is taken from the Chelsea v. Newcastle programme (15-2-21).
We send our sincere condolences to his wife Mary and the family. Once life returns to some sense of normality we hope that we can continue to play Benfica Fundação annually for the John Mortimore Trophy.
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