Luke j Dorman

❤️ Tonight we celebrate the life of Phil Butler, one of Ramsgate FC’s greatest volunteers. 🆚 Stanway Rovers 🏟️ Southwood 🏆 @IsthmianLeague Ahead of kick-off, we will hold a minute’s applause in Phil’s memory, and we’d love everyone to come together behind the home goal, shoulder to shoulder, to pay tribute to someone who gave so much to our club. Please make your way there by 7.40pm, as the players come out, so we can all applaud together and give Phil the tribute he deserves. One club. One family. For Phil. ❤️

Phil Butler – Ramsgate Legend Forever We are deeply saddened to inform supporters of the passing of Phil Butler. There is much said about the importance of volunteers in non-league football. Few people could personify that better than Phil. Born and raised in Ramsgate, and one of the lucky ones to have been born in Thanet with Ramsgate on his passport, Phil's relationship with the club began in 1962. His father wasn't a football fan, but took him to an event at Southwood Stadium. Phil was hooked. From almost that moment onwards, Ramsgate FC became a huge part of his life. As a youngster, Phil would travel to away games on the train with the players, helping to carry the equipment while they kept an eye on him. More than 60 years later, he was still here. For generations of Rams supporters, Phil was simply part of Southwood. Once he retired, you could turn up at the ground on any day of the week at almost any time and there was every chance you'd find Phil there, ready for a chat about the latest game, or how many balls the first team had managed to lose at training this week. He passed the Ramsgate bug on to his son Rob, taking him to his first Rams game aged just two in the early 1990s and barely missed a game before work eventually took him abroad. Phil's commitment was such that his family tell us one of his biggest regrets was missing our FA Cup win at Folkestone in the late 1990s because he couldn't swap his shift as a baker at Sainsbury's. That probably tells you everything you need to know about Phil and Ramsgate FC. There was very little Phil wouldn't do for this club, and he will rightly be remembered as one of our greatest ever volunteers. It is fitting that the final years of his incredible service saw Phil take on the role of kit man during one of the most memorable periods in our history. He was there for the televised FA Cup tie at Wimbledon, the league title and our first season back in the Isthmian Premier Division. But Phil's contribution cannot really be measured in seasons, games or jobs undertaken. For more than 60 years, he was simply part of Ramsgate Football Club. Our thoughts and love are with his wife Ann and all of Phil's family and friends. Thank you for everything, Phil. Ramsgate legend. Forever.