Heartfelt tributes have been made to a Deal mum who “lived and breathed football” after she died suddenly last Friday.

Denise Moore, 53, touched the lives of many players and their families, having founded Deal Minnows (now Deal Town Rangers) in 1987 with her husband Henry.

Football became their lives when their sons Jason, 36, and Sammy, 27, took up the sport as boys. Jason was taken on by West Ham youths and reserves and England U16, and Sammy has played for Chelsea, Ipswich Town (first team), Dover Athletic and now AFC Wimbledon where he is the longest serving player.

Henry said: “She never missed a game. There were times we went without food so they had what they needed to play.”

Big name players like Frank Lampard and Rio Ferdinand have stayed with the family, having played alongside Jason.

“They’d come and stay and Denise would iron their shirts for them when they would go out,” he said.

As well as giving local boys the chance to get into football through Deal Minnows, she commanded respect from people at all levels.

“Where many mums would volunteer, Denise was a different level. She was an elite mum. She would be behind the scenes at football league clubs.

“She could hold a conversation with any man. What Denise didn’t know about football was no-one’s business,” he said.

Among her admirers was Brian Clough, who once sent her a bouquet of flowers when she was feeling ill.

Denise worked at Tides in the 1980s and 1990s and did the embroidery for some football league clubs, including Ipswich Town.

Mr Moore said the sudden loss has left him heartbroken. “Someone told me she was the button that kept everything together.”

As a mark of respect AFC Wimbledon held a minute’s applause at their game against Oxford United on Saturday. Sammy wears the number 8 shirt, and the gesture was carried out in the eighth minute. Other Sunday league teams held a minute’s silence on Sunday and AFC Wimbledon will do the same on the last game of the season on Saturday, May 2, against Cheltenham.

She leaves a husband Henry, sons Jason and Sammy, granddaughter Sofia and one on the way, her father Les Redsull and brother John.

• The funeral of Denise Moore will take place at noon on Wednesday, April 29, at St Andrew’s Church, West Street, Deal. A burial at Hamilton Road Cemetery will follow with a wake to be confirmed.

For more information, contact funeral directors J Dilnot Smith & Son.