Tributes have been paid to a leading figure in non-league football who died last week.

Frank Davis was chairman of Tonbridge Angels during the 1980s and had been part of the board of directors who secured the move to the club's present home at Longmead Stadium following a dispute with the council.

Mr Davis, who was 95-years-old and a resident at the Birkin Lodge Care Home in Tunbridge Wells, died on April 6 after contracting coronavirus.

In a statement on the club website, Angels director Jim Rowe paid tribute to the part the former chairman had played in keeping football alive in the town.

"Our thoughts at this sad time are very much with his family, members of whom are living in West Malling and the USA," he said.

"It is important that we never forget what people like Frank achieved in keeping our club alive, and that in these difficult times we also do all we can to ensure the Angels flag continues to fly over the town for decades to come."

Mr Davis sat on the football club board in the 1970s and 1980s. He and his fellow directors challenged the local authority in the High Court in a bid to preserve semi-professional football in the town following its ejection from its former home at the old Angel Ground - a battle eventually won with the move to Longmead.

He went on to become chairman, and was responsible for the appointment of one of the most successful managers in the club’s history, Phil Emblen.

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