This is possibly one of the hardest things I will ever have to write, but it is impossible for the branch not to pay tribute to this fine gentleman. I hope these few words will do him justice. There have already been many tributes to this true Leeds United legend, with many more undoubtedly to come in the next few days. I thought the radio interview with Adam Pope on Radio Leeds with LUSC Co Chair Phil Beeton and friend Dave Gaertner was brilliant. It just shows the high regard that BBC Radio Leeds held for Eric, and acknowledges how important Eric was to Leeds United. Thank you Adam Pope. The photo below is the last one I took of him at the LUSC Annual Dinner last year, where he was more popular than most of the guests that had been invited, such was the respect that he commanded.
Eric Carlile was the loyalest Leeds United fan I have ever met in my entire life.
It was a honour to meet him and a priviledge to call him my friend.
He was one of the most unassuming, friendly, amenable, affable and down to earth people you could ever meet. He worked relentlessly on behalf of his fellow Leeds United fans, to make sure that we could follow our beloved club, at least until the world stops going round.
He would literally bend over backwards for any fellow Leeds fan who wanted to see a game. He was happy to have a constant stream of people at his flat picking up away tickets in the good old days when the Club respected the efforts of the LUSC. In the days of landline phones attached to the wall and relying on Royal Mail, if you desperately wanted a Leeds United ticket, Eric was The Man Who Can. He managed to maintain contacts with our famous world wide fan base (mostly by hand written letters), and was instrumental in helping Leeds United fans truly unite in all four corners of the globe.
Even when he gave up his post as LUSC Secretary, he was still a veritable feast of knowledge and would happily spend time reminiscing about the old days and commenting on the new. He was a sharp as tack and could remember virtually every game he saw and every manager, Chairman and branch secretary that he had ever met. He never had a bad word to say about anybody, even when I tried to draw him over our old Ex Owner Ken, and that takes some doing. I also had some fine conversations with him about Yorkshire County Cricket Club.
He will probably be up there now, with The Don and Billy, propping up the bar with a crafty cig and a pint in one hand and dropping his walking stick on the floor with the other, wondering what the fuss is all about.
