A Good Friend...

"A very close friend of mine sadly passed away on Tuesday 26th August 2025 from the result of an incident at Deal Town Football Club on 29th March 2025. Despite an extremely brave fight it was a battle he ultimately could not win.

I have known Barrie O'Brien since 1978 when we met through our jobs at the Eastern Docks in Dover. Our friendship developed through our passion for Chelsea Football Club. Barrie has to be one of the Chelsea's most devoted supporters in the history of the club. We also played for the same football team for one season and played in the same 5-a-side team for several years.

We also shared a love of history and visited the battlefields of Northern France many times. Within the last 15 years we very rarely missed a Rememberance Day visit every 11th November to the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium. Baz would book a table at our favourite restaurant in the main square in Ypres called De Kolleblomeme followed by a beer in The Times before attending the nightly ceremony at Menin Gate. There was also a visit to the battlefield at Waterloo, Belgium and the beaches at Dunkirk.

Barrie was a master at organising get-togethers, quizzes and days out. He just made it happen."

Gary and Barrie head to Wembley Stadium

"In the last few years Baz became a follower of the Crows and attended a run of shows at the Priory Hotel in Dover, a show at Folkestone Bandstand and he was also in the audience for the band's headline spot at Sandwich Folk and Ale Festival 2024. He also attended The Lighthouse in Walmer for the band's Invisible Highway Album Launch Show in May 2024 which he thoroughly enjoyed. And the sad thing is that on one of the last occasions that we met he had mentioned to me that he was looking forward to the band's return to The Lighthouse in May 2025. He was going to be there once again but sadly it was not to be.

One of Barrie's favourite songs by the band was That's All I Know, particularly the video for the song. I can remember him playing the video over and over on his phone to friends a couple of years ago at one of our get-togethers.

Many people will miss Barrie and life will never be quite the same again."

Gary

https://open.spotify.com/track/0Rj4mYENkcOMHLbCukBS21?si=c7e63ea06b304c6f