All at the club were deeply saddened to learn to the passing of lifelong fan and former director John Ruddy on Saturday, at the age of 78.
John became the second largest individual shareholder of The Bully Wee during the 1980s, and joined the Board of Directors in 2005, serving for four years.
Clyde were John’s life and came before everything, even sometimes before his family! He was lucky enough to see some of the finest players in the club’s history play at Shawfield and witnessed the Scottish Cup wins in 1955 and 1958. In more recent years, the 2-1 victory over Celtic in January 2006 was a personal favourite.
John was also proud that he kept the tradition of following The Bully Wee in the family, with both of his sons Jamie and Jack growing up following in his footsteps as fans and still regularly attend matches. They followed the club home and away from Dingwall to Dumfries, and never missed a game for 15 years growing up together.
John’s final game came at the end of August, a 0-0 draw against Elgin City. Even in his final days in hospital, John was well aware of the club’s current unbeaten run and his first question when his sons visited him “what was the Clyde score?”
Chairman John Taylor added:-
“Having sat on the Clyde board with John, I witnessed his sheer energy and enthusiasm at first hand. During his time as a Director, John was active in two different areas of the club’s operations, firstly in the pro youth department where he devoted many hours to helping to develop the club’s emerging talent, before heading up the Media and Communications area.
“He also found time to serve on the Scottish Football League where he was a respected member within the SFL Committee structure.
“He will be sadly missed by all at the club, past and present, who had the privilege to of knowing him.”
The thoughts and condolences of all at the club are with Jamie and Jack, and the rest of John’s family and friends at this sad time.