A tribute to Markus - David Bick

The full text of his tribute is as follows…

“I must say it is a great honour to be asked to make this tribute to Markus.

“First, on behalf of us all, I would like to thank the Rev Dr Julian Davies and his colleagues for their kindness and assistance in making this historic church available for this memorial service today.

“St Mary’s is a very fitting place in which to honour our friend Markus and to celebrate his life.

“On behalf of everyone, may I extend our heartfelt condolences to his family, who are here today. Our thoughts are with them.

“The enormous outpouring of tributes and sympathy from the club and supporters and the wider community shows you, Markus, how highly you are thought of in Southampton.

“Markus was a man you immediately warmed to. He was engaging, yet quiet. Markus was, as he has been described elsewhere, unassuming and modest, yet great fun with a sharp, dry sense of humour.

“Markus was an immensely intelligent man. He was someone who, when he spoke, which wasn’t often, always made you think.

“Markus also knew his football like a veteran of the industry. There wasn’t much he didn’t understand very quickly about a football club, both on and off the pitch.

“I will confine myself here to two short stories. I sincerely hope these stories will convey a sense of the man who was a giant in more ways than one.

“At Wembley, for the JPT final, I was sitting just behind Markus and, at the point it was clear the Saints had won the trophy, he turned, looked at me and, like a true Englishman, his right thumb went up.

“Markus was taking so much genuine pleasure at seeing the first signs of success for the Saints in his ownership. To me, and I suspect many others, Markus is an honorary Englishman and a top Saint.

“The fact is, Markus fell in love with Saints the moment he landed in Hampshire, in the spring of last year, to look at buying the club, with Nicola Cortese.

“Markus had clearly developed a very close relationship with his old friend, Nicola, which demonstrated a deep level of trust between the two men.

“It was a bond the strength of which is seen only so very rarely between two people. As we say in England, they were joined at the hip.

“In that regard, we do extend our thoughts and sympathies to Nicola and his family. Nicola has lost his best friend.

“Together they made their plan for the Saints. There was the takeover plan, the three-year plan, the five-year plan and so on.

“Markus’s abiding passion was, and still is, to return Saints to the highest echelons of football.

“He lived and breathed the Saints, all the while backing his friend’s judgement calls on every occasion, without hesitation.

“To Markus, that trust with his closest friend was all important and absolute.

“So, if I may, to my second and final story, and I am very grateful to Markus’s partner, Lore, and to Nicola for their kind permission to enable me to tell you this story.

“It concerns a watch – of course, it’s Switzerland, it’s bound to concern a watch. It concerns a watch, or at least at the beginning of the story two watches.

“I think this story tells you about Markus as a thoughtful man. I believe it tells you Markus knew a lot more about himself than he was letting on.

“A few weeks after the Wembley final, Markus and Nicola were having one of their constant discussions about the further progress and development of the club.

“Markus was convinced that this season the Saints would gain promotion, if not actually win the League One title.

“Markus said to Nicola, ‘Starting this season I will buy you a special new watch every time we win a trophy, or a title, or gain promotion.’

“Nicola said ‘That’s fine Markus, but every time you must also buy the very same watch for yourself, so that we can both wear the watch commemorating every success.’ Markus readily agreed with this.

“Then, more recently, Markus spent a few days with Nicola’s family on holiday. He said he was going to physically go to buy the first two watches in the very near future.

“Nicola replied ‘Really, there’s no rush Markus, there’s a long season ahead.’ Then, nearly two weeks ago Markus flew into England for his first league match of the season.

“At this point he had not been well. In the event, Markus was not well enough to actually attend the game. But he still managed to attend Nicola’s birthday party that evening, Saturday, August 7.

“Markus said to Nicola ‘I wanted to show you, in person, the book containing a description of the model of watch I want to buy for you and for me.’

“Yet again, Nicola said to him ‘There is no rush.’

“As Markus was leaving that Sunday for Switzerland, Markus opened the car door so that he could show Nicola a photograph he had taken of the watch being advertised on an airport posterboard.

“Markus had only days earlier walked painfully across from one side of Zurich Airport to the other to buy the watch.

“Because the model of the watch was so new, he was told at the airport shop that it was only available from headquarters.

“Markus immediately phoned through an order for the watch, for his collection later from a shop in the centre of Zurich.

“That Sunday, after the first match of the season, was to be the last time Markus and Nicola saw or spoke to each other.

“On the Monday, despite Lore's plea for him not to travel alone, he drove himself from his main home the 80 miles to his apartment in Zurich.

“From there, he took himself to the shop to buy the new model of watch that he had reserved some days earlier.

“He returned to the apartment and spoke to Lore and said simply ‘I have got the watch, I have got the watch for Nicola.’ “He passed away just a little later that evening.

“It turned out that he had only bought a single watch. It seems that he never intended to buy one of the watches for himself.

“To Markus, it was so, so important that he got the watch for Nicola, even though it seemed at the time that he could have waited for nine months.

“Why did Markus not buy that watch for himself, why did he not buy the two watches as they had agreed?

“Only Markus knows the full answer to that one, but I’m sure we can all reach our own conclusions.

“It was a mark of this delightful man that he was pre-occupied with doing thoughtful acts for others, especially his dearest friend Nicola, even while he was suffering pain and discomfort.

“As the club has already reflected, to say that Markus will be missed is an unmistakable understatement.

“Every employee of the club, all the fans and everyone associated with Southampton Football Club pays tribute to you, Markus, to your very welcome contribution to our lives, even though you had, very sadly, only been with us for such a short time.

“Personally, I felt a growing friendship with you and a huge respect for you.

“I say to you, Nicola, here today that I know you will respect Markus’s wishes to carry on with the project of the Saints that had become so dear to his heart. You know how much he trusted you, and you him.

“Nelson Mandela once said of himself that he was the captain of his soul. I believe that Markus was also the captain of his own soul.

“Markus, you will never be forgotten. May you truly rest in peace.”