IT is with a heavy heart that AFC Totton have today announced the passing of their much respected trustee and past chairman Alf Peckham.

He died in hospital early this morning, aged 86, having only recently returned home following a fall at the start of the year.

News of his death will be felt right across the local non-League community with Alf the central figure behind the formation of the Wessex League in 1986.

A refreshingly straight-talking character, Alf, who lived just around the corner to his beloved Stags in Calmore, Totton, was Wessex League chairman from 1989 to 2000 and again from 2003 to 2009.

He also had spells as league president and vice-chairman and, for the last seven years, had been executive vice-president – a post created especially for him which is unlikely to ever be filled again.

Breaking the sad news on the club website yesterday, an AFC Totton statement said: “It is with great sadness that we announce that Alf Peckham has passed away.

“Alf, a trustee of AFC Totton and past chairman of the club, will be greatly missed by everybody. All at the club send their condolences to Alf’s family at this very sad time. Rest in peace Alf.”

Ian Hoare, chairman of the Sydenhams (Wessex) League, had no doubt about Alf’s importance to the league.

“He WAS the Wessex League,” he said.

“It was his idea and he had a passion for the league. He always wanted it to be the best and insisted on standards.

"He wasn’t the easiest to get along with sometimes – I had a few tellings-off! – but it was always for the right reasons. It was never personal.

“The league was Alf's baby and he wanted it to be the best it could be.”