Tributes have been paid to a long standing member of the Salford Lads Club community who has died at the age of 88 after being associated with the club for 76 years
Archie Swift was born 30 yards away from the club on what was then Huddart Street – now Huddart Close.
He joined the club in 1946 aged 12, a life changing event for Archie, who was 1 of 8 children raised by his father when his mother died.
Archie attended his 1st camp in 1946 and his final camp in 2010 as a volunteer and has been a key figure at the club throughout all this time, running football and rugby teams, eventually becoming a trustee.
Archie’s knowledge and enthusiasm for the club has affected the lives of many local young people, including a young Graham Nash who was one of Archie’s group on the 1956 camp.
Project Manager Leslie said: “Archie told me stories about the club when I came here in 2002: one was “I brought a priest in here one day, right in the entrance hall, a cracking fella I used to do work for him at the church – I said now father this is my church’.”
In 2006, he was awarded an MBE for his lifetime of work at the club.
