Nigel Gilbert Wood

I was absolutely stunned and shocked at Nigel's passing. Really shocked.
Although it was along time since I last saw Christine and Nigel I have very fond memories of going to pubs with them both. It was at the Hare and Hounds at Hipperholme that I met their friend Linda who, happily, is now my wife .
I remember on one occasion, when we were in our late twenties, all 4 of us were at the pub and Nigel happen to mention his stomach was "off". Eventually we arrived at Linda's house to round off the evening and Linda was playing hostess and Nigel and I were chatting away. Nigel at this point laid on the carpet propping himself on his arms. He was in good spirits and laughing and joking as Nigel always did. Suddenly I heard a gurgling come from Nigel. I couldn't believe he was happily chatting away when his stomach clearly wasn't right. At that point Linda reaches behind Nigel, out of my view, and gets hold of the gurgling coffee percolator and asks who wants coffee!!
What a lovely lovely couple and how very very sad of Nigel's passing Ian Hunt

What a lovely friend Nigel was. One of the firmest "huggers" I've ever known! Although we didn't see as much of him and Christine once they left Shelf it was always lovely to catch up at the Shelf Share 2000 Club Xmas "do's" - a club formed to make sure the football gang stayed in touch. 14 of us had regular get-togethers and trips out although our knowledge of shares was sometimes doubtful!!
Darryl and I went to see Nige and Chris just after his terminal diagnosis and although subdued, he was still the Nigel we loved and took great delight in taking me for a trip round his beautiful garden and introducing me to the ducks and chicken. This is how I will remember him.
We will miss him, and it's a shame he couldn't have been at the funeral to see how much love people had for him.
Rest in peace my friend. xxx

Uncle Nigel
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My fondest memories of Uncle Nigel were as a child where I spent many weekends at Stanage Lane playing with Gary and Simon. The weekend usually began for me by gate crashing a Shelf Juniors training session, it was here you could see Nigel's kind hearted nature and selflessness, giving up his spare time ensuring his and other children had a hobby to enjoy and a team/community to become a part of. Writing this now I realise that based purely on the number of matches I attended...Shelf Juniors are my 2nd team!

Back at the house whatever we we're doing "usually playing or watching sports" Nigel would be involved and would always make it fun, whether it be Garden Golf with ping pong balls or free kicks with a massive deflection off that "weird grass hump thing" there were always laughs and plenty of smiles around.
When we weren't playing sports we'd be playing on the "famous" climbing frame carved by your own hands which brought hours of joy to everyone who played on it!

But the thing I will really remember and miss the most is that when you laughed..
.the whole room laughed with you without exception.

Such a wonderful Dad, Husband and Uncle you will be missed so much by all of us. May you now be at peace X

We are shocked and saddened at the loss of such a wonderful friend. Back in 1992 our youngest son as an eight year old football crazy kid, asked if he could join a group of boys on the school playing field for a game of football. Thank goodness we agreed as half an hour later we had the pleasure of meeting Mr Nigel Wood who as it turned out was in the process of forming Shelf Juniors Football Club. So for the next few years we all cheered the boys on as they were transformed by Nigel the coach from kids who wanted the ball but had little idea what the do with it, to winners of the Halifax Junior league at under 13’s and the League Cup at under 14’s. However there was much more to Nigel than football and as the tributes show he, perhaps unintentionally, helped the boys to develop into sound hard working men. Our friendship with Nigel and his family has carried on after football and we have enjoyed many social gatherings over the past thirty plus years. Rest in Peace coach you will be forever in our hearts. Angie & Bob Hunter

My lovely cousin Nigel. I have been so sad to hear about his illness and death and so uplifted to read the comments on this page. I have very happy memories of family times with the grandparents at Chapel Street. A couple of photos - here is baby Nigel all dressed up with Grandma and Grandad Wood at Gilbert and Dorothy's wedding in 1952..... And the four cousins, Ann, Nigel, David and I, sometime in the early 1960's! The boys look naughty, Ann looks glamorous and I'm just showing off! As adults, we may not have been close as a family, but I think we have all taken forward our grandparents' drive for us to be successful and happy in our lives, wherever that took us. So, a toast to Nigel, a very special man. Dianaxx

On reflection after thinking a lot about Nigel the last week. I’ve realised how much more of a positive impact he had on my childhood than I really understood and I’m sure a lot of other young people he met feel the same, I’m convinced of that.

Without Nigel I wouldn’t have had such a positive and exciting introduction to football, he taught me the game and was always very encouraging, giving me a lot of confidence. He was always up for a laugh, made football fun and all the lads absolutely loved him.

I remember vividly singing along to the tape of “You’ll never walk alone” in his car to Shelf Juniors away games, training every Friday which was the highlight of my week and him in his shelf drill top giving team talks in the portacabin at Shelf JI school!

I remember very fondly waiting excitedly for Nige, Gary and Simon to pick me and my brother Liam, up for Town games at the McAlpine for two full seasons 94-96, he took us every single home game. I think during those seasons Nigel was probably more of a hero than Boothy and Rocket Ron - without me realising it 😊!

I looked up to him and respected him immensely and I’ll never forget everything he did for us.
Rest in Peace Nigel, never forgotten x

Nigel became my bother-in-law when I was 11 years old and throughout the past 48 years there are numerous happy (and funny) memories of holidays and parties.

Discovering that Nigel was not good with heights while Tree Trekking at Centre Parcs was, to us, very funny (sorry Nige!) but seeing his determination not to be beaten and to conquer his fear was impressive. He showed true Yorkshire grit. I admit that I was not laughing when I joined him on the zip wire a day later!

Probably about 20 years ago I, affectionately, started to call him and Christine the “Grumpy Old Man & the Lovely Lady”
We had a day trip to Venice from our holiday in Lake Garda. I wanted to go on a gondola.
Nigel was not for it at all! “How much??!!” said the Yorkshire Man.
Very reluctantly, he agreed to do it as otherwise he would be stood waiting for me for thirty minutes, and Nigel could never stand still!
Nigel and Christine were placed in the “Love Seat” at the back and I was perched in the middle. Half an hour later he got off exuberantly and said “That was brilliant!”.
I told him he should listen to me! Maybe that’s why he wouldn’t get a hearing aid, so he didn’t have to!

What some people may not know about Nigel is that he loved to make things. He had a great talent for woodwork. His skill and imagination created gifts for us over the years. Mention that you liked something and he would remember and make it for you.

You’ll be greatly missed Nigel. But, you leave us all with lasting memories and heirlooms to last our lifetime.
Lot of love, rest in peace.

One of my fondest memories of Uncle Nigel is him making plastic lemons and pennies appear from behind my ear as part of a magic trick. This never ceased to make me laugh as a child and will always make me smile when I think about it.
You will truly be missed Uncle Nigel. Thank you for the magic.

all that can be said about nigel has been said so all that i can say is what a good friend he was and how we made several friends through him setting up shelf juniors football club and shelf share club he will be sorely missed by myself and my wife ann god rest you dear friend.

In particular, I remember the times I sat next to Nigel at Christmas when his witty comments and sense of humour always made me laugh. I also enjoyed it when he showed me around his beautiful garden. He was so proud of it and shared his joy of caring for the ducks and chickens. It was always so clear to see what a wonderful and devoted Dad and husband he was. You will be missed by everyone Nigel. RIP. Xxx

What a sad loss to his family and anybody who knew Nige. I first met him in 1982/83 when Shelf Juniors was initially formed. I brought my son Mark aged 8, (soon to be 40 on new year's day) and we've been friends ever since. Initially with the football club, then through a Share club formed by all the original members and mum's and dads. And of course our many tussles on the golf course, a big love of Nigels. He had his very own unique style of wit and sense of humour which made him who he was. A fantastic supportive Father to Gary, Simon and Stephanie, and a loving and loyal husband to Christine. You will be missed Nige. RIP
Darryl

Nigel showed his welcoming, generous spirit from an early age. When I moved into Slead Syke in 1956, he was the first to befriend me at St Andrew’s Infant School, quickly introducing me to the rest of the Granny Hall Gang and, unforgettably, to his Mum’s home-made ginger beer.
In adult life we regularly touched base, largely through squash and golf; in the latter, his engineering skills usually ensured that his ball found the fairway or the green, most annoyingly!
He will be sadly missed by all at Crow Nest Park G.C.
RIP Nigel.
Your old mate and adversary, Robert.

My memories of Nigel, other than being a wonderful husband to my sister Christine, and a wonderful father to Gary, Simon and Stephanie are many.
The one that stands out above all others is this-
Allied Colloids/CIBA Golf Tournament. I managed to get Nigel an invite. This rubbed a few up the wrong way. We had breakfast then played 18 holes, dinner then last 18 holes. At the prize giving, he rubbed in really well, by winning Green Jacket, Cup and prize money. After 1 year someone knocked on the door at Stanage Lane to get the jacket back. I had the best year of winding up the golfers. Thank you Nigel. Love you and miss you already. Ian

Rest in Paradise Uncle Nigel. Will miss your wit and dry sense of humour! Thankyou for building the incredible wooden play area. I have the fondest childhood memories of playing in your garden at Shelf and also you and Auntie Christine hosting the best Christmas parties 🤍

What a kind and generous man Nigel was ,it was a privilege to of known him.The times of shelf juniors where memories that all of us will cherish, his appetite for the community and the club will never be forgotten,his warm and friendly personality was infectious and will be cherished memories .Never to be forgotten. GEORGE BRIDGET AND ADAM

Rest in peace Nigel. Lovely bloke, thank you for never judging and accepting me for who i am! Loved your dry humour, whenever I saw you we always had a good laugh. It was a pleasure knowing you. X

The worlds lost an unbelievable man, I will never be able to explain just what an impact nige had on my life but I’ll try….
What do I think of when i hear his name? football, great friends, families of friends, just absolutely great times to be honest and one’s I only really truly appreciated as I got older. As my football manager he was everything, he loved us, believed in us, trusted us and in turn the teams he managed loved him back. Playing football as a young kid is about challenging yourself but above all enjoyment and nige made playing football for his team an absolute blast, some of the best years of my life!
For that, I’ve held a huge respect for him as I’ve got older as I realised those years helped shape me as person too. He will be held close to my heart for the rest of my life and I just hope he knew how much the lads and myself adored him.
Nigel wood, a manager, a friend, an unbelievable man, a legend.
I’ll miss you mate
Gaz 🙏🏻💙

Nige Wood what a legend. Such sad news and a massive loss to his family. A brilliant man, a great coach and a fantastic Dad. Will never forget my years with Shelf Juniors, and being coached by Nige. We had some great laughs, but more importantly the life skills and support have made us the people we are today and that's all thanks to Nige's influence on us from a young age. RIP Nige, I am sure you have made your family so proud over the years, and you will be sadly missed.
You will smile down on the shelf lads knowing you made us decent men by giving us the life skills and football skills to go on and do well 25 years later.
Take care Nige x

My deepest sympathy to all the family. I only knew ‘Mr Wood’ as a very supportive parent to his boys as part of my school sports teams but he left a lasting impression of someone whose integrity and love of his children was a model to others. He will be sadly missed. Many condolences
Andy