A poignant tribute will be paid by young footballers in Tavistock when they kick off their season wearing a special strip bearing a picture of a rose in memory of a much-missed supporter.

The U11 girls of Tavistock Community Football Club (TCFC) will be proudly wearing their new shirts with a vivid purple rose on the sleeves when they play their 2025/26 matches, with their first match on Saturday, September 6.

The striking flower was the favourite of TCFC stalwart Sheena Lewis, who sadly passed away earlier this summer.

Sheena, along with her husband Allen, of Tavistock, was a long-term organiser with TCFC with major roles in the background and at the forefront of the organisation. A period of respectful silence is expected to be observed to remember Sheena at the match.

The strip will be worn by a new girls team, which the club hopes will herald a new era for female football and lead to a range of age group squads – something Sheena would be delighted at.

The shirts are being sponsored by the Tavistock Times Gazette. The paper's sales director Lianne Carr said: "We're proud to be supporting young girls' football."

Tavistock Community Football Club chair Andy Mitchell said: "Sheena would be very pleased to see the new girls team playing again after a long absence of the club not being able to support a girls’ team.

"The club hopes this marks a strong future for girls football with more age group teams to come. In the past there used to be regular girls’ teams playing, but it came to a point where there weren't enough volunteers to make it viable. But the future looks more optimistic."

He added: "It's very sad that Sheena is not with us anymore. She is badly missed. She played so many roles since the community club's inception many years ago and, with Allen, was an ever-present, huge influence. The strip with her favourite flower on will be a very nice way of remembering Sheena."