City fan Paul Lumber was a published author of books about the days of football casuals in the 1980s
Paul Lumber(Image: Paul Lumber)
Tributes have been paid to one of Bristol City’s most well-known fans, who has died after a tragic accident near his home when he fell from a ladder while hanging up Union Jack flags on lampposts in South Bristol.
Paul Lumber was one of the leading figures in the notorious CSF – City Service Firm – in the ‘casuals’ scene of the 1980s, and more recently was the author of two books about the kind of exploits that led him to be a well-known character among football fans across the country.
Friends described Paul as a ‘one-off’ and said his loss was being ‘felt across South Bristol’. Paul suffered multiple injuries, including serious head injuries when he fell from a height while putting up flags near his home in South Bristol back on November 23.
He was rushed to hospital but never woke up from an induced coma, and passed away late last week.
Back in October, Paul had begun an online fundraising campaign to raise money for more flags, and was one of many people in South Bristol who spent their spare time tying both Union and St George flags to lampposts around Bedminster, Bedminster Down, Knowle, Hartcliffe, Hengrove and Whitchurch.
His online fundraiser, which began in late October, had raised more than £1,000 from scores of people pledging their support for his ‘Raise the Colours’ campaign, before tragedy struck on November 23.
While he was in hospital, close friends set up a second online fundraiser for Paul, a 60-year-old painter and decorator by trade, and his family, which has so far raised more than £5,000 to support them at this challenging time, and is still receiving donations.
Paul Lumber has written It All Kicked Off in Bristol(Image: Fort Publishing 2017)
“He was widely regarded as one of the area’s most colourful and recognisable characters,” said a close friend. “A painter and decorator by trade, Mr. Lumber was a lifelong Bristol City and England supporter who followed both club and country with unwavering devotion.
“He was a prominent figure in the football casual scene during the 1980s, later documenting its history in two books about the movements and activities of the City Service Firm, the group associated with Bristol City.
“Mr. Lumber had recently married Michele, his partner of 23 years. Friends described him as a man whose world revolved around those he loved,” he added.
“His family and friends were at the centre of everything he did,” another friend said. “Anyone who knew him will remember the pride, love and warmth with which he spoke about them all. He was a working-class hero,” they added.
Paul Lumber has written a book on the CSF(Image: Fort Publishing 2017)
“A passionate defender of working-class rights, Mr. Lumber was also known for his strong political activism and vocal criticism of the current government,” he said. “His loss has been felt deeply across South Bristol, where he will be remembered with great affection and sorely missed by many,” he added.
The landlord of the Three Lions pub in Bedminster, Sean Donnelly, said he grew up with Paul, and was devastated by his death.
“All his stories situations were unique and unbelievable, and if in a trench in a situation, you wanted Paul shoulder to shoulder with you – that was Paul,” Sean said.
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“But of all his achievements, marrying Michele was his biggest achievement – it was a wonderful day celebrating with the good, the bad, the ugly, but most importantly the best people,” he added.
Paul’s first book ‘It All Kicked Off In Bristol’ featured a cover photo of Paul taken in the doorway of the Three Lions, and detailed the kind of exploits that saw him receive a lifetime ban from Bristol City home matches.
The book outlined his journey into and out of the football hooligan scene in the late 1970s and 1980s, and became a key part of the 21st century literary genre of retrospective football casuals nostalgia.
He was reputed to be the first person in the country to receive a football banning order when they were introduced, and spent several spells in prison in his younger days for football-related violence.
It All Kicked Off in Bristol(Image: Fort Publishing 2017)
He remained a loyal Bristol City fan, and said that, when he was in prison in the 1980s, the City manager Terry Cooper would send him the matchday programmes from the weekend’s match, along with a letter outlining how he thought the team had played and how the game went.
Talking to Bristol Live back in 2018 when his first book was published, he said he didn’t regret his time with the CSF but was a different, more mature person now with a family. “We were just normal British lads growing up at the time,” he told Bristol Live at the time. “If we hadn’t had football we wouldn’t have had nothing.”
