Romford Junior Raiders general manager Ben Pitchley led the tributes for Steve Tomalin following the sad news of his death late last week.

Tomalin fulfilled many roles behind the scenes and watched son Richard progress through the club's junior system to captain the senior Raiders and score 372 points (195 goals, 177 assists) in 423 appearances.

And Pitchley admitted there was no job too big for Tomalin senior to tackle, saying: "I've had the pleasure of knowing Steve since I was 16 years old, when I first got involved in hockey.

"Playing alongside Rich through the latter stages of junior hockey and then with the Raiders, Steve was ever present, on the bench as the equipment guy.

"No job was too much for him to do, be it replacing skate blades to fixing the wooden slats on the players benches.

"When Steve retired from Fords, he took a job at the old Rom Valley Way rink, doing maintenance, and we had the best ice ever!

"Over the years I've seen Sue and Steve attend many Raiders games, way after me and Rich stopped playing, and they would always stop and say hello and asked about my family."

Tomalin was able to return to the team bench one last time when the club held a special Legends match to mark the return of ice hockey to Romford's new Sapphire Ice & Leisure Centre in August 2018.

Romford Recorder: Steve Tomalin (back row, second from left) and the Raiders Legends on the ice in August 2018Steve Tomalin (back row, second from left) and the Raiders Legends on the ice in August 2018 (Image: John Scott)

And he was also able to watch another generation of Tomalin play the sport he loved, with Pitchley adding: "I can still remember calling Steve and asking him to be on the bench one more time for the Legends game, he was so happy to be a part of that game!

"Over the past few years Steve's love for the sport found a new level, with his grandson Joe playing up the road in Chelmsford.

"I would see him at Conference practices and he was due to travel to Finland in April 2020, when Joe would have been playing for the England under-13s programme.

"Steve was a true gent and he just loved his hockey. My thoughts are with the whole of the Tomalin family right now."

Finnish import Timo Kauhanen posted on Twitter, saying: "Very sad to hear about Steve passing away! He was a great man and a true Romford Raiders legend. While I played at RVW, he gave me a lot of support. My sympathies and thoughts are with the whole Tomalin family. R.I.P Steve!"