Tributes to 'adopted Dingwallian' Steve White who made epic round trips from Yorkshire to support Ross County Football Club
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Tributes have been paid to adopted Dingwallian and dedicated Ross County supporter Steve White who passed away at his home in Hawes in the Yorkshire Dales last week.
Steve had been a fan of the Dingwall club since he saw a match with his father as a boy and for years made a 650-mile round trip to the town for every home match.
He was a well-known and well-liked face about town, frequently stopping off in the Caley Bar before and after matches.
Locals described their shock on hearing of his death so soon after enjoying a Friday night pint with him before the recently postponed match against Hibs.
William Powrie, former Brora Rangers chairman and a local businessman, said: “It was with great shock that we learnt of the death of Steve, especially as he had been with us in Dingwall over the weekend. Although living in Yorkshire, Steve had been a very frequent visitor to Dingwall to both meet up with friends and to watch Ross County, a team which he had supported since his father took him to a match many years ago. He was especially looking forward to the game against Hibernian which was postponed at the last minute due to a Covid outbreak.
“Despite the distance from Hawes to Dingwall, Steve was very well known in the town, and a regular at the Caledonian Bar in the High Street when he was up here.He was generous with his hospitality and company and very popular indeed. Only on Friday he and I had arranged a trip to Catterick racecourse in December where he was a member, and this was something which I was especially looking forward to.
“It seems surreal that within 72 hours he had sadly died. This is such a sad loss.”
Another local man, David Brett, said: “He was probably County's most travelled supporter, from Hawes to Dingwall for every home game. A seven-hour journey up just to watch County play, he was adopted as one of the locals by those who knew him and even travelled the seven hours just to play dominoes for the Caley bar, going on to win a runners up trophy.”
Ross County CEO Steven Ferguson added his voice to those paying their respects, saying: “The commitment of Steve to our football club was absolutely incredible. To travel and commit the way he did for so long shows his passion and determination to be part of our football club and be part of our identity. Steve’s passing is so very sad and everybody at Ross County FC sends their condolences to his family, friends and loved ones at this time.
“People like Steve will always be part of the fabric of our football club.”
