RIP Nigel Stockley.

It's with great sadness that I'm bringing you the news that Marktoon's Dad, Nigel Stockley, sadly lost his battle with cancer and is no longer with us.

It's only fair that I let you guys know as it means that Mark probably won't feel like being around for a bit as he and his family come to terms with events of the last day or so, so to stop questions being asked I decided that this was the best way to go about it. Plus it gives me a little chance to give Nigel my own little tribute.

Nigel was responsible for me an Mark actually meeting each other as I used to work with him whilst I was on the Royal Mail. Nige taught me how to do all of these rural routes and introduced me to some of the more colourful characters that hang around these parts, including a strange man in a village called Willoughby who wanders around only in his pants! I found this strange, but Nigel just shrugged it off and told me that I'd get used to it.

Mark's Dad knew that I went to Newcastle matches sometimes and asked if I would be kind enough to take Mark to a Newcastle match for his birthday as he hadn't been to a game for a while. I agreed. Usually I don't like sharing cars with strangers and that, but as it was Nigel's son I thought 'why not' and off we went.

It was Mark who introduced me to blogging by first pointing out Ed's blog. Of course I quite liked it, then I wrote for .org, and now here we are on .co.uk. In a roundabout way, if Nigel had never introduced me to Mark then I'd probably never bother with blogging and this place would more than likely not be here today.

Nigel was a Sunderland fan (boo, hiss, but he'd expect that off me) but he never stopped Mark from going against the grain and supporting Newcastle. Unlike other Mackems, Nigel actually wanted us to do well as it would make his son happy, apart from when the two sides were playing each other of course!

He was a top man who was kind and considerate and never had a bad word to say about anyone. He was one of Mark's idols and I count him as one of my greatest friends from my hedonistic youth where I used to roll in to work on the way home from a night up town. He helped people out and adored his family, his wife, his son, his daughters and grandchildren very much. Top class.

Nigel wouldn't want a fuss made of him and he certainly wouldn't want a load of sympathy, so don't let this thread detract from the footy banter. If anything Nigel would prefer that.

I just wanted to use this opportunity to pass on my condolences to Mark and his family and tell them that my thoughts are with them at this difficult time.

RIP Nigel.