Tragedy made me a stronger person

SCOTT Lindsey has been to hell and back over the last 12 months. But the former Forest Green Rovers assistant manager believes he has emerged from tragedy a better

- Jon Palmer

On the final day of Rovers’ pre-season training camp in Devon last July, he was told his wife Hayley had collapsed in the shower at their home.

She had been diagnosed with cancer and Lindsey was granted a leave of absence to be with her in Kent.

Her condition worsened and before the end of September it had become necessary for him to leave Forest Green.

“The only thing that mattered then was Hayley,” Lindsey said. “Nothing else was important and I had to pack it in and become her fulltime carer.”

Hayley passed away on November 21.

Despite leaving Forest Green, where he had enjoyed three seasons of progress, football still played a big role in helping him grieve.

“Just before Hayley died, I took a job locally, becoming manager of Chatham Town,” he said.

“It helped me at the time because I needed a couple of nights to get out and coach.

“My wife died on the Thursday and on the Saturday I delivered a team talk and my team went out and produced an outstanding performance, which made me proud of them.

“It took my mind away from things, even if it was only for 90 minutes, and I could get my teeth into something else – football is great for that.”

Football had also helped Lindsey deal with the loss of his older brother in 1995.

Matthew was killed along with former Cheltenham Town goalkeeper and Scott’s housemate Alan Nicholls in a motorbike crash in 1995.

Scott was making the same journey north to Scunthorpe in a car with father Keith for a night out.

“My brother died on the Saturday and I was playing (for Dover Athletic) against Farnborough on the Tuesday night,” Lindsey said.