The Manchester Storm are deeply saddened to hear the passing of Manchester Storm ‘legend’, David “Pops” Sutherland. 

Pops has been at the heart of the organization since the ‘original’ Storm era in 1995 and came back to the ‘Storm Shelter’ when the club returned in 2015. Pops did much more than what his role as ‘assistant equipment manager’ may suggest, he was a friend and mentor to many of the team, motivating them where he could, along with bringing much needed calm in the locker room. He would always welcome you with a smile and the coffee pot would always most certainly be on! 

Head Coach, Ryan Finnerty, who knew how important Pops was to the team and the backroom staff had this to add: “Pops wasn’t just the best team coffee maker in the UK, he was also a friend and motivator to the guys. He would sometimes step in to give the boys a pre-game team talk (some of which went on for a while!) but the guys loved them and he always brought a sense of calmness to our group. We will miss our team-mate and his famous sausage rolls, but most of all, our friend.”

The club would like to offer our heart-felt condolences and support to the Sutherland family.

Thank-you, Pops.