Trefor Lloyd Hughes, the former Football Association of Wales (FAW) president, has died aged 77.
The Anglesey native began his long association with Welsh football aged just 15 by selling tickets door-to-door to raise money for his local club, Bodedern FC.
His experience and leadership as a player, volunteer and secretary made him a key figure in north Wales football while also working as an ambulance paramedic.
He was elected to the FAW council in 1989, serving as treasurer and senior vice-president before elected president in 2012 until he stepped down due to ill-health in 2019.
The FAW said: “Trefor will be remembered for his warmth, humility and unwavering love for the game.”
Hughes served as secretary of the Anglesey League, the Welsh Alliance and the North Wales Coast Football Association before joining the FAW council and was a delegate to European football’s governing body Uefa for six years.
The FAW nominated Hughes for a role on the executive committee of Fifa, world football’s governing body, in 2015 but he missed out to England’s David Gill for the vice-presidency reserved for the four British associations.
The FAW added: “His influence on Welsh football is lasting, from grassroots leagues to the national stage, and he leaves behind a legacy built on service and a lifelong dedication to the communities he cared so deeply about.”
Hughes was also a long-standing councillor on the Isle of Anglesey County Council, representing the Ynys Gybi ward, and served as Mayor of Holyhead.
In 2007 he was made a Gorsedd of the Bards and in 2016 Hughes was appointed an OBE for his services to football on Anglesey.