A man known as ‘Mr Dawlish’ because of his impact on football in the town has died at the age of 96.

Gerald Reginald Samuel Turner was born on August 20 1928 in Chinnor, Oxfordshire. As a youngster, his family moved to High Wycombe where he excelled in athletics and football.

Gerry married his wife, Christine, in 1956, and the couple relocated to Dawlish in 1964.

A talented footballer, Gerry had played for Wycombe Wanderers and he soon got involved in Dawlish Football Club, firstly as a player and then as a manager and later, a director.

Under his leadership, Dawlish Football Club had one of its most successful seasons in 1972/73. They were promoted to the Western League and won the Exeter and District Premium League, the Devon Premier Cup, the East Devon Senior Cup, the Sellick Memorial Cup and the Rothmans Invitation Trophy.

Gerry also played a role in the development of Dawlish-born footballer Seth Johnson who went on to win an England cap in 2000 and played for Crewe Alexandra, Derby County and Leeds United.

Seth was spotted by Gerry’s friend from Wycombe Wanderers, Dario Gradi, who signed him for Crewe after visiting Dawlish with one of his youth teams.

After handing over his team management responsibilities in the late 1970s, Gerry remained heavily involved in Dawlish Football Club. As director of football, he drove fundraising efforts to further develop the club and was responsible for installing the floodlights in 1987 and building the bar that now operates as Shooters.

Although best known in Dawlish for his role in the football club, Gerry was also green-fingered and picked up several awards at Dawlish Flower Show for his gladioli and dahlias.

‘Dad did nothing unless he could do it to the best of his ability,’ remarked his daughter, Angela.

This tenacity was evident later in life when Gerry took up bowling. He quickly became club captain and went on to become the club president in 2000 and 2001.

Gerry’s determination to be the best was well suited to his career as a salesman and area manager for beds and mattresses firm, Rest Assured. His sales patter had been perfected as a child when he worked for his uncle selling vegetables from a horse and cart around housing estates. By the age of 11 he was working as a driver’s mate on the lorries going to Smithfield market.

When he was old enough, Gerry was conscripted to the Palestine Police Force where he was tasked with maintaining peace in the region after the Second World War. The role involved learning some Arabic and Hebrew.

Gerry did not suffer fools gladly and, with his outspoken nature and absolute self-belief, he was sometimes likened to Brian Clough.

He believed in doing all you could to win and he expected those around him to maintain the same high standards he applied to himself. On more than one occasion he pulled football players out of the pub and then refused to include them in his team.

However, he was always willing to put the time and effort in to help others achieve those high standards. Angela, his daughter, remembers him spending hours helping her to practice the long jump so she could win an athletics prize at school.

Gerry died on July 23.