A well-known football fan and author fell to his death putting up Union Flags on lampposts near his home.
Paul Lumber, 60, was one of the leading figures in Bristol City’s notorious City Service Firm and published author of books about the days of the ‘football casuals’ scene of the 1980s.
His two books delved into the firm’s exploits, which led him to become a recognised character among football fans across the country.
Mr Lumber had been fundraising to buy Union and St George flags to put up around the city before the tragic accident on November 23.
He had been attaching a flag to a lamppost near his home in South Bristol before he fatally fell from a ladder and suffered multiple injuries, including serious head injuries.
Paramedics rushed to save him and he was taken to the hospital, where he was placed in an induced coma but he never woke up, passing away late last week.
Friends of Mr Lumber described him as a ‘one-off’ and said his loss was being ‘felt across South Bristol’.
His online fundraiser, which began in late October, had raised more than £1,000 from people pledging their support for his ‘Raise the Colours’ campaign.
He had been part of a group hanging Union and St George flags to lampposts around Bedminster, Bedminster Down, Knowle, Hartcliffe, Hengrove and Whitchurch.
While he was in hospital, a second online fundraiser was set up for Mr Lumber and his family, which has so far raised more than £5,000 to support them at this challenging time, and is still receiving donations.
‘He was widely regarded as one of the area’s most colourful and recognisable characters,’ said a close friend.
‘A painter and decorator by trade, Mr Lumber was a lifelong Bristol City and England supporter who followed both club and country with unwavering devotion.’
Mr Lumber’s first book, It All Kicked Off In Bristol, detailed the kind of exploits that saw him receive a lifetime ban from Bristol City home matches.
The book outlined his journey into and out of the football hooligan scene in the late 1970s and 1980s, and it became a key part of the 21st century literary genre of retrospective football casuals nostalgia.
His second tome, titled Hooligan: It All Kicked Off in Bristol (Vol 2), followed similar themes.
Mr Lumber is believed to be the first person in the country to receive a football banning order when they were introduced, and spent several spells in prison in his younger days for football-related violence.
He said that when he was in prison in the 1980s, the Bristol City manager Terry Cooper would send him the matchday programmes from the weekend’s match, along with a letter outlining how he thought the team had played and how the game went.
Talking to Bristol Live back in 2018 when his first book was published, he said he didn’t regret his time with the City Service Firm but said he is a different, more mature person now with a family.
‘We were just normal British lads growing up at the time,’ he told Bristol Live.
He added: ‘If we hadn’t had football we wouldn’t have had nothing.’
Mr Lumber had recently married his partner of 23 years Michele, something he described as ‘his biggest achievement’, his friends say.
The landlord of the Three Lions, a well-known pub in the 1980s casuals scene that featured on the front of one of his books, said he grew up with Mr Lumber and was at the pair’s wedding.
Sean Donnelly said: ‘All his stories situations were unique and unbelievable, and if in a trench in a situation, you wanted Paul shoulder to shoulder with you, that was Paul.
‘But of all his achievements, marrying Michele was his biggest achievement.
‘It was a wonderful day celebrating with the good, the bad, the ugly, but most importantly the best people,’ he added.
Another friend added: ‘His family and friends were at the centre of everything he did.
‘Anyone who knew him will remember the pride, love and warmth with which he spoke about them all. He was a working-class hero.
‘A passionate defender of working-class rights, Mr Lumber was also known for his strong political activism and vocal criticism of the current government.
‘His loss has been felt deeply across South Bristol, where he will be remembered with great affection and sorely missed by many.’
A tribute posted by the Bristol Patriots read: ‘This week a great man was sadly taken from us, Paul Lumber was a great bloke, never took a backward step when supporting his beloved Bristol City or defending his country.
‘A true patriot always out protesting as he believed our country comes first.
‘He will be sorely missed by everyone who knew him, condolences to his family and close friends. RIP Lumbs.’
