MORE than 700 people gathered to pay their respects to ‘Mr Iron Acton’ Adam Taylor at the beloved football coach’s funeral.

Adam, who had served as manager at Iron Acton Football Club for the past 19 years and was from Yate, died suddenly last month of a heart attack at the age of just 43.

Hundreds of mourners surrounded St James the Less in Iron Acton last Thursday, with more people there than the church could hold.

With a sound system in operation, everyone could be a part of the touching service delivered by minister Wully Perks and Reverend Judith Lee.

A number of tributes to Adam were read out in the church, including a poem written by his mother Valerie, who said: “The volume of people who came to the funeral was a fitting tribute to the kind of person he was.”

Also paying tribute were his close friend Simon Griffin, 10-year-old cousin Jenna Wood and eight-year-old cousin Megan Taylor.

A guard of honour with members of the football team had been arranged to see Adam carried out of the church, but with so many in attendance, the crowd queued all the way down the street to give a thunderous applause as the coffin passed.

“It was one of the most touching things I have witnessed at any funeral I have led,” said Mr Perks. “The noise was tremendous.”

Adam was laid to rest at Mayshill Cemetery in Yate, with the wake held at the Miners Social Club in Coalpit Heath, and a further celebration of his life at The Globe in Frampton Cotterell.

“Adam was a truly amazing, kind and caring son. A genuine, nice person who was too good to go so early,” said Valerie.

“His love for his children Jaxon and Fin was immense. He adored them, they were the true loves of his life.”

Adam, who worked as a manager in an electrical wholesale company in Bristol, died on Sunday, August 21.

His dad Basil said his son’s passion for football was second only to his love for his family.

“His first word was ‘ball’, he went to his first Iron Acton game when he was a month old, and from then on it was all he thought about,” he told the Gazette.

“He really cared about the team and each of the players, from the first team to the juniors.

“It was amazing to see that was mutual with everyone coming to see him off.”

Valerie added: “At the wake, a man who I had not met before came up to me and said that Adam had turned his life around and helped him get a job to support his family.

“That really touched me, it was really who he was as a person.”