Everyone at Nairn County sends our sincerest condolences to the family and friends of our supporter, Des Scholes, following his recent passing.
Des was a stalwart supporter of Nairn County, contributing greatly down the years to his adopted home town club, loyally following us home and away through the highs and the lows.
Des was something of a pioneer, creating and operating the first ever Nairn County website to appear on the internet, bringing the name of Nairn County into the digital age and allowing supporters from all four corners of the globe to see pictures and receive match reports and news from the club in the early 2000s.
His reports were always fair and balanced and this skill expanded itself into Des’s ever-popular Gurn From Nurn blog, which became a local institution reporting local news and championing worthy causes throughout the community.
Des was originally from Stamford in Lincolnshire and served in the Royal Army Pay Corps in Worthy Down, where he met his wife Shirley, a Nairnite. After moving to Nairn in 1980, Des joined Shirley as a regular on the terraces at Station Park.
He was hugely involved in the Supporters’ Ground Improvements Fund in the 2010s, which raised money to renovate the Culloden Cars Main Stand and dressing rooms at Station Park, construct the Davy Johnston Enclosure and replace the aging toilet block with more modern facilities. As well as the publicity Des provided to the campaign, he was also fully immersed in fundraising efforts, completing such challenges as climbing Ben Nevis and walking the West Highland Way.
Away from football, Des was a passionate Gaelic speaker and took up teaching the language. He was involved in the local political scene as a Community Councillor and was a member of the Nairnshire Allotments Society and supporter of Green Hive, whose work he assisted with his expertise in planting various different types of fruit trees at locations throughout the town.
Des was a supporter who always saw the positives even in the bad times and had the ability to always see the bigger picture. He will be missed by us all at the club and we have been saddened to learn of his passing.
