“The world seems quiet” Sheffield Wednesday in mourning for a ‘friendly giant with an incredible aura’

“Tickets are sorted lads,” he’d write, wherever the destination. “Pay me when you can.”

Liam Rodgers was a tour de force in what it is to be a football fan. A home-and-away Sheffield Wednesday supporter, he was the bloke every group needs, the one that pulls everything together. Matchday tickets, train tickets, everything down to where they’d eat and drink before watching their beloved Owls?

“‘Big Rodge’ has sorted it.”

A larger-than-life character both in stature and in personality, recogniseable to anyone that has travelled on Owls away days in recent years, Liam’s tragic and unexpected death at the age of 28 leaves a space in the Sheffield Wednesday fanbase that won’t be filled.

It’s a fanbase in mourning of one of its true characters. And it’s one that will rise in the 28th minute of Friday’s Hillsborough clash with Sunderland to mark his passing.

“He was just a top, top man,” said Ryan Chadburn, a fellow Mexborough Owl and one of a handful of close pals that knew each other from childhood, whose friendship blossomed at S6 and beyond.

“He’d do anything for anyone and he loved everything about Wednesday. He never missed a game whether it was home, away or abroad for pre-season.

“When we say he was the centre of everything we did, it isn’t said lightly. He literally organised every single away day; everything. We knew it was sorted and he loved doing it.

“Every away day would centre around him because he had this incredible aura, he was this big, friendly lad and he had the warmth of personality to match. He just had this aura about him and you wanted to be around him.

“There’s not a bad word that could be said about Rodge. He’ll leave a massive hole in the hearts of many, many people, whether it’s in football or outside of it.”

Social media has been awash with notes of tribute not only from the Wednesday fanbase but from further afield. A bright and successful accountant holding a BA in business management from Hull University, the messages have followed a theme; that he was a friendly giant as at home with 30 chanting lads in a pub or relaying pointless trivia with his family.

Liam died in the most tragic of circumstances having collapsed on the finishing line of the Nottingham half-marathon. He was four months into a mission to get fitter and had been enjoying getting into running.

His tragically unfulfilled mission was to one day complete the London Marathon.

Wednesday supporters are asked to acknowledge two rounds of applause on Friday evening - first in the eighth minute to mark the passing of Sheffield United player Maddy Cusack - and then in the 28th for Owls superfan Liam Rodgers. A fundraising page to support the family’s funeral costs has scaled an incredible £10,000 within 24 hours. You can donate HERE.

“He will have pushed himself to finish it so he wouldn’t let anyone down,” said another lifelong friend James Tolley. “He wouldn’t have let anyone down of course, we were all so proud of what he was doing.

“But that was him in a nutshell. Rodge never wanted to let anyone down. He always went above and beyond to please others.

“It’s hard to imagine what Wednesday will be like without him.”

It’s telling that at such a difficult time Liam’s closest friends are quick to regale stories of humour, such was his fun nature.

‘Big Rodge’, it is said, was so excited to climb onto the hallowed Hillsborough turf in the seconds after Wednesday sealed promotion from League One in 2012 that his jeans ripped down the back, leaving him as the centre of attention as he rode the tram home in his boxer shorts.

On an away day at Nottingham Forest he swapped shirts with a ‘Hooters’ waitress, leaving little to the imagination, and chants unprintable in lyric were sung in his honour by dozens of Wednesdayites on trips to Morecambe and Chelsea.

The football can be good or bad, the weather changes. But it is characters of those such as Liam - as big a Barry Bannan fanboy as you could imagine - that make a fanbase.

He loved pre-season trips abroad with Wednesday and following England. There’ll be another space he has so sadly left behind at next year’s European Championships in Germany.

“I first met him when we were playing in a kids game away at Oldham in a Wednesday versus Oldham friendly,” said Ritchie Bywater.

“It will have been about 2003. We were eight.

“Fast forward few years, we both went to Mexborough Comprehensive School and were in all same classes from year seven, right through until we left. We were literally best mates from that first day at school.

“He was the man. The organiser, the planner, the one who sorts what time we get taxis, trains, food and drink.

“I can’t get my head around not having him laughing and joking at side of us at a game. I can’t believe he won’t be with us.”

The last word of tribute goes to the loving family he leaves behind; his dad Sean, mum Maria and sister Emma.

“Liam, Big Rodge, Junior,

“From the tiniest baby boy who grew into the world’s friendliest giant. You never failed to brighten our days when you barrelled into the house.

“Your constant jokes, story telling and none stop banter were the highlight of all of our days. You were the font of all knowledge, even if it was utter rubbish.

“The house, the world for that matter, seem quiet now. Life will never be the same without you.

“Sleep tight Junior, until we meet again.”