He passed away peacefully at his home in France in the early hours of this morning (Thursday), surrounded by his family.

Widely regarded as one of the most gifted sports writers who chose not to take his skills to the national press, Oli covered Watford for more than 40 years and was regarded as the oracle on the club.

He reported on more than 2,000 matches and wrote several books about the club, as well as many others about the history of the town of Watford.

Oli built tremendous working relationships with countless Watford managers, not least Graham Taylor, chronicling the club’s rise under the former England boss from Division Four to Division One, an FA Cup and European football.

Former Hornets chairman Elton John was another man that Oli counted as a friend, having played a key part in getting the world-famous music star involved in the club in the first place.

Indeed, when Oli celebrated his 80th birthday, Elton recorded a personal video message for him which was played during his birthday celebrations.

When he retired, Oli and his wife Ellie moved to France – something he had always wanted to do.

However, he was a regular visitor back to Watford because, as he often reminded friends and family, “you can’t get a decent pint of beer or a proper curry in France”.

He followed the fortunes of the Hornets from afar, using the club’s Hive Live service to watch games and tuning in to matches shown on Sky Sports and the BBC.

With his health taking a turn for the worse towards the end of last year, he and his family had the opportunity to enjoy him being recognised by two of the largest institutions in the town he loved.

Watford Borough Council announced that Oli had been added to their list of 100 people who made the town of Watford as part of its celebrations to mark its centenary last year.

Then Watford FC revealed they would be naming their Media Suite after the man who spent most of his working life in press boxes all around the country.

In next week’s printed version of the Watford Observer, we will be running tributes from many people connected to Watford FC and journalism.

If you would like to share your thoughts and memories of Oli, please clink the link below.

We will share these with Oli’s family, and print a selection next week. Please leave your name with your comment if you would like us to consider your tribute for inclusion.