In Memorium: FC77 founder Mike Calder, 1953-2026

Fellow FC77ers,

It’s with a heavy heart that we share the news that our dear brother and fellow footballer Mike Calder passed away earlier this year. 

He had been at Legacy Meridian Park Hospital in Tualatin for several weeks. There was a photo that had been taken of Mike watching his beloved Newcastle vs Leeds on his laptop and in the background, there is a patient information board on the far wall.  It had the usual information: His name, the date, his nurse's name, room number, etc. There is also a section on the whiteboard that read "About Me".

It said: I PLAY SOCCER.

 Mike was one of the original founders of FC77. There's that famous first photo of the Club with the original players sitting around back in 1977 or 78 and Mike is there, younger and with gloriously feathered hair but with that same glimmer pop in his eye.  Every one of us are a part of his history here in Portland, playing for teams that he helped found within the Club. We had our Festive Fixture banquet recently and we talked a little about the gratitude we felt from the simple act of kicking a ball around with friends.  Forty-nine years ago Mike and the other founding members all must have felt that same thing when they would pass to one another over at Delta Park or wherever they could get a free plot of grass. 

Mike's soccer legacy is written in the hearts of all the players he inspired and who came after him here at FC77.

It’s almost certain it was Mike who came up with the Club's Latin motto, "We play until we die."  So we’ll let him have the last word:

Nos Ludere Donec Moriatur.