TRIBUTES have been paid to a popular young football coach from Greenock who has died suddenly aged just 26.

Kris Juszczak, who worked for Morton Community Trust, passed away last Thursday.

His body was found at home after he did not show up for work at an Easter coaching camp.

Kris was a well-liked coach who worked with hundreds of youngsters in what he described as his ‘dream job’.

Last September he spoke to the Tele about how the Butterfly counselling service run by Ardgowan Hospice had helped him following the tragic death of his father Tommy, 58, in March 2014.

Loved ones have been left devastated by Kris’s passing and paid emotional tributes to him online.

Friend Robin Brown said: “Kris was one of the closest friends I have ever had and we could talk about absolutely anything to each other, will miss you so much my friend and I hope you are at peace and having a great time seeing your dad again.”

Pal Raymond Smith described Kris as ‘one of the nicest guys you could meet’ while another, Ross Docherty, added that he had a ‘big heart’.

Kris started working at the Morton trust through the Future Jobs Fund programme after being recommended by the hospice bereavement support group.

He subsequently spoke to the Tele about the difficulties coping with grief over the loss of his father, who lost his battle with throat cancer three years ago, and praised the support he’d received from the hospice.

The former college student also told how the Butterfly Project and the Ton trust helped turn his life around and spoke fondly about his role nurturing young players across Inverclyde.

Kris said: “The trust has been brilliant and I was taken on permanently.

“I now coach nursery and school kids – it is a dream job for me and it is what I always wanted to do, I went to college to do sports coaching.”

A post-mortem has been carried out following the tragedy and it is understood there are no suspicious circumstances.
Funeral arrangements have still to be announced.