One of Cup Match’s most colourful characters had died.Diehard St George’s fan Cyril (Jimmy Drew) Smith, who brought his own unique style to Cup Match with his wide brim straw hat and cigar, died last weekend and will be laid to rest today following a funeral service at the St George’s Seventh Day Adventist Church.“My vivid memory of him is seeing him with his cigar, but the funny thing was it was never lit,” said his nephew Wendell Smith, the former St George’s Cup Match captain. “One thing he had ws a very distinctive shout and you could hear him up on the verendah.”The unique dress style of fans like Cyril Smith helped give Cup Match its character over the years and his presence will undoubtedly be missed. Another colourful St George’s fan was Diddy Smith who passed away a couple of years ago. She, too, was known for her colourful hats and costumes.“He added a lot of flavour to Cup Match because he believed in maintaining the traditions of Cup Match of old in that people wore some very colourful costumes and his was very distinctive because he used the same one year after year,” said his nephew.“He had the large cigar which had the St George’s ribbons attached and his big Mexican hat with the colours. He reminded me of three other characters who, in my time playing Cup Match, added a lot of atmosphere to the classic ... Diddy Smith who would wear beautiful elegant dresses that you would think someone would wear to Mardi Gras or to a wedding and with huge hats and walk right out onto the field.“The other was Neil Paynter (Sr) with his drum which was a usual sight whenever someone got 50 or St George’s won and he would march out with his big drum. The other was Collingwood Bean who would wear this great big top hat, about two feet high that was blue and blue chequered. That’s something that I think the youngsters and the older folks like going to Cup Match and seeing people decorated in a fanciful manner.”Added Smith: “My uncle was someone who loved sports and was into bodybuilding and went to a lot of bodybuilding shows. He was also a member of Wellington Rovers when they had softball teams. He was more of a supporter, I don’t remember him playing cricket but he would attend Camel Cup games and knockout matches and would never miss Cup Match. He loved to party and would always be there unless he was sick.“Maybe one of the clubs might one year want to have a fancy costume competition just to add some flavour. One of the things I did was get a cedar stick made and wrap it with blue and blue ribbons and take it to Cup Match when I go now. Those type of things were done back in the 1950s and 60s and in the 30s and 40s people would go to the match in ties ad those are some of the traditions that the younger folks don’t know about.”Cyril Smith was the brother of former St George’s president Mansfield (Bojangles) Smith.