ROYAL BLUE & WHITEvWEALDSTONE

Jonathan NorthJake Sheppard

Ryan SellersEddie Oshodi Glenn Wilson

Jerome Okimo ©Ricky Wellard

Sam CoxDave Pratt

Daniel GreenBradley Bubb

Matthew Whichelow Dan Fitchett

Jeffrey MonakanaIan Gayle

Tarfiq Olomowewe Marcus Johnson-Schuster

Ravan Constable

Luke Southwood Miles Welch-Hayes Anthony StrakerMatt RichardsJack BattenDan BallOpi Edwards Tom SmithAntoine SemenyoAndy Watkins Jack ComptonNat JarvisGeorge RiggKevin AmankwaahJames Morton Kieran Hodges

GOALLESS AT TWERTON PARK

The first meeting between City and the Stones back in September ended in an

uninspiring 0-0 draw. Dan Fitchett is denied by the Bath keeper as we pressed in the

second halfPICTURE: STEVE FOSTER aqueoussun photography

REFEREE Alex Blake ASSISTANTS Craig Kissiand Steven Scott OBSERVER Barry FirminMATCH SPONSORS 1) In memory of Ian Spicer(2) ProKit UK (3) Daniel Wicks

League sponsors

Wealdstone v Bath City Saturday April 7 2018, KO 3pm

Vanarama National League South

www.wealdstone-fc.com 2017-18

Your award-winning match programme, sponsored by the Ruislip Social Club

Main club sponsor:

NEXT HOME GAMES v OXFORD CITY (Vanarama National League South) Wednesday April 11, 2018, KO 7.45pmv CHIPPENHAM TOWN (Vanarama National League South) Saturday April 21, 2018, 3pm

BATH CITY

£3

WHITE & BLACK STRIPES

Good afternoon and a very warm welcome to the Officials, players and supporters of Bath City Welcome also

to you our supporters. We hope you enjoy your afternoon and have a safe journey home.The rather wet and miserable weather over the Easter Bank Holiday has left us with a bit of a busy month on the fixture front. As I write and with fingers crossed that this afternoon’s game takes place, we still have nine league matches to play before the 28th April. Following today’s encounter with our old friends from Bath, we are away to Hungerford Town on Monday evening (9th). Home here at the Vale

on Wednesday night (11th) against Oxford City, then away again on Saturday (14th) against Poole Town. The Supporters Club are looking to run a coach to Poole, departing at 10am and at a cost of £25 Adults, £20 Concessions with a £2 surcharge for non members – contact Victor on 07881 624890 if you are interested. Thanks as always to our sponsors today, We are always grateful for the generosity of our supporters when it comes to match and ball sponsorship as these play a big part in our financial stability. We still have sponsorship opportunities left this season so please get in touch if you are interested. Enjoy the game Mark

WRITTEN IN STONEMark Hyde

MATCH SPONSOR

RAINY DAYS

KEITH & ALAN HILLBALL DONOR

ProKit UK

MATCH SPONSORDANIEL WICKS

I am proud to sponsor today’s match in celebration of my 21st birthday this week!Along with my good mate Laurence Mason, I’ve been coming to ‘The Vale’ since Wealdstone moved to Ruislip. The club and fans have been fantastically welcoming, and I love the passion and camaraderie, especially at away games. I’ve made so many friends and feel part of the club, not just a number in the crowd.Sadly, I’ve not seen too many games these past three seasons, since I’ve been living in Cheltenham studying at the University of Gloucestershire. However, I do follow on twitter and get the alerts, though I must admit it can be far more suspenseful ‘watching’ in this way!I love music and play guitar and keyboards, so the Friday night ‘Tropic at Ruislip’ means I sometimes get to go to a gig and a match the same weekend. Wealdstone have made a fabulous impact on Ruislip and long may that continue. Come on you STONES!

MATCH SPONSORIN MEMORY OF IAN SPICER

WEALDSTONEFOOTBALL CLUB SEASON 2017/2018GROSVENOR VALE, RUISLIP, MIDDLESEX HA4 6JQ • 01895 637487 • OFFICE@WEALDSTONEFC.CO.UK • WWW.WEALDSTONE-FC.COM • COMPANY NO. 3953962

MAJOR HONOURS SINCE 1950LEAGUE TITLES1951 / 1952 Athenian League1973 / 1974 Southern League Division One South1981 / 1982 Southern League Southern Division1981 / 1982 Southern League Championship1984 / 1985 National League Premier (Gola League)1996 / 1997 Isthmian League Division Three2013 / 2014 Isthmian League Premier Division

NATIONAL CUPS1965 / 1966 FA Amateur Cup1984 / 1985 FA Trophy

LEAGUE CUPS1981 / 1982 Southern League Cup

MIDDLESEX COUNTY CUPS1958 / 1959 Senior Cup1962 / 1963 Senior Cup1964 / 1965 Senior Cup1967 / 1968 Senior Cup1984 / 1985 Senior Cup2003 / 2004 Charity Cup2010 / 2011 Charity Cup

NON TITLE-WINNING PROMOTIONS1997 / 1998 Isthmian League Division 2 (3rd)1998 / 1999 Isthmian League Division 1 (3rd, annulled)2003 / 2004 Isthmian League Premier Division (Play-Off)

PERSONNELBOARD OF DIRECTORSChairman Peter MarsdenVice Chairman Nick ArcherDirectors Paul Fruin,Mike Williamson, Pete Worby, Dominic Whyley, Nick SymmonsPresident Paul Rumens

SECRETARIESClub Secretary Paul Fruin(07790 038095)Company Secretary Andrew Lane

CLUB PERSONNELLife Vice-President Alan CouchTreasurer Barry BenvenisteGeneral Manager Nick DuGardPress Officer Nick DuGard(nick.d1@outlook.com)PA Announcer Ashley HoldingKit Manager Tony Waugh Boardroom Hospitality Alison Moran, Jacky ShoreClub Photographer Web Site Manager Alan & Matt Hill

MATCHDAY PROGRAMMEProgramme Editor Mark Hyde Production Martin Read, Tim ParksPrinting People for Print Ltd. www.peopleforprint.co.ukwfcprogramme@gmail.com

MATCH DAY OPERATIONSManager Steve MarshallSafety Officer Victor KlarfeldMatch Day Staff Paul Bowley, Tony Waller, Richard Hayward, Russell Greenberg, Adam Clancey, Matthew Impey, John Cahillane

COMMERCIAL & MARKETINGCommercial Manager Carol Griffiths (carolgriffiths@wealdstonefc.com)Graphic Design Steve FosterIT Consultant Neil RandsReporting & Social Media Chris Woods

LIAISON OFFICERSWFCSC / Social Club Markie BartonWFC / Social Club James Klarfeld

FOOTBALL MANAGEMENTManager Bobby WilkinsonAssistant Manager Jamie LeacockCoach Mike Percival Physio Stacey WoodGoalkeeping Coach Ian Hobbs

The legal name of Wealdstone Football Club is Wealdstone Football Club(2000) Ltd (Registered Number 03953962). Shares in excess of 10% areheld by Peter Marsden Property Finance Ltd

GROUND REGULATIONSPeople are only allowed entry to The Vale on match days subject to the following rules and regulations: 1) The club reserves the right to eject from the ground any person who is considered to have committed any of the following acts: • Entering the ground through any means other than through the turnstiles or entrances• Entering the field of play before, during or after a game without prior authorisation• Being drunk, or under the influence of alcohol or drugs • Using violence of any nature• Carrying items which may be considered a danger to others, including cans, bottles, or glasses containing alcoholic beverages• Throwing any article onto the field of play • Climbing floodlight pylons, fences, stands or any structure or building• Using obscene or bad language likely to cause offence to others • Hitting the side or back panels of the Bulla stand2) No spectator ball games.3) The consumption of alcoholic drinks is permitted INSIDE the social club bar and boardroom areas.4) Vehicles parked on the Grosvenor Vale site are at the owners’ risk.5) Wealdstone Football Club supports the FA’s campaign on pyrotechnics (e.g. flares and smoke bombs). Any misuse of such items in and around the Ground will result in those responsible being asked to leave the Ground and, in line with football authority guidance, may result in a report to the Police, potential prosecution and a ban from the Club of up to three years. — Wealdstone FC Board of Directors

Today, we welcome Ian’s mum Claude, brother Paul with his wife Lorna

along with Ian’s favourite nephew James, one-time partner Bingo avec entourage and many others who have come to celebrate the life of our great friend Ian Spicer. This celebration of him is close to the occasion of what would have been his 52nd birthday. Ian tragically left us last June.I first met Ian back in 1969. He was 3 and I was 5. We grew up together five doors apart in South Kenton. We both discovered the delights of Lower Mead a bit late, not becoming regulars until 82/83. My brothers David and John had been coming for a couple of years,

and they were never slow to remind us newbies of our status.Ian was an excellent footballer who, as a boy, played at county level. He also loved music. An avid gig goer, he learned the bass in his teens and played in numerous bands. He made a living at it for a time, touring in the UK and abroad with Lisa Dominque. Whilst with a band called Jerod he was the last to play the Wardour Street Marquee before its closure.Ian would attend Stones games almost always with a girlfriend in tow. He may well hold the record for bringing the most females to Stones games. Of our generation only Grim could yet realistically surpass him. They blinkin’ loved the football, those girls. Everyone has their favourite. Who’s yours? This bird n footy combo culminated in Ian’s wedding reception being cut short so he and the delightful bride, Maltese Klarissa (not my fave), could hotfoot it down to the Warren, yes THE WARREN, in order to see Dennis Byatt’s jaw-droppingly awful team succumb to the usual miserable home defeat. It didn’t last obviously. No, Byatt went and Bartlett came in. Sorry, got side-

tracked. No, what I meant was the marriage didn’t go the full 90. Spice was a stalwart of the lively music scene surrounding the club and played, indeed stole the show, at each of the Stonesaid concerts that provided such excellent light relief and much needed fundraising during the Stones wilderness years. He, along with Kaney, Johnson and Dave, as both Ginger Whine and latterly mygaymonkey were the tour-de-force on the iconic Sticks n Stones LP. Ian resided in West Ealing for the last 20 years of his life. His sporadic ill health meant he couldn’t always get to games, and eventually he fell out of the habit. He will be missed by all who had the pleasure of meeting him. In parts, he was the wittiest, most cutting, most erudite, most well-read, most intellectual and, sadly too often, most inebriated bloke you could wish to meet. We all love ya Spice, RIP.

Mark Lloyd

1. Roger Slater £125 2. Paul Rumens £75 3. Carol Gridley £50 4. Peter John-Baptiste £25 5. Alan Jenkins £25 6. Chris Andrews £10 7. Sudhir Rawal £10 8. John Fairman £10 9. Jeremy Albert £1010. Nick Symmons £10

IAN SPICER – ‘SPICE’ (1966-2017)

Voucher Robert Matthews

Quarterly Prize of a Television for holders of 3 or more entries: John Cord

Spice (behind GB) invented the photo bomb

TEAM DRAW - MARCH WINNERS

In just over forty-eight hours Wealdstone’s season was over.

Defeat in the Brackley semi final, which I have written about in the East Thurrock programme that might see the light of day sometime, and then two days later defeat at home to Eastbourne Borough consigned Stones to another season in the Conference south, just a day after the clocks went forward. Let’s be honest, with the resources spent on the squad, to be out of the promotion race so early just isn’t good enough however which way you spin the story. At the start of the campaign the minimum objective was of a play-off spot and whilst we had a magnificent run in the Trophy, that doesn’t hide nor mask the fact that the main goal has been missed by a long way in a season when the Conference South has never been weaker. A missed opportunity especially when you think that Torquay

United, Woking, Brackley Town, Hereford, Billericay Town and Dulwich Hamlet could all pitch up in this division next season, even if half of them do, the route to the top will be significantly harder. It was a strange weekend for football over the Easter break as the typical washout bank holiday weekend resulted in no football at all; not sure when that has happened last. April is now chock-a-block with games that will see two/three games every week before the season ends; there will be some clubs who will play-off matches to play at the end of this month having played out a congested April. There’s not much you can do with a deluge of water and here at Wealdstone we have a pretty decent pitch but dead fox corner is down to the typography of the land/site and there are only some miracles that the ground staff can perform. Some games were played though. There were some incredible images on social media of old

fashioned mud heaps that were being played on. Dartford verses Hampton being a prime example with players squelching and sloshing through the mud and water. Not for the footballing purists, but I’m sure it must have been a spectacle to watch! To play in such conditions, you need two managers and a referee that are prepared to put aside so called health and safety issues. Fair-play to them. The constant postponements will always bring to the fore the question about the need to have a 3G pitch or not. I’m not a fan to be honest and that might be to do with the fact our record on plastic pitches is so bad, with no wins on synthetic surfaces. Whilst the surface gives you all year round ability to generate income, do you really get to see a decent game? There’s no reason why a very decent pitch , such as St Albans or Wingate, can’t be as successful or even a hybrid pitch which some of the Conference sides are looking at that currently play on plastic if they were promoted to the Football League. Do you get bigger crowds when other clubs are off? Locally Hendon have a plastic pitch and on Easter Saturday with so many games off, they couldn’t even get three hundred people through the gate despite being in the play-off spots in the division below.

SUD

POSTPONEMENTS HAVE THEIR USES - AN EE PERSPECTIVE.

ELMSLIE ENDER

BY SUDHIR RAWAL

WELCOME everyone today as we finally return to National

League South action following a completely blank Easter programme due to the miserable rain!

• SEASON TICKETS 2018/19 season.I have been working on a new and more efficient centralised on-line approach to our ticketing arrangements, to include season tickets initially as a trial. We must update and modernise our facilities and I am very keen to push ahead with this once the reviews are completed; a cost/benefit proposal has been put to the responsible directors and we await a decision asap – almost certainly by the date of this match. Fulfilment of 500 plus season tickets on a manual basis and other inefficiencies are no longer viable in the medium to long term in my view but we may have to continue with the previous semi- manual system on cost grounds. If the new system proposal is not accepted, then I understand that Nick Symmons will be taking responsibility for issuing tickets on a manual/other basis as soon

as possible and announcements will be made rapidly as to how and when to purchase.

At the clubs recent AGM the club announced ‘Early Bird’ Season Ticket prices for the 2018/19 season of:-

Adults £125Concession £100Under 18s £20

these prices will apply only until 31 May 2018 after which they will rise to:-

Adult £150Concession £125Under 18s £25

ST sales will commence shortly, look out for an announcement via the official WFC Media (Twitter/Facebook/Instagram/WFCTV) channels as well as the website.

• THE ROOF The roof has been fully re-instated to the El Pirata stand following the storm damage. New advertising fascia boards have been put up that also enhance the appearance of the structure. This stand, as

regular fans will know, has been constructed at considerable cost so do please support the SUFW campaign! https://www.wealdstone-fc.com/commercial/stand-up-for-wealdstone/ New posters have been designed to recognise our fantastic donors and you can see these in the club house and donors are listed under the commercial tab at the website

• WiFiThe board is also seeking to introduce ground wide WIFI and more progress news on that when available.

• FANS SURVEYThanks again to everyone that completed the survey – overall 147 of you. The draft results have been sent to the board for consideration and review and I will be guiding them on some key recommendations once I have had some initial feedback. I would like to thank Marshall and Ben of UCFB Wembley for their great work on putting the questionnaire together.

UTS! Nick DuGard

NICK DUGARD

GENERAL MANAGERS UPDATE

Pic - Steve Foster

Good Afternoon and welcome to today’s Vanarama National

League South clash against Bath City. I hope that the Bath City supporters, players and officials enjoy their visit to the Vale and leave after seeing an entertaining match.

Our next planned Supporters Coach is to Poole Town on Saturday 14th April.Depart the ground at 10am, stop in Poole for lunch, then on to the ground. Return straight after the game.Adults £25, Concessions £20, surcharge £2 for non-members.

Bookings by text to 07881624890 or email victor.klarfeld@btinternet.com Please quote full name of person/persons contact number also required. Supporters Club AGM will be held on Thursday 19th April in the Aquarium Bar from 7:30pm All supporters are welcome to attend. Supporters Club Megastore Shop has a new selection of bobble hats and scarves to keep you cosy, so why not show your support by popping in to see what else from their diverse range takes your fancy. As per usual on a match day, Mim will be selling Golden Goal tickets at the entrance to the

ground for £1 a ‘go’ (there’s one for every 30 seconds and a nil-nil) The holder of the ticket with the time of the first goal will receive £50, and that with the time of the last goal will receive £10 (unless there is only one goal). Prizes can be claimed from Mim at the end of the game in the Megastore, behind the dugouts. The details of the winning goal time (s) will be posted on the forum and on twitter via @GoldenGoalStone you can also claim at the next home match if you discover a ‘Golden’ ticket in your pocket.

Up The Stones Markie

SUPPORTERS CLUB NEWSMARK BARTON

As many of you will know, I’ve spent a lot of time over the last

couple of years researching those players and officials of Wealdstone FC that lost their lives in both The Great War of 1914 - 1918 and the Second World War, 1939 – 1945. The result of this research was the Memorial Booklet that was included with the match programme last November, updating our records to what was thought to be a complete record. Thought to be, as there was one name that I knew I knew, but could not locate – and indeed a name that was missing from the recorded list of Wealdstone FC’s fallen… Well, a few months further on, I believe that I have now joined the dots and I can add Private Frederick Farmborough, S/No TF/265283, 1/9th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment, a former Harrow Postman and Wealdstone FC goalkeeper to the list of names of those we remember. The Battalion, a Territorial Regiment, (it is likely that Fred joined prior to the outbreak of the Great War) was mobilized in October 1914 and left Southampton docks en-route to India, arriving in Bombay on 2nd December 1914. In July 1916 Private Farmborough left the 1st/9thMiddlesex to join the 2nd Norfolk Regiment as it was re-constituted. He moved with the regiment to

the Persian Gulf, then marching to Ctosiphon where shortly afterwards, he was wounded. It is believed that he recovered from the wounds and returned to his regiment only to be killed in action a couple of months later on 12th October 1916. He is commemorated on Panel 30 and panel 64 of the Basra

Memorial. What is perhaps also understandable is how Fred Farmborough was overlooked when the original list of the fallen was produced for the Wealdstone FC Golden Jubilee Handbook in 1950… During my research I came across the name and had some feint recognition, and I also checked on the Wealdstone war Memorial, where Fred Farmborough is also listed, but it wasn’t until I went back through records and reports of the clubs that became Wealdstone FC that I found the link.

Fred Farmborough had been a goalkeeper with Wealdstone Wanderers in 1897, prior to their amalgamation into Wealdstone Albion (then Wealdstone FC as we know it today) and he became primarily a Reserve player, featuring in what was thought to be the first Reserve fixture of the new Wealdstone

FC in October 1899, a 0-12 reverse against Queens Park Olympic. He did make two appearances in the Wealdstone First Team: The first, in September 1900 was his only known League appearance in a Willesden & District League Division 1 defeat (by two goals to nil) against West Hampstead Reserves and then he played in the first match of the re-formed Wealdstone FC (the club reformed after the split from Wealdstone Church Athletic), playing as

a forward and scoring his only goal for the club in a two – nil friendly win against West London Old Boys. Now one hundred and one years since his death, he can be added to the Wealdstone FC Roll of Honour.

ONE LESS UNKNOWN SOLDIER......Private Frederick Farmborough BY ROGER SLATER

WEALDSTONE v BATH CITY

REWIND SPECIAL

Saturday April 14 1973, South-ern League Division One South: Wealdstone 1 Winchester City 0

WEALDSTONE FC and American football – gridiron – are not often

mentioned in the same breath but this game at Lower Mead almost 45 years ago saw the two mighty codes joined at the hip by the mention of one man: John Smith.

Who? What? A brand of bitter? A labour politician? No, my friends. John Smith was a centre-forward who turned up on the Winchester team bus that spring afternoon in Harrow and put in motion a chain of events that was CONTINUED OVERPAGE

TIM PARKS reveals the intriguing taleof JOHN SMITH...

Philadelphia Eages. They are the Barcelona of American football. But for 20 years, the Patriots were an under-achieving, middle-ranking NFL Eastern Division team with no hope of Super Bowl glory and with only one player holding a place in the American consciousness – John Smith.

And yes, it all began at Lower Mead in April 1973.

Let me take you back to a con-

to lead to the emergence of the New England Patriots as a major player in the NFL… and cement his own place in the history of a game watched by millions of Americans.

How come? Well, you may have heard of the Patriots. They won three Super Bowls in four years in the early 2000s, and became the first team to reach ten Super Bowls in February this year - only to lose to the

The strange story of how the night of John Lennon’s murder, the making of a New England Patriots legend, gridiron history & WealdstoneFootball Clubare interwoven..

MASTER OF BOTH CODES John Smith juggles a football with young fan at the height of his fame in the US

WEALDSTONE v BATH CITY

REWINDSPECIAL

versation I had later that evening at my mate Derek’s house. We had watched the Stones v Winchester City game together with Derek’s dad Charlie (a QPR fan). It was a pretty turgid affair livened only by the Stones’ brilliant forward pairing of George Duck and Bill Byrne. The 6ft 3in, 14 stone Byrne, who turned 21 that week, scored the only goal but would be missing for the final few games as he had been selected to tour Japan and South Korea with the Middlesex Wanderers representa-tive side.

‘Who’s going to play up front with George Duck now?’ Derek asked.

‘I don’t know about Bill Byrne, but the best player on the pitch today was the Winchester No.9’, said Charles as he looked up from his Radio Times. ‘Just a thought’.

Quite a good thought, though. The strong-running Winchester centre foward with the explosive shot had turned our best defender – Eric Burgess, ex-Colchester United – inside out for 90 minutes and how he hadn’t scored was little short of a miracle.

How bizarre then, to pick up my copy of the Midweek Harrow Observer a few

days later and read that ‘John Smith, an amateur from Win-chester City, had been signed after making such a good impres-sion in Saturday’s game. He will be making his Wealdstone debut at home to high-flying Minehead tonight. He will replace the touring Bill Byrne’.

Extraordinary! As David Coleman would say. Was Derek’s dad as good a judge of a player as our manager Sid Prosser? Well, it turned out he was, even CONTINUED OVERPAGE

couple of months’ time…..

We take up the story a few weeks later, thanks to information from an

article ‘Whatever happened to John Smith’ printed in the New York Herald News three years ago. Apparently, the previous summer of 1972, Smith had been at college in Hampshire coaching football but was then asked over to America to teach students at a camp in Pittsfield, Massachus-sets.

“One of the boys brought out an American football,” said Smith. “I had never seen the game before, the ball was oval, and it was strange to me. I had played rugby at school in Southampton and that ball is much fatter than a football, but that was as close to a girdiron ball as I had seen.”

It was while kicking rather than throwing the football around that Smith was noticed by a man named Jack Rohan, who was the men’s head basketball coach at

though we had the pleasure of seeing J.Smith turn out in our colours just four times as the season drew to a close.

The Minehead game looked like ending as a disastrous debut for our new No.9 as we trailed 3-0 at half time…. but we roared back down the slope towards the Cinema End in the second half with Terry Dyson, Paul Fairclough and an Eddie Presland penalty all finding the net in an inspired 45 minutes. It ended 3-3.

Smith and Duck had caused panic in the Somerset side’s defence… and the powerful Smith was on the mark in a 2-1 defeat at Dorchester on Easter Saturday, and then again in a 2-0 win at Bletchley on Easter Monday. We ended the season with a 2-1 defeat to Bath City at Lower Mead the following evening, and John Smith swung his kit bag over his shoulder with a cheery wave, vowing to be back for pre-season training in a

SMALL BEGINNINGS Winchester City’s J. Smith gets his name in the Stones programme in April 1973

WEALDSTONE v BATH CITY

REWINDSPECIAL

Columbia University.“He said, ‘you should have a go at kicking,’” Smith recalled. “I didn’t know what American football was. I knew it was a game that was played with helmets, but my first thought was, what the hell does a kicker do?

“He asked me if I could stop in Newark (New Jersey) and kick a few balls for a friend of his. I did. I kicked some and went home. A little while later I got a letter from the Jets, but I was playing amateur soccer and I told them that I was finishing college and I want to play soccer.”

The following May (a few weeks after playing for the Stones) he received a phone call from “an American lad who said there was a plane ticket waiting for me for a tryout with the New England Patriots.

‘So there I was, 22 years old and about to get married, but they told me they would send a ticket for my wife, too. I was hop-ing to play soccer, but I decided to go out there and see what happened. I figured I could al-ways come back to England and play soccer for Wealdstone or Winchester if I wanted to.”

The naïve John Smith had an abrupt introduction to gridiron. Soon after arriving, Smith was contently juggling a soccer ball on an adjacent practice field when he heard New England coach Chuck Fairbanks yelling his name.

He ran over to the field where the Patriots were scrimmaging the Washington Redskins in a practise session . An irritated Fairbanks barked, “We need you to kick.” Smith ran onto the field and kicked CONTINUED

OVERPAGE

(Part of the opposition line-backer’s job was to try to put off the kicker, especially if he was a rookie)

“It was the first time I’d lined up for a kickoff with live people in front of me and this linebacker was yelling all sorts of abuse towards me and my mother,” he said. “By the time I kicked the ball, I forgot about kicking it clean out of the end zone. I was just watching the linebacker. I barely kicked it to the 20-yard line.”

The legendary TV announcer Howard Cosell, who was report-ing that game, said Smith would be flying straight back to England if he continued to kick like that!

Smith recalled, “My wife was watching at home in Boston and was nervous when she heard Cosell. She thought: Will they re-ally send him back?”

The answer was yes, and no. Smith was cut after the Hall of Fame Game but earned the kicking job the next year with a young and upcoming Patriots team. He held on to it for 10

his first NFL field goal - without his helmet, which was resting comfortably on the other field with his soccer ball.

Smith laughs when he thinks about his first pre-season game. He

became the first-ever player in the history of American football to play in a game before he’d even watched one!

“It was a ‘Hall of Fame’ game against the San Francisco 49ers,” he said. “They didn’t even tell me what a down was. I had no clue what was going on.”

Smith says he can still see and hear the 49ers linebacker lined up across the field as he prepared for his first kickoff.

HIGH FLYER John Smith, now 68, poses on the London Eye during a flying visit back to London.. Strangely, not wearing a Stones top

TRUSTY LEFT BOOT Dead-eye Smith shows the form that made such him a hit for the Patriots

WEALDSTONE v BATH CITY

REWIND SPECIAL

years...Smith led the NFL points-

scoring charts in 1979 and 1980. For the Patriots, this was their last chance to remove the label of “paper champions.”

Considered one of the most talented teams in the league, the Patriots won 50 games, losing just 26 from 1976 to 1980 but could not win a playoff game.

During that time Smith – who was reputedly offered £12,000 for his first May to October contract with the Patriots, a small fortune in those days – earned his place in US folklore. It was the night John Lennon was shot dead in New York: December 8, 1980.

Tens of millions of viewers were watching “Monday Night Football” as New

England Patriots were tied 13-all going into the last three seconds of their game with the Miami Dolphins. John Smith trotted onto the Dolphins’ Orange Bowl field to kick the decisive points… and for those who remember the next few moments, Smith and the game itself have become historical and cultural markers forever connected to Howard Co-sell’s announcement that John Lennon had been shot and killed.

“Remember, this is just a football game, no matter who wins or loses,” Cosell told TV viewers.

“An unspeakable tragedy, confirmed to us by ABC News in New York City: John Lennon, outside of his apartment building on the West Side of New York City, the most famous, perhaps, of all the Beatles, shot twice in the back, rushed to Roosevelt Hospital, dead … on … arrival. Hard to go back to the game fter that news flash, which in duty bound, we have to take.”

As stunned fans watch-

“He had been clearing the lines every five yards all game. I was clearing the snow and he made a veer right between me and Matt, clearing a path directly in front for me to run up and strike the ball. The ball sailed between the posts for the only points of the game and Dolphins coach, Don Shula was really p****d off about the whole thing. He tried to get the rule about clearing the pitch changed, and he did.”

When he retired from playing in the late 1980s, Smith moved back to

England and became an expert summariser for the hit weekly Channel 4 NFL show. American football was really taking off in this country with regional teams all around the country watched by crowds in excess of non-League gates. Football, in the wake of the Hysel and Hillsbor-ough disasters, was something of a pariah and gridiron suddenly became an acceptable alterna-tive. NFL Europe was born with pro sides operating out of all the major European cities: London, Edinburgh, Barcelona, Cologne, Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Amsterdam.

Smith fronted the show for several years before the craze

slowly died out – ‘soccer’ get-ting its act together with the Taylor Report and the birth of the Premier League focus-sing, once again, our eyes in the right direction.

Today, Smith runs his own soccer academy in Milford, Massachusets. From two-year-olds learning to dribble, to 18-year-olds with college and professional aspirations, Smith and his daughter Felici-ty (who has played for Arsenal Ladies) guide the way.

He still can’t believe his link to those iconic moments in US sport.

“It’s amazing I was as-sociated with John Lennon’s death, growing up a Beatles fan and being the only Eng-lishman in pro football. It’s amazing how things happen in this world.”

ing the game on TV listened to Cosell deliver the news, all they saw was Smith prepar-

ing for a field goal attempt. His kick was blocked, disappearing into the aqua and orange of Miami’s defensive line, and the Dolphins scored on the first possession of overtime to win 16-13.

“I was upset and mad because we didn’t make the kick.. but then hearing the news about John Lennon put things in perspective.”

John Smith’s other claim to fame is his role in the fa-mous “Snowplough Game”

in December of 1982 when his 33-yard, fourth-quarter field goal accounted for the only points in a 3-0 victory over the Miami Dolphins – one of the lowest-scoring games in NFL history.

‘We called a timeout so I could get set. Matt Cavanaugh was the holder (the man who held the ball while Smith kicked) and we were clearing our spots when they sent the tractor out. There was a brush about 3 or 4 feet wide attached to it and they had this guy who did 15 years for armed robbery driving it.

The snow plough, driven by a prison inmate on work release , controversially clears a way for Smith to kick his famous points in the winter of 1982

For a minimum donation of £60 to sponsor a seat in the new stand at Grosvenor Vale, Wealdstone fans can play a crucial part in pushing the club towards promotion. For very penny donated will be directed to manager Bobby Wilkinson’s playing budget. Each seat will be sponsored in the name of a WFC legend and you can dedicate the name of your favourite player.. or even a whole team for £500! You can pay online using a credit or debit card via the WFCSC Megastore http://www.wfcmegastore.co.uk/ or by electronic bank transfer to WFC (2000) Ltd, Act No 43154759 + Sort Code 09-06-66. Or print out the application form from the club’s website www.wealdstone-fc.com and follow the instructions. Come and make the difference!

WE’VE SPONSORED A SEAT.. HAVE YOU?

STANDING UP FOR THE STONES

Picture by Steve Foster, Aqueous Sun Photography

MARK BARTON ADAM WILLIAMS VICTOR KLARFELD GORDON THOMPSON

NICK WOOLFORD WFC SUPPORTERS CLUB FRIENDS OF WEALDSTONE

MARK HYDE NEIL RANDS PETER JOHN-BAPTISTE NICKY CLARK

DOM WHYLEY PAUL HARVEY SALLY MORRIS TIM PARKS MICK FISHMAN

SIMON HEANEY ROGE SLATER MICHAEL VINCENT TONY MAIDMENT

MATT HILL HARRY LEIGH SUDHIR RAWAL AKHIL RAWAL NIKHIL RAWAL

ALYSON ANGELIDES MARK CONBOY NICK ARCHER JOHN FENNELLY

JOHN ORCHARD CLIVE LEAPER TOBY JACKSON ‘A PRINTER’

MARTIN & SYL ALLEN KATHLEEN, SHANE, SINEAD AND STEVE

NICK DUGARD MIKE WESTON MARK HOBBS MARILYN BERNARD

WARREN LADD ALAN COUCH TOM MORRIS ALAN HILL PETER MARSDEN

ADAM WILLIAMS TERRI MOFFITT BRIAN & SHIRLEY PETTIFER

MIKE WESTON JAMES KLARFELD MIRIAM GOODMAN TERRY HISSEY

GEOFF HAINES BARRY BENVENISTE TERRY STERN PAUL SAFFER

‘A LOVING FAMILY’ PETER WORBY OLD WEALDEN ASSOCIATION

DAVID LEIGH ALF GOLDSMITH PAUL SAFFER JAMES KLARFELD

PETE WORBY MIRIAM GOODMAN GRAHAM JONES JON TAFFEL

RAY CORNER NOTE: MANY OF THESE SPONSORS ARE MULTIPLE DONORS