In my near 50 years of supporting Alty, the venerable Thomas George Boyd Heslop Esq. has been a constant presence.
My father knew George during their time as fellow employees at Shell Carrington and who can forget seeing the reassuring presence of George (and his legendary bobble hat) on those supporters' coach trips to countless away games during the 1970s, in particular?
He devoted an incalculable volume of hours to his beloved Altrincham FC, from his debut as a supporter circa the late 1940s/early 1950s to his work as a member of the old Supporters Association (followed by SAFE in the 1990s) and then in more recent times his respective roles as matchday secretary and manager of a successful youth team.
During his subsequent time in the accounts department at MMU, many a morning commuting into Manchester from Altrincham on the tram involved him suddenly appearing in the seat next to you (carrying that
enormous black briefcase) after the Timperley stop and then taking great delight in disrupting your attempts to complete the newspaper's cryptic crossword.
I readily confess that I have teased him mercilessly over the years, whether it be in person, via this forum or even in several of the articles that I penned for the
Robins Review. George loved it and he would invariably respond with a typically dry and witty riposte when you next encountered him in the old Noel White Suite or the CSH. He had marvellous anecdotes galore, too.
Let's hope that when some semblance of 'normality' returns, a memorial service can be held in his honour.
What a character. He is part of this club's DNA.
Sincere condolences to Jenny and all the other members of George's family.
Here he is with his old sparring partner John King in August 2014: