It’s a very sad day for Altrincham fans and me personally and probably will be felt by the wider non league fraternity of an older age.
Our greatest, manager, inspiration, you name it has passed away. Most of us on here will be aware but for those younger fans who couldn’t be expected to know him this man was a collosus, a leader, a talisman, a Titan, you name it. And boy could he play.
To a young soft kid from a middle class village he was like something from another world or at very least from a comic book, I couldn’t even conceive that someone of his charisma existed.
Led us to our trophy wins, cup runs and two Alliance Premier League titles before managing us to our Birmingham victory and our FA Trophy win on my last visit to Wembley in 1986 (I said I’d only go back when Alty got there…)
And his impact on the town when he came back as manager. That side he put together in the 1990/91 season was simply the greatest team I ever saw, you can keep all the rest.
In essence, he’s hooked me into our club and shaped my life in that regard. Moreover he gave myself and my father times and a bond that I don’t think we could have had in another way.
None of this even gets close to the impact he had on Alty, And as said elsewhere, I haven’t even mentioned him saving them club from extinction in 1995 and his later donation of his shares providing the springboard for us to move forward.
Rest in Peace King John, this is a tough day for us Robins and has hit me harder than I imagined, a chunk of my childhood and life has changed tonight.