[Phil Whalley]

My condolences also to John's family. I liked John's style, laconic and unflappable, and he was always very helpful. I remember when I was putting together the pictoral history and I was in his smoke-filled portacabin with Dave Hargreaves, having just received a rant from Eric, who thought I was trying to profit from the club's name. John looked at me with a kind of 'don't worry he does that to everyone' look, and I was leaving he gave me a wink and a supportive arm on the shoulder and said, "I'll sort it out, Phil, don't worry." And sure enough, we had a launch in the clubhouse and we sold plenty of copies in the shop. After that we always had a chat whenever our paths crossed. A genuinely nice chap and a terrific club servant.