John Woodhead
I HAVE been a lifelong supporter of Middlesbrough Football Club. It is not a pleasant task supporting the Boro. Your life is full of disappointments punctuated by the occasional joyful moment.
However one of the things that supporting Middlesbrough has done is made me appreciate some of the many people who have either played for the club or have been associated with the club in some way. There are some amazing stories and here are a few:
Gary Parkinson – suffering from locked in syndrome. See here in the Independent for the latest news about Gary and how Tony Mowbray, the current Middlesbrough manager, is helping him.
Jack Watson – the recently deceased 90-year-old that Tony Mowbray had on the staff as a football scout at Middlesbrough. See here on the BBC website for some information about Jack. Sadly the video is no longer available on iPlayer. However you can see it here on youtube.
Steve Gibson – his involvement in the rebuilding of the club in the 1980s and his continued support for the club is amazing. He is currently supporting the club via his haulage business to the tune of £1m a month. In my view the document available here with the Steve Gibson section starting at page 110 is a great read for anyone interested in football.
Craig Johnston – “bad” footballer, almost lost a leg when a kid, car wash boy, migrated from Australia to England at a young age, inventor of revolutionary football boots and much, much more. Click here to listen to an interview about his life story.
Without my support for the Boro I probably would not know about these people. So thanks to the Boro and lets hope things get better for us in the next season or two.
