Please forgive my selfish recollection of just one part of my relationship with Dave. There were many other very happy times we shared as family and friends but through this brief recollection I would like to pay a personal tribute to him. A little known fact about Dave was that he was instrumental in setting up what was to become one of the most successful organisations of its kind in football history. Back in 1998 just before the World Cup in France, Dave, together with some other like-minded chaps, founded the Bexley Football Pundits Association (BFPA). We were fed up with the predictable dialogue that the established football panels would have us listen to, so we formed our own panel of self-appointed experts to offer our opinion on how the ‘beautiful game’ should be played. Our credentials? Well, one of us used to play in the Rochester and District League Division 4 (if he remembered his kit) another one of us played in the Medway Sunday League (division 6) but was sub most Sunday’s and was asked on several occasions to be the obligatory ‘bucket and sponge’ man. The others played every lunch time in the school playground for many years and could kick a tennis ball anywhere, which was a problem to be honest. So armed with this background of superior knowledge and skill we knew we were best placed to impart our analytical expertise on anyone who would listen! We would each take turns to host every match and turned our lounges into the very best studios where we could indulge in our favourite pastime of watching football. The BBC would be envious of the studio environment we could create, especially with Dave there who would insist on putting the surround sound on (very loud) at every opportunity. Our opinions were regularly sought after by others (wives, very young children, family members, passers-by, people asking for directions who were lost etc.) who needed guidance on the finer points of the game. Very often our studio (lounge) doors would burst open unannounced and we would be met with such insightful questions and comments such as; ‘Have you taped Dancing on Ice?’ ‘Don’t eat all the crisps, we need some for Sunday’ ‘Who is the team in white?’ ‘Turn it down!’ ‘What time does it finish?’ ‘You better clear up those crumbs off the carpet!’ ‘Can you answer the phone?’ ‘I’m going shopping’ ‘Do you have to cheer so loudly, the children have got school in the morning!’ ‘Don’t forget to turn off the lights when everyone has gone’ Yes, that’s right, not for us the banal, boring and predictable questions that Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer asked amongst themselves, we were able to field all these intellectual questions and demands from our inquisitive audience with great efficiency and effectiveness with our superior knowledge that we had gathered over many years of expert analysis. No England game, European or FA Cup final would be missed and although the wider world weren’t privy to our observations we knew what every player should have done and when they should have done it! We knew everything, or so we thought. Our reputation quickly spread throughout the football fraternity and our advice has been regularly sought by some of the most influential figures in the Premier League. The picture shown shows Dave and a delegation representing the BFPA imparting our wisdom to Mr David Gold himself at West Ham. He wanted to pick our brains on the best way we could help his team get out of the relegation zone. We gave him the benefit of our knowledge for which he was most grateful and at the time of writing West Ham are now 10th in the Premier League. So impressed was Mr Gold that he wanted to take a picture of us in the managers dugout (for the boardroom, he said, next to that iconic picture of Bobby Moore lifting the World Cup in 1966) which we are now convinced was really a subtext for ‘if you want the job, it’s yours’. (See picture). Rather like the story of Cinderella he just wanted to make sure that we could fit into the manager and coaching staff chairs and we would have the job. Anyway, we decided that it would be wrong to shove ‘Big Sam’ aside in his hour of need and declined to play his game.* Such was the excitement leading up to match days we had all become like trained M15 operatives in communicating between each other, otherwise if we had displayed such joy in open conversations we knew our upcoming happiness could easily be rained upon. Within 48 hours of any match there would be a flurry of discreet emails, texts and hushed conversations taking place and top secret information would be agreed as to who was to be the host and who was driving! Our conniving and ingenuity in organising such a huge task so close to a big match would equal the best story line of any Ian Fleming novel. We always blamed another member of the BFPA for inviting us (or themselves) round for the footie so that we could never get into trouble for organising it ourselves. (No other crime could be more heinous than us arranging something we all enjoyed doing together). We had become, in effect, a secret society of sorts so that even those nearest and dearest to us could not be relied upon to share our impending happiness lest they (or others) decided we had to go to Bluewater instead. How smart were we? Another aspect of our BFPA meetings was the quality of fine dining that we shared amongst ourselves. For this we have to thank (or not) Dave for raising the bar to the highest level. What started out as a feast on the delicacies of the very best that Walkers or KP had to offer quickly turned in to a quasi ‘Come Dine with Me’ experience. Dave’s skill in the kitchen was legendary and he would delight us all with his offerings on every occasion. As we are all naturally competitive it was incumbent on each member to outdo the other in terms of flair in the kitchen and Dave was consistently one of the best. I would like to apologise now for my feeble efforts which amounted to copious amounts of cheese flavoured Dorito’s and a hot dog if the chaps were lucky. Ever since 1998, Dave and the other members of the BFPA have hardly missed a match, we have shared extreme joy and pain in equal measure, but the one emotion we experienced every time was the fun we had when we met up. One of the reasons for this was Dave himself. With the passing of Dave we have lost a brother, companion, friend and soul mate and it just won’t be the same again. His enthusiasm, sense of fun, cheerfulness and all round personality will be greatly missed by not only us but by all who knew him and we are all a little bit poorer for that. Dave will be joining another sadly departed member of our little group, his cousin Steve, and I’m sure they will be looking down at us every time a match is on because we will be sure to think of them. On behalf of Colin, the Georges’ and Cliff we assure you that you will never be forgotten and a glass will be raised in your memory whenever the occasion demands. Dave, I know I can’t speak on behalf of everyone, but I know your family, your friends, your colleagues are all going to miss you more than you will ever have thought possible and I thank God that I knew you not only as a Brother-in-Law, but as a friend. The experiences we shared will be rather like the memory of you, immortal. Rest in peace my friend. Paul *Our sincere thanks to Mr David Gold and all at West Ham for their kindness and generosity in making such a memorable day for Dave.