I greatly enjoyed David Marples’ account of completing “the 92” – watching a match at every football club in the top four English leagues (Doing the 92: how football changed during my groundhopping odyssey, 9 April). While I am not in the same league of groundhopping as David, at Wimbledon v Plymouth last weekend I completed my own football odyssey of watching all the teams my great-grandad (Jack Jobson) and great-uncle (Norman Smith) played for. Destined to be pitmen, after being scouted playing for their respective Tyneside colliery teams in 1922, they became professionals in the old third division.
Norman would make more than 400 appearances for Charlton Athletic, later playing for QPR and joining Chelsea as a coach, where he scouted Ron Greenwood. Jack began at Plymouth (joining the same squad as Jack Leslie, whose chance to become the first black England player was blocked by the FA) but quickly moved on to captain Hartlepool and Stockport, ending his career with stints at QPR and Gateshead.
