I am ridiculously proud of having played football with Don Howe, albeit with a tennis ball at the Royal Artillery training camp in Oswestry, Shropshire, when he was an 18-year-old undertaking national service.
Like all budding professional footballers called up for national service, Howe was sent to the regiment allocated to his club, in his case West Bromwich Albion, where he was already on the verge of the first team. I watched our regimental team play one from Donnington that included Manchester United players such as Bobby Charlton, and one from Catterick with Albert Quixall from Sheffield Wednesday.
Howe was given a semi-sinecure as sports storeman, handing out kit for games and afterwards sending it to be laundered. Officers made sure he was available for training in return for in-demand tickets for the popular mid-1950s floodlit matches such as Wolves v Spartak Moscow.
