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Lindy Delapenha still a legend in Middlesbrough
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Dear Editor,
I am a Middlesbrough football club supporter living in Middlesbrough. I read with absolute fascination your tremendous article on Lindy Delapenha. The link to your site was sent to me by a friend from "The Boro" as I am working on an oil rig in the North Sea at the moment. My late father used to ooze with pride whenever Lindy Delapenha's name was mentioned in conversations in pubs and bars of our hardworking steel town.
My father once told me a story that is folklore in "The Boro" which I'm sure Lindy can well remember. He took a penalty at our old ground (Ayresome park), he hit the ball so hard that it went through the back of the net! The goalkeeper, being quick-minded, grabbed the ball from the back of the goal and put it in the spot for a goal kick. Thus kidding the ref that it had missed! The ref sided with the keeper, and despite claims from Lindy and his teammates, gave a goal kick!
Lindy is still a legend in this area, and you have to imagine back in those old, dark times that it was very unusual to see a black person, let alone a black football player in the north of England, unless a team from London was playing at our ground. Our public embraced him like a son. He even married a local lass. If you pass this on to Mr Delepenha or tell him that he will never be forgotten in Middlesbrough, I would be very grateful.
God bless you, Lindy, you most certainly were Jamaica's greatest footballer. Indeed, "a man ahead of his time"!
Peter Mc Dermott
28 St David's Grove
Ingleby Barwick
Middlesbrough
Cleveland
TsS7 5HE
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Dear Editor,
I am a Middlesbrough football club supporter living in Middlesbrough. I read with absolute fascination your tremendous article on Lindy Delapenha. The link to your site was sent to me by a friend from "The Boro" as I am working on an oil rig in the North Sea at the moment. My late father used to ooze with pride whenever Lindy Delapenha's name was mentioned in conversations in pubs and bars of our hardworking steel town.
My father once told me a story that is folklore in "The Boro" which I'm sure Lindy can well remember. He took a penalty at our old ground (Ayresome park), he hit the ball so hard that it went through the back of the net! The goalkeeper, being quick-minded, grabbed the ball from the back of the goal and put it in the spot for a goal kick. Thus kidding the ref that it had missed! The ref sided with the keeper, and despite claims from Lindy and his teammates, gave a goal kick!
Lindy is still a legend in this area, and you have to imagine back in those old, dark times that it was very unusual to see a black person, let alone a black football player in the north of England, unless a team from London was playing at our ground. Our public embraced him like a son. He even married a local lass. If you pass this on to Mr Delepenha or tell him that he will never be forgotten in Middlesbrough, I would be very grateful.
God bless you, Lindy, you most certainly were Jamaica's greatest footballer. Indeed, "a man ahead of his time"!
Peter Mc Dermott
28 St David's Grove
Ingleby Barwick
Middlesbrough
Cleveland
TsS7 5HE
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