Jock Henderson (Old Westminster Citizens)

We are sad to belatedly report the passing of Jock Henderson of Old Wesminster Citizens in May. Jock, whose name was synonymous with Old West Citz, made his debut for the club in 1955 and was into his seventies before he played his last game. His passion and devotion to the club was there for all to see and being based in Newcastle for a while did not stop him turning out for the club every weekend. Jock also planned his business trips abroad to ensure his weekly fix of wearing the black and gold halves was unaffected. He played during the club's halcyon days from the late fifties through to the early seventies being part of many trophy winning sides. He was also a member of the Vets team that won the first ever AFA Veterans Cup in 1978, beating Carshalton 3-1 at the Nat West ground in Norbury.

Jock was club secretary and chairman for many years and helped run pretty much every XI at some point or other. He always had his boots in his car and if he didn’t have a game he would look at the fixtures and figure out which team might struggle to field a side and make his way there. In fact, aged 70, he went to watch the 1st team play at Lloyds and they were a player short. Out came the boots and Jock was asked to play up front alongside a 16-year old making his debut. Jock decided at one point to come back and help his defence but unfortunately conceded a penalty. He was politely asked if he could refrain from coming near the penalty area and concentrate on being a nuisance at the other end of the pitch. A week later he turned out for the 6th XI against the same opposition. One of their players was aware he had played for the 1s the previous week and jokingly claimed he was a ringer!

Many of you would have come across Jock in his role as discipline officer at the AFA but it was his love of Old Westminster Citizens for which he will be best remembered. He was asked many times why he wasn’t married (he was, eventually, in 2017) but the club was the love of his life and his 70-year association with the OWC is testament to that.

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