davoak
Striker
Great post.I can't get it here so for six season (the first being 03/04) the club posted the issues to me. Rob helped me sort that out. He also sorted me out with a private tour of the ground and home dressing room only about two hours before kick-off many years ago on my first ever visit to the SoL. That was the first time I met him, too. I was shown the stadium by a groundsman who was very kind. Took some pictures in the dressing room where all the players' kits were laid out with a match programme nicely placed on top of each (I touched the shorts of a certain player who then sadly got injured in the game later. That and the fact that it took me four visits to the SoL before I got to see a home win made me think I might be bad luck). I remember being surprised by how the showers looked. Later the groundsman asked me if I wanted to try my seat out and I always get a bit teary thinking back on that. I sat in my seat looking around the big stadium with only the groundsman further down there with me. Apart from us the entire stadium was completely empty. And I still remember thinking how big it was and that my entire hometown of Varde could fit in there four times and there would still be empty seats.
I think that was the time he asked me to take photos of my journey from here to the SoL of every stop I had on my way. I did and he put them together into a piece about me coming over for a game for one of the early Legion of Light magazines. And since then I have been in touch with him over the years and still am. Everytime there has been a Danish (I include Prica in that as he came from AaB at the time) player playing for the club I have up-dated him with what the Danish papers and media are reporting on the players and the club throughout the season. One of the most colourful memories I have of those is when Bendtner played for us and there was a period where the Danish papers had about a full week of frontpages with his stupidities. I posted the lot to Rob and he spinned it around in the most clever way and only used the photos from the many clippings in a montage for the match programme without mentioning the player's troubles at all. I loved that. In recent seasons it has mostly been about how Colin Todd is getting on, especially after he took over as manager of Esbjerg, which is only about eighteen kilometres from where I live. He also has a keen interest in former players and connections and what they get up to now; Carsten Fredgaard springs to mind. And Lars Høgh.
I have very fond memories of Rob and it really annoys me about the news. Him and his lovely wife once took me to a pub somewhere slightly outside Sunderland for a pubquiz. I knew he knows lots about the club but his knowledge on British punk is pretty good as well.
He is a very busy lad especially in the last couple of days leading up to match programme deadline but always finds time for a quick chat or when am in town a meet-up. Met him as recently as last September when I was over and went to the Everton match with a dear, old friend of mine. We couldn't find a place to park so was running late and I was convinced Rob had left by the time we got to the ground as he had his radio slot to do as well. But lo and behold he was still there and happily chatting to a lad who was selling the match programmes. It was so good seeing him again and he was as jolly as he has always been with me.
I hope a solution will be sorted and that he will continue with the match programmes. His shoes will be massive to fill if not.
Years and years ago he invited me to watch his five-a-side team play an indoor match at a centre near the library. Every player in the team worked at the club and it was a good day.