MISSING . . . . . . AND FOUND
Happy days: Barbara Lloyd as a teenager in the 1960s
ANOTHER old footballing friend has come forward. A few months ago, Kerry Laffar asked us, on behalf of his father David Laffar, 83, to try to find anyone he played with on the Tavistock FC team in the 1950s and 1960s. Kerry wrote: ‘The team originated from the Mary Ward Youth Club in Euston, London, and included Roy Lunnis, who went on to QPR; Peter Gooding, who later played for Loughborough FC and Notts Forest; and Roy Sleap, who went on to Barnet FC and was in the GB team at the 1960 Olympics. ‘Dad taught his six grandsons to play football
A FOURTH friend is being sought to catch up on old times. ‘There was a little gang of us that went about together before we went our separate ways in 1966,’ writes retired engineer Terry Pick, 78, who lives in Jersey. ‘I’ve recently traced Brian Avery and Shirley Walters, but our fourth member, Barbara Lloyd, is still missing. She lived in Cam or Dursley in Gloucestershire, and was last heard of living in Bristol about 30 years ago. ‘Brian was from Cornwall, and I was from Kent. We were engineering apprentices in Dursley from 1960-65; we met Shirley and Barbara (Babs) in about 1963. Shirley was training to be a hairdresser and Babs worked in a shop. Together, we did all the things young people do: going to the cinema and pubs, taking trips to Bristol and Gloucester, or just hanging out. After the apprenticeships finished, we all relocated to London for the bright lights. ‘For a while, we shared a friend’s flat in Tulse Hill, then got an unsuitable flat in Earl’s Court. In the end, Babs and Shirley returned home. I’m afraid we drifted apart and never saw each other again. At that time, in 1966, Brian and I were 21 and the girls about 19, which makes Babs about 75 now. I’d be very grateful for anything you can unearth.’ and loves telling them stories of his footballing days.’ We’ve already reunited him with old team-mate Mike Norton; they’ve had an emotional get-together. Now, another reunion has been effected. Benny Wing emailed: ‘I played for the Tavistock football team in 1967-69 and knew Dave well. I bought my first Lambretta motor scooter from him! We also travelled together to Crawley to play for the same Saturday club. I’m now 82 and live in Clacton-on-Sea.’