"I love the sense of satisfaction that I get when I’ve done a swimming workout or race, and know that I gave my whole being and heart to God in every moment of the swim. It’s the best worship I can offer him."
The Ghost of White Hart Lane
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The Ghost of White Hart Lane, Rob White and Julie Welch, London, Yellow Jersey Press, London, 2011. ISBN 9780224082990
John White was one of the stars of the Tottenham Hotspur team which won the double in 1961. On 21 July 1964, aged 27, he went to play golf in North London, was struck by lightening and killed instantly. The book’s subtitle is “In search of my father, the football legend”.
Rob White was just a baby when his father died. Years later he set out on a mission in search of the father he never knew. The book charts in parallel the story of John White’s life and of the Rob White’s journey of discovery. This is one strange incident where he thinks he encounters his father at a séance. Elsewhere he describes the quest as “being a bit sad, hanging on to scraps like these to put together a portrait of my dad. But what else can I do?”
There is one paragraph which seeks to find the essence of John White: “he was ‘unmarked in the middle’, he ‘flits unnoticed’ into positions, he had ‘the genius of appearing at the most unsuspected but most productive points of action’”. (Page 134)
One small nitpick. It is stated on page 83 that “the towns of Falkirk and Raith are barely 15 miles apart”. Raith Rovers play in Kirkcaldy. There is no place called “Raith”.
For someone of my era, old enough to remember John White, the book is gripping, fascinating and a great read.