West Ham United

The crest of West Ham United FC is probably not the first thing you'd expect to see on the kitchen wall of a Dumfriesshire manse. My association with them stems from a visit to their East London home in 1983. Dundee United, the team I support were the visitors, for a mid-season friendly.

It was an open and entertaining game and finished as a 2-2 draw. However, my enduring memories are of the hospitality and banter with the West Ham fans at the ground and in the pubs before and after the match. I've followed their fortunes ever since.

Many years later, when I was training for the ministry and living in McDonald Road in Edinburgh, I used to go into a pub in Leith Walk. The owner, David, was a West Ham fan and we struck up a friendship. He used to joke about the similarities between being a minister and being a publican.

I moved away but kept in touch with occasional visits back to his pub. I knew he had been diagnosed with cancer but had been reassured by him during my latest visit that 'things were ok.'

A couple of months later, I received a call from the Church's national offices. David had been trying to contact me but had no address or telephone number. He was now in a hospice with only weeks to live and wanted me to take his funeral. It was an extraordinarily moving experience which I couldn't do justice to here.

After his funeral, I visited his widow and she asked if I'd like to have the crest which used to hang in the pub.

Later this afternoon, after I posted the photo, West Ham went on to record their biggest home win of the season. David would have been amused by the irony.