Help your local team; Your shout.

WITH the astronomical fees being charged in the football league, why not come along and support your local team Gateshead in their pursuit of league football? Did you know that anyone of school age is only charged pounds 2 entry fee if accompanied by an adult.

These are the supporters of the future. My 15-year-old grandson, Alex Jackson, is a regular contributor to the match programme under the guidance of Jeff Bowron.

It would be nice to see the big clubs follow suit.

Ian Bogie has assembled an attractive team, which has been promoted three times and is now looking at the possibility of league football again. The crowds have improved from 200 to around 1,000, but we still need more support.

For the benefit of the oldtimers like myself, I would like to take this opportunity to reinstate the legendary Johnny Ingham as Gateshead's leading alltime scorer.

Johnny signed for Gateshead as an amateur in 1938 at the age of 14, for 10 shillings per game expenses.

Because of his age and slight build he played mainly for Wallsend St Luke's and Gateshead Reserves during the war years.

In 1947 he came into the first team, where he was a fixture until the club lost their league status.

His official statistics give him 121 league and cup goals in 462 games. However, they overlooked the fact that Johnny returned to the club under Jack Fairbrother and Bobby Mitchell and scored a further 19 goals between 1961-63.

His Gateshead record stands at 140 goals in 502 games over a remarkable 21 seasons.

Still number one.

ALBERT TURNBULL, Whickham.

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Title Annotation:	Letters
Publication:	Evening Chronicle (Newcastle, England)
Geographic Code:	4EUUK
Date:	Oct 3, 2011
Words:	269
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