Letter: I played football with Don Howe

I am ridiculously proud of having played football with Don Howe, albeit with a tennis ball at the Royal Artillery training camp in Oswestry, Shropshire, when he was an 18-year-old undertaking national service.

Like all budding professional footballers called up for national service, Howe was sent to the regiment allocated to his club, in his case West Bromwich Albion, where he was already on the verge of the first team. I watched our regimental team play one from Donnington that included Manchester United players such as Bobby Charlton, and one from Catterick with Albert Quixall from Sheffield Wednesday.