ArseWEB presents - the Queen Mum is a Gooner

As a schoolboy I had the great pleasure of shaking hands with the Queen Mother. It was 1955, I was fourteen, and attending Tollington Park School; I believe it's now called The George Orwell School.

I was on my way home to Crouch Hill, and had just passed the United Dairies, which was situated on the corner of Hanley Rd. and Stroud Green Rd. I enjoyed rounding that corner and slowing down to gaze at the "Milky Way Mural" on the U.D. wall. I was fascinated by this 19th century work of art. The tranqil scenes it depicted of dairy life , brimming with milk maids and cows grazing in meadows, often induced some of my best daydreams by the time I'd reached the end of it. It still exists to this day, and thankfully has a preservation order on it for the benifit of today's "mural musers".

It was at this point I noticed a big posh car with a flag on the bonnet. It was a Royal Standard. I couldn't see any Royalty around, so I popped into Jarmans for some sweets, and five woodbines, if Jarmy was in a good mood. Just as I was leaving I overheard Jarmy tell someone that the big car belonged to the Queen Mother. I decided to hang about on the off chance....

She was pleased to meet me, and commented on how nice my hair looked. On the strength of that, I gave her one my lower- than- usual bows hoping she would notice my D.A. and Boston hairstyle. As I staightened up, I recognised that distinguished look of Royal Approval on her face. Well done Ma'am I thought.

"Is it Brylcream John?, she inquired.

"Yes Ma'am. I replied. "It's the same brand Dennis Compton uses". I bet that'll stump her I thought, she won't know who he is.

"Doesn't he play football for the Arsenal and cricket for Middlesex and England?", she responded politely.

Bloody hell! she's better than Leslie Welch the 'memory man', I thought. I could see her chauffeur was about to blow his whistle to end our conversation, so not to be caught offside, I thought I'd play for a little extra time.

"How do you know Dennis Compton plays for the Arsenal your Majesty", I asked curiously.

Our faces lit up simultaneously as she replied, "I'm an Arsenal supporter! didn't you know"?....

The Queen Mother and me both Arsenal supporters, Magic!.. The urge to tell someone was incredible, perhaps a short letter to Mr Whittaker, the Manager, would be in order. Better still, I thought we're at home to Spurs tomorrow; I'll get up to Avenell Rd. early and chalk on the gates of the clock end: BY ROYAL APPROVAL OF THE QUEEN MOTHER.

That would give the Spurs fans something to think about.

From that day on, only Moriarty my Barber knew what I wanted when I asked for an R.A. instead of a D.A.

Best wishes , John Pollex.

If you have an Arsenal story you'd like to see on Arseweb, please get in touch