1,025 consecutive away matches. That is absolutely incredible. He must be in extremely good health as I've missed games at the merest hint of man flu coming with train or match tickets already bought.
930 at Lime Street last Saturday and there was Doc scuttling off the Birmingham train. God knows what time he set off. I thought, there's a constant of my Albion-supporting life. Little did I know.
My Dad used to work with him and knew him pretty well. Big film buff too used to see everything at the London Film Festival every year.
I always wondered why Me , Russ and Rob had seen Doc getting on a train at Grimsby Town to go to an away game some years back until it was revealed that he also travelled around the country visiting new or existing Wetherspoons.
We are about to move into a new stadium and enter potentially one of the most exciting periods for our club. But Doc is choosing to follow non league football, never went to Gillingham and has only been to Withdean on a number of occasions
Perhaps I should recall my my only encounter with him. Away to Halifax a few years back in the first MA promotion season. Having travelled up on a damp Tues afternoon we were distraught when the match was called off 30 mins before kick off due to a water logged pitch. Only one thing to do was have a few beers and a curry.
Bumped into Doc and some younger chap in the pub and there then followed a lively debate as to why he did not go to Withdean much or Gillingham. Essentially he said he did not like or trust Dick Knight and and he suggested that he would have preferred that we had gone bust and had to start up again in non league.
I don't wish to demean his away attendance record but I just could not grasp his logic.
Please DO not enquire about the time he was STOPPED by the RUC in Belfast who wished to look inside the case.
I think the RUC officers ARE still traumatised by what they saw INSIDE.
I was speaking to Doc during halftime of the Ireland game last night, he's still planning on going to more Albion away games this season. May even be going up to Hartlepool next month!