Happy Birthday Jim and a massive thank you too!
Saturday saw Jim Seymour celebrate his 93rd birthday-still as enthusiastic as ever, still volunteering and looking after the pennies for the club!!
Having reached retirement age back in the early nineties, Jim finds himself living in Felixstowe and wanting to socialise and get to know people. Off he goes to watch Walton Unitedi at Walton recreation ground and before long he’s offering to help out putting the dugouts together, put the rope out (no fancy fencing with sponsors’ boards in those days) and clearing up the dog mess from the pitch. Soon he’s collecting entrance money (he likes collecting money for the club!) from the punters but not from the covered turnstiles we have today. No, this was bare and simple. Jim, together with others, found £100 to buy a hut they could sit in to collect the entrance money.
In those days, Jim would work on a Saturday from 10 in the morning through until 7 at night. Off he’d go to the Labour Club where Jenny would provide a bottle of Scotch to raffle every home game. Jim reminisces about his fundraising exploits back then and how they’d make about a hundred pounds for every game. A lot of money back then.
Seven years he got involved with Walton United, the club merged with Felixstowe United to become Felixstowe & Walton United in the year 2000. This week, speaking after his presentation at half time during the home game with Romford FC, Jim said, “I don’t do so much now. When I came here it used to be a seven-day job doing the toilets, electrics, carpentry. Mind you, we had a lot of helpers. At one time there was about twenty-five of us doing something. When we were in the old building it needed a lot doing to it. There was always something that didn’t work.” When asked if he would be carrying on doing what he’s doing, he replied, “I certainly hope so. And my wife understands I still want my football.”
Before helping out at Walton, Jim did, of course, play football himself in the Bishop Stortford and District League and then to the Isthmian League with Harlow Town as a centre forward. “I’m giving back now what I took out.”
Fast forward almost thirty years and at the ripe old age of 93 (that’s correct…ninety three), Jim is still offering his services to the club, still making sure no-one gets in scott free when they should be paying and is still as sharp as he ever was. Jim’s parting comments on Saturday were, “I’ve enjoyed it, I still enjoy it and I just wish I could win the lottery and finish off everything here. I’d love to say, here you are Andy, here you are Tony, here’s a million quid, sort everything out.”
So there you have it, yet another stalwart without whom the club wouldn’t be what it is today. Next time you pass Jim on matchday, remember he’s not just some bloke in the turnstiles. He’s Jim Seymour - a club legend. Thanks Jim.