It is not often that a follower of Harrow Borough finds himself in total agreement with a counterpart from Wealdstone,but could I use your pages to endorse everything that Graham Smith said in praise of John Comfort, just retired from the post of sports editor at your paper.

John was a great asset to your paper and more widely to the local sporting scene.

He didn't just come along to Earlsmead to report on a game - he immersed himself in the club for the afternoon, enjoying the banter with the supporters and usually dipping into his pocket to participate in whatever fundraisers were on the go.

Under John's hand, the sports coverage in the Observer has been a huge strength, concentrating on the sport in the Harrow area rather than, as other supposedly 'local' papers do, pretending that the Premiership or Football League clubs of West London, already more than adequately covered elsewhere, are theirs.

I sincerely hope that someone will be found to fill John's shoes, a very tough task, but in the meantime I add my good wishes to John and Kay for a wonderful retirement in St Neots.

SIMON GRIGOR

Secretary Vice-Presidents' Association Harrow Borough FC and occasional match reporter for your paper