John Dunn Obituary

Maidenhead United were saddened to hear of the recent passing of long-time supporter John Dunn, known to many Magpies fans as ‘Millwall John’. 

 

John was born in Cairo in 1934, where his father, Fred, was serving in The Royal Signals. When war broke out in 1939, Fred was transferred to The Mediterranean. So John, his mother Emily and two sisters moved to Cambridge and it was here that he would spend much of his early years. After the war, Fred, who was born in Bermondsey, starting taking John to South London to support his own favourite team, Millwall. John would become a lifelong fan. he also developed a love for his local team, Cambridge City. 

 

After five years service in The Royal Air Force, 1958 would be an important year for John. Fred had left the army and got a job with the NAAFI, leading him to relocate to White Waltham, and with his help he got a job at the giant Vandervell factory in Cox Green. He also married his childhood sweetheart, Shirley, and moved permanently to Maidenhead. Initially at a house in Brunel Road and later, for over sixty years, Derwent Drive. Three children followed, Carol [born 1961], Janet [1963] and Robert [1965], known as Jim (pictured on the right with John at the Magpies FA Cup match at Oxford United in November 2023). 

 

Initially John continued his regular trips to cheer on Millwall with his parents, but if The Lions were playing away, he would start making York Road his second footballing home. Prolific scorer Peter Lowen was an early hero. In 1969, at the age of four, Jim began to join the group and he recalls: “For many years the pattern stayed the same; every Millwall home game, some aways, with Maidenhead United filling the void as much as possible. There was never any doubt about which two teams I would be supporting! Any Magpie fan of a certain age would know that the 70s and early 80s were thin years for the club, apart a brief flirtation with promotion under Geoff Anthony in 1978-80 there was little to cheer at York Road, no trophies or promotions, crowds hovering around the 150-200 mark. Mick Chatterton was a favourite at this time.” 

 

“Fred’s death in 1985 and myself taking up refereeing shortly after made the long drive across to South London a bit lonely. Added to this, The closure of the Vandervell factory in 1993 and a career switch to being a taxi driver, meant a more unorthodox set of hours, and slowly but surely it became much easier to watch football at York Road than The Den. His retirement in 2002 left him with more time on his hands and he became a season ticket holder, now attending all home games. Shirley’s death, after 59 years of marriage allowed him more opportunities to attend away matches and in recent years he has cheered the team on at such long distance locations as Barrow, Harrogate, Salford, Guiseley, Tranmere and many others.” 

 

“He was also present at some great moments in the club’s history, such as promotion at Bath City in 2007 and our greatest day ever, winning National League South at Margate in 2017. He had a particular fondness for our striking partnership of Dave Tarpey and Sean Marks. Even in his ninety-first year he was still a regular in the main stand with Reece Smith and Remi Clerima being his favourite current players.” 

 

“He was an old-fashioned ‘Victorian’ style father, very much of the ‘I’m in charge and don’t you kids forget it’ type. He was also probably the squarest man I have ever met. Teetotal, non-smoking, short back and sides, no tattoos, conservative with a capital C sort, very different from myself! We did however bond closely on football generally and the love of our two teams in particular, for this reason I will miss him sitting next to me in the main stand cheering on his beloved Magpies as he has done for the last 67 years.” 

 

All at Maidenhead United have John in our thoughts, a very loyal and recognisable face at matches and club events for many, many years and our sympathies are with Jim, Carol and Janet at this sad time. A suitable tribute to John will be paid at a forthcoming York Road home match.