John Paul Jones began his career at 13, sailing out of Whitehaven, the town in which I was born. He went on to become a legendary figure in the US navy. Frankie Simek made the reverse journey across the Atlantic. He was born in St. Louis and, via Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday, has become a legendary figure at Carlisle United. Frankie was playing in TTT's first football match on Sunday for Carlisle at Wembley - as were Francois Zoko from the Ivory Coast and Lubomir Michalik from Slovakia. Such an international element was not on show when I was first taken to watch Carlisle (against Rochdale on a rainy December day, as I recall). It was all names like Harkness, Proudlock and Saddington then. But the Carlisle United motto remains "be just and fear not". These are words for TTT to live by. I think he has been inspired by this motto and his first football match. Monica tells me that he was kicking when Carlisle went up the famous steps to collect the trophy. I look forward to him kicking on the pitch!
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