Hawthorns send-off for West Brom super fan Les as Liquidator plays out funeral
One of the most loyal fans West Bromwich Albion has ever seen made his final journey past his beloved Hawthorns today.
The funeral procession for Leslie ‘Les’ James stopped off at the ground, briefly halting at the Tony ‘Bomber’ Brown statue before driving on to Sandwell Valley Crematorium.
Family members and friends wore flat caps in tribute to Les, from Smethwick, who had seen the best part of almost 70 years at The Hawthorns.
With his name printed on their backs, they remembered a man who ‘didn’t have the easiest start to life’ and served in the Royal Navy on HMS Triumph into the 1950’s where he spent time in Malta.
WATCH footage from outside The Hawthorns:
Television personality and fellow Albion fan Adrian Chiles was among the many to attend the service.
He said: “I first met him not long after he’d lost the wife that he had cared for so long, he was in his tiny little council house in Smethwick with his little dog Rusty.
“He told all the time how he had one outlet for all his Albion angst, that was his gardening.
“He’d get back from an endless, pointless mid-week trip away to Newcastle or somewhere and the following morning whatever he would get straight out into the gardening and get it all out of his system.
“All that angst channelled into one small council house garden, I don’t think I’ve seen anything as amazing as that little garden.”
Photos from the procession:
Widely known for his dedication to West Bromwich Albion FC, Halfords Lane regular Mr James travelled home and away on coach two, suffering the trials and tribulations of supporting the Midlands club.
Chairman of the West Bromwich Albion supporters club John Homer, 62, said: “He was just a lovely, charming gentleman who had a hard start to life. In his later years he was surrounded by a family which he really appreciated – the Albion family.”
The service closed with Harry J Allstars hit ‘Liquidator’, a song popular among Albion fans, and a rendition of the Last Post.
Long-time friend Helen Allport, who used to travel with him, said: “I think it has been fantastic, he would have wanted to see the blue and white stripes.
"I am Les’s football friend but he always called me his daughter, I’m already missing him at games but the team are doing it for him at the moment.”
