Welcome back Simon.

I while ago, I made a promise that I would write this, in the hope that I would eventually write it. After 12 months, true to my word, I have. Welcome back (home) Simon.

For those of you who are unaware, Harrogate Whites have a long standing affinity with our Scottish neighbours in Falkirk. This goes back some 30 years, when the (young) Branch Secretary made his way up to Falkirk to find some football to watch after one of our games got cancelled in 1989. He found his way to Elliots Pub in Falkirk and was met by some very friendly locals who were a bit surprised that someone would travel so far just to watch a Scottish 1st Division (those were the days) game. A lasting friendship was struck in Elliots that day. Since then, when fixtures have allowed, The Secretary, The Chairman and various branch members, old and new ( Mr Smith, Mr Charles, The Jap, Chris, Sonia and The MPO)  have made many, many sojourns to Brockville (now Morrisions car park) and since 2004, the shiny new Falkirk stadium, to watch The Mighty Bairns. This was reciprocated by the Falkirk faithful, who vice versa, travelled to Leeds, to cheer on the Mighty Whites, when their games were similarly altered. Pre SkyTVis f**kings**t meddling with our games, planning ahead for fitting in Scottish football was easy, now that we are permanently on the telly, recent trips have been scarce.

You cannot put a number to the many happy memories of day trips and rough mornings after late nights at Elliots (aka the Graeme Hotel) and The Red Lion at Larbert (now a chinese emporium) in the fantastic company of our Falkirk family, led by the inimitable motormouth Brian “your team’s shite” Stuart. Now there’s a man who knows how to run a football bus or three! The people of Falkirk simply refer to us as ” The Leeds” and have welcomed us with open arms at every establishment and watering hole for decades. Not just at Elliots, but to name just a few, Behind The Wall, The Tav, The Drookit Duck, Noors (home of the midnight munchy box) and of course The Mill Inn (Chris and Sonia’s favourite) second only to The Co-op. Probably should mention and thank the usual suspects, Andrew (Bodger) and Matty Gardner, Fraser (Housty), Davy Bell, Evil Dave, Ross and young George, Norrie, Bep, Dak (incl. everyone connected with nU2), Lesley, Des, Stevie, The Seals, Brian Flynn from BTW, Big Willy, Lieutenant Stardust , Billy, Wheezy, Munroe, Marsh, Derek (incl Razur Cuts) etc. etc. for their excellent company. Not forgetting the big man himself, Brian Stuart, and old Jim and the staff at Elliots. I have missed out many more but you all know that you have been a big part of our lives. I just need to finish with the Quote of The Century by Bep, ” I just had a Brian Stuart 15 minute tirade, he must have said a million words, of which I understood  10″.

So, to Simon.

Simon Barker is 21 and has been a Leeds United fan all his life. Simon was affectionately known as “Wee Jinxie” in his younger days for his uncanny ability to end a team’s winning run, just by purely turning up. Simon bore his tag with good humour, or at least as much as he could, whilst being surrounded by his merry father, Alan Barker, and his dad’s (even merrier) mates. As he grew up, the curse lifted and basically since the age of about 8, Simon has been the responsible adult in the group, supervising the trips from Falkirk to Leeds. After we won promotion against Bristol Rovers, Simon had to escort his father off the pitch. Alan was further reprimanded by another Simon,  Mr Simon Grayson, for his efforts that day, when Leeds played Falkirk in a friendly later that year. As a mark of Simon’s dedication as his father’s carer, he would benefit from periodic gifts from us, of Leeds United and LUSC memorabilia in the form of badges, wallets, scarves and copies of TSB and programmes etc. This has continued, despite the thousands of miles between us, after Alan decided to emigrate to Australia in 2013.

In July 2017, we received the sad news that Simon had been involved in a road traffic accident in Queensland. We were told he was in a coma and may not make it. He had suffered a traumatic brain injury and was treated at the roadside for an hour before he was stable enough to be moved to the Intensive Care Unit at Gold Coast University Hospital. Simon underwent 7 hours of brain surgery to treat the bleeding and swelling on his brain. He also sustained a broken neck, a ruptured spleen, blood clots on his lungs as well as the fact that most of his skull was missing. Simon was in a coma for the best part of four weeks.  Alan kept us updated, but Simon couldn’t speak, eat or hardly move and at the time, all we could do was send our thoughts to Alan, mum Linda and his sister Grace. In late August 2017, Simon was moved to the Brain Injury Rehab Unit in Brisbane, where he has learnt to walk and talk again. We, and most of the Falkirk family, were kept updated with photos on social media and #teamsimon. In September 2017, Simon was discharged home from hospital, with a view to returning for another operation to repair the skull damage. This operation was completed in May 2018, and as promised whilst Simon was in ICU, Alan is bringing Simon back to the UK, back to Falkirk, and more importantly, back to Elland Road.

Simon and his family have been through so much in the last 12 months, they have battled through it with courage and bravery. Hopefully if all goes to plan, Simon and Alan, along with a few more of the Falkirk Crew, will be here on August 18th for the Rotherham game. Last season, when the new (figure fitting) shirts came out, we sent one out to Simon, along with a few other treasures, and a scarf (!) in the post. It eventually got to him in November 2017 via snail mail. Alan said he wore it straight away and then asked for it to be washed, so he could wear it the next day as well. We received a video of Simon, thanking us for his gifts and an out-take of it. I have it on good faith that this was the first time Simon had laughed so much since his accident.

On behalf of Alan and his family, the branch would like to thank Phil (first man on the scene) and Queensland Emergency Services, the surgeons and staff at Gold Coast University Hospital Intensive Care Unit and all the staff at Brisbane Brain Injury Rehab Unit without whom Simon would simply not be here.

The montage of pictures below have been kindly used, with Alan’s permission, to show Simon’s courage in battling through this last year, and just how much it means to be Leeds, Leeds, Leeds. Welcome back, Simon.