I played for Charnos in my younger days and our manager Mick Hopkinson decided to get us to be more professional about pre season training. We were shocked when Ralph Brown and John Tudor turned up to put us through our paces. It was tough and they made they made us work really hard. However it was too tough for some of the older players and in the end they asked the club to relieve them of their duties as we were losing players who could not cope with the physical nature of the training. I personally enjoyed it because despite the fact I had by then discovered drink fags etc I still ran half marathons. John did not play many games for Ilkeston but it was obvious that he would move on to bigger things. Up here in thd north east h did an absolute legend and I am hoping do a piece on him for the From the Archives series.

John Tudor was not just an ex-Ilkeston footballer. He grew up and lived in Ilkeston until his football journey took him away.  Loads of our older supporters knew him personally. When his playing days were over he came back to Ilkeston and ran the Gallows pub at the bottom of Nottingham Road for a few years. His family are lovely.

Last edited by Matchman (12/2/2025 9:53 AM)