Bumped into a legend at the Emirates Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.

He is a very keen cricket fan and Lancashire supporter and once player of Lancashire League cricket.

He works for Everton on a commercial basis and says he often gets asks when they play Burnley what does he want the the result to be.

He says "5 - 5" and a bloody good game.

He was brought up in Rishton but now resides in Southport.

My all time Burnley hero.

His first question was to ask about Barry Kilby's health.

D O D O B D O B O DOBO!

I get the impression that Martin Dobson and Brian Flynn's faces never quite fitted with the club when they retired from playing although Dobbo did work at the club a few years ago.

Flynny having quite a bit of early success with bringing on youngsters particularly at Wrexham.

Dobbo - one of the nicest of people you could ever wish to meet. I've said it before but no one ever showed me and the website more respect than Dobbo during the years we've been fundraising and that is something I will never forget. Sold once to balance the books and then removed from office in 2011 along with Vince Overson to accommodate Jason Blake, and that was shameful. Dobbo went first. I'd just arrived at Coventry for a gAme when Vince phoned me to tell me the news. Vince was in shock but just a few days later he was phoning me again to tell me that he'd followed.

TY said Dobbo was brought up in Rishton and I am sure he, like TY, played Lancashire League cricket for Rishton and then for Southport when he moved. Didn't know he was living in Southport again, he and Carole had lived in Horwich for a good number of years.

He's a long time friend of Barry Kilby - they were at school together although I think Dobbo is a year older. I think Barry was shocked when the club didn't renew his contract in 2011.

I still believe, if pushed, he'd always go for a Burnley win and, don't forget, he was brought up as a fan of those wearing blue and white halves.

DO-DOB-DOBO-DOBBO

My dad arranged for his new lease car to be delivered to his work. When it arrived, Martin Dobson got out holding the paperwork.

ClaretTony wrote:Dobbo - one of the nicest of people you could ever wish to meet. I've said it before but no one ever showed me and the website more respect than Dobbo during the years we've been fundraising and that is something I will never forget. Sold once to balance the books and then removed from office in 2011 along with Vince Overson to accommodate Jason Blake, and that was shameful. Dobbo went first. I'd just arrived at Coventry for a gAme when Vince phoned me to tell me the news. Vince was in shock but just a few days later he was phoning me again to tell me that he'd followed.

TY said Dobbo was brought up in Rishton and I am sure he, like TY, played Lancashire League cricket for Rishton and then for Southport when he moved. Didn't know he was living in Southport again, he and Carole had lived in Horwich for a good number of years.

He's a long time friend of Barry Kilby - they were at school together although I think Dobbo is a year older. I think Barry was shocked when the club didn't renew his contract in 2011.

I still believe, if pushed, he'd always go for a Burnley win and, don't forget, he was brought up as a fan of those wearing blue and white halves.

DO-DOB-DOBO-DOBBO

They’re both Clitheroe Grammar School old boys, as am I (although many years younger!). Dobo used to come back to play in old boys v school first XI cricket matches when I was a pupil there, he was in his second spell at the Clarets at the time.

There are a number of items hanging on the wall in my house depicting the great man

A lovely man he is for sure - and a great ambassador for the club. Didn’t he have a clothes shop in Burnley ?

What he isn’t however is a good after dinner speaker. Saw him a few years ago on a football league do and he was awful - there was one guy on the table next to us who actually fell asleep. He had a very cringeworthy Jeremy Bentham style of referring to himself in the third person !
One of the lads on our table in the taxi after the do said he now understood why Dobbo was only charging £400 a night and he said he was not looking forward to the Friday after as he had booked him for the Grammar School Old Boys annual do !!!

Dobbo lived across the road from a girl I was going out with in Read in August 1974...This was at the time he was sold to Everton...And later after he had returned to Burnley he lived in Rimington .

Tony - Martin was with his son yesterday and was telling me how he can't get him out of bed in a morning when they go walking along Ainsdale beach.

He says that he has no interest whatsoever in sport which is criminal given how gifted his dad was. His lad just laughed.

And how gifted he was. No pace but everything else.

My wife (when I met her) was a Housemistress at Bentham Grammar School, and Dobbo used to come and take training occasionally with the Football team.

He is great friends with David Allison (now retired) who was the French Master and a Premier/Football League referee.
So over the next couple of years I met him a few times at various School events, Dinners and the like. What an absolute gent he is.

Said it before, Lord selling Dobbo was to me what Jimmy Mac's sale was to my dad...bloody criminal .

Quicknick wrote:D O D O B D O B O DOBO!

The first 'nursery rhyme', I taught my daughter!

She she managed to shorten it to to Dob Dobbo!

ClaretTony wrote:And how gifted he was. No pace but everything else.

Never lost a tackle!

Very much like Bobby Moore's style of tackling, not overly blessed with pace but immaculate timing and reading of a situation more than compensated.
A graceful player who seemed to glide across the pitch.
Probably my 3rd all time Claret behind Brian O'Neil and Ralph Coates.

The word 'elegant' is not one often used to describe a player but that is how I thought Dobbo was when on the pitch. I was heartbroken when he was sold to Everton, ( and much later when the club ended their association with him.)

Ramnit Bosdon

Buxtonclaret wrote:Said it before, Lord selling Dobbo was to me what Jimmy Mac's sale was to my dad...bloody criminal .

Completely agree with that. We always referred to the the Bob Lord as the Martin Dobson stand, felt like his sale paid for it at the time.

I’ve told this story on here before, so apologies. He turned up as a surprise at my 50th several years back. Splendid humble man. Loads of stories. A gentleman hero. Stayed and talked to everyone, when I let them get a word in. Gave me a signed photo of the promotion team in the bath at Deepdale.

My hero.

As a teenagerI used to try and copy the cool way Dobbo walked, as mentioned he used to glide across the pitch but also walked with a real laid-back style

tybfc wrote:Tony - Martin was with his son yesterday and was telling me how he can't get him out of bed in a morning when they go walking along Ainsdale beach.

He says that he has no interest whatsoever in sport which is criminal given how gifted his dad was. His lad just laughed.

It’s funny you should say this. I was schoolmates with his nephew and he was the most naturally gifted player I’d ever seen.

Made everything seem effortless without breaking sweat and could play in any position. School captain, town team, county etc etc

But he just wasn’t interested in playing. It wasn’t his thing. Such a shame.

Buxtonclaret wrote:Said it before, Lord selling Dobbo was to me what Jimmy Mac's sale was to my dad...bloody criminal .

They had to pay for Lord's stand somehow. It will always be the Martin Dobson stand to me (and many others I think).

houseboy wrote:They had to pay for Lord's stand somehow. It will always be the Martin Dobson stand to me (and many others I think).

As per my post #19. One of my schoolfriends was related to his brother Philip, I remember him getting free tickets to watch Dobbo's first game at Goodison, broke my heart as an 8 year old to see him playing for another team.

Where in Rishton was he brought up

occ-claret wrote:Where in Rishton was he brought up

I think somewhere off the Esplanade. Cornwall, Devonshire road area but could be wrong.

I lived on Essex for 25 plus years. Could have been a neighbour