Paul Smith, one of Doug Smith's sons, has paid tribute to his father with this tribute, which we're privileged to publish in full following his recent death after 73 years as a Hendon fan.

"Doug watched his first Hendon match in 1951 as a 13 year old. I can't remember the opposition, but the bag was clearly embedded at that point.

He followed Hendon through all the glory years of the late 50s to the early 70s, despite moving around the country during the period before landing back in London in 1971.

Although he could not get to the Newcastle match at St James' Park in 1974, he managed to 'bunk off' the day being a school teacher to attend the replay at Vicarage Road, never really understanding why the replay was mid-week in the daytime!

My brother and I's first introduction to live football was Hendon's FA Cup run in 1975, beating Reading in the 1st round and narrowly losing to Swindon Town in the 2nd round.

Doug dropped off attending matches during the laters 80s and 90s due to parental health issues, but picked up again in the late 90s and early 21st century. Various family members have been dragged along to Claremont Road and SJP during this period, most noticeably the home draw versus Leyton Orient in 1997. I can still remember which pub I was in when I saw the replay scoreline come in and phoning Doug to celebrate from 200 miles away!

Doug then became an active member of the Supporters Trust and worked several seasons helping out on the turnstiles. Attendance at matches started dropping off more recently, but I am proud to say that I dragged him up to Manchester earlier this year to attend the Oldham match.

Despite being wobbly on his feet, I have never seen him as happy as when the winner went in! He even said a few weeks ago that despite the glory of past achievements, he considered that victory as Hendon's greatest ever!

On behalf of myself and my family, our thanks to all at Hendon FC for the enjoyment over the years. Happy times."