British Foosball Association

News Archive

Jonathan Smith

It is with great sorrow that I have to tell you that Jonathan passed away last night - I don't know the details yet, but I gather he was killed in a road accident. Those who know him will remember what a great deal of energy and effort he put into table football and all the tournaments he organised, both in Exeter and Oxford. He will be sorely missed.

Diane Blackwell

10 December 2002

Tributes

The following is a list of tributes taken from the Topica mailing list. If you would like to submit your own tribute, or make any other addition to this page, please .

Noooo! What a black year this is turning out to be! Another friend taken out, FFS!! :/

Many of you reading this won't know Jonathan, as his main input to the game was several years ago. Let me tell you how I saw him:

Jonathan was an amazing man - he drank too much, smoked too much and lived a life full of risk, mad adventures, dangerous people. Much of what he did, where he came from and went to, are shrouded in mystery. He was a dreamer, and often seemed to live a fantasy life. While this would have made his business dealings a nightmare, I think it made his personal life pretty interesting too! He was no angel.

What we do know, and will miss him for, is his love of table football. His tenure at the Chequers pub in Oxford during the nineties, led to a huge surge in popularity of the game there. I have many fond memories of tournaments in that premier venue. Jonathan's madcap management of his team of dedicated staff seemed to symbolise the brightness and freshness of the place. Tournaments there were always fun. The Oxford crew of Mick Hutton, Ghosty, Ken, Adrian, Graham and so many others always made us feel welcome and hammered us on their tables, while taking the mickey out of all and sundry at the same time! Through it all, Jonathan would float, smiling, hugely enjoying the whole experience and helping others to do so as well.

When he moved to Exeter, he began again to promote table football at a pub called the Red Cow. He encouraged players to visit and help promote the game. There were several tournaments too. He was really pushing hard to get the locals going. I know that, after doing well for a while, things went downhill, and he left under a cloud. I hadn't heard of him for some time, and now the awful news of his death, apparently in a road accident, has stunned me.

I don't want to sound too disrespectful of a dead man, but he was a mate of mine, and I'm sure he wouldn't mind! To be very honest, I would not have been surprised to hear that Jonathan had died before his time - probably while laughing, of alcohol-related liver damage, in a cancer ward, with an STD, a gang of mobsters banging on one door demanding money and a team of bailiffs banging on the other! ;)

I think I will always remember him, standing in the goalie position, the cigarette glued to his lip making his eyes water, and firing in a long pull-kick into the goal before reaching for his ever-present pint with a great big smile on his face.

The game has lost one of its most colourful characters, and we are much poorer without him.

Mike Fowler

I hardly knew Jonathan Smith. I only met him 2 or 3 times. But I know I won't forget him because I'll always remember the time when he arrived in the Bricklayers Arms in Putney for a DYP complete with his skis and skiing gear. He'd just got off the plane and decided to come to the DYP before he even went home! Now that's a sign of someone who loved his table football.

Rhys

Hi all

Ditto Mike the man was a legend, and without him all those glory days of the Chequers would never have been so enjoyable and manic, when I organised a tourny at the chequers it always seem that John was permenantly somewhere else, but still managed to make the day go with a bang, and for all of you out there who can remember, and those who can't ,the time he even layed on a free lunch for all competitors(probably from his own pocket), and the tourny was stopped for an hour so we could all enjoy the food. Are those days of true hospitality at tournaments gone forever then??? maybe.

He will be missed by all of the "late night Friday crew"

Cheers, Age"Mav"

I only met Jon a couple of times, but was immediately struck by his enjoyment of and enthusiasm for the game.

He was one of the prime movers behind the Oxford Tornado scene when landlord of the Chequers, before moving to Exeter as landlord of the Red Cow, a tournament which drew many players, including Europeans, to the west country a few years ago. He was also one of the mainstays of the old BTFA, responsible for reviving the competitive game in the mid 1990s.

I too dropped in to the Red Cow a few times when my travels took me to Exeter, and remember Jon's warm hospitality with gratitude.

My deepest sympathy to his family and friends.

Boris

Diane,

Thanks for letting us all know. What terrible news. I visited Jonathan a few times when he ran the Red Cow in Exeter. I felt very welcome, and he always ensured that players turned up so we could have a good game, late into the night. He really loved the game I think, and he was responsible for getting a lot of players into the game.

What a waste.

Dave