Tottenham Hotspur FC Founder Honoured In Dover

Another famous resident of Dover has been honoured - exactly 100 years after he died, alone and penniless.

Few people may have heard the name of John Ripsher, but he was the founder of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. And after being buried in a pauper's grave in 1907, a headstone has now been placed on his grave and dedicated at a special ceremony at St Mary's Cemetery.

Officials from the club, together with the author who tracked down Mr Ripsher's unmarked grave, were among those at the ceremony on Monday 24 September 2007, the exact anniversary of his death.

The Mayor of Dover, Councillor Bob Markham said Mr Ripher was responding to society in the 1880s by trying to get youngsters off the streets and give them something to do - not unlike the situation today.

Mr Ripsher was a Bible class teacher at All Hallow's Church in Tottenham, and when young teenage boys in his class were forced off their own roughly marked out football pitch by a group of older bullies, it was to Mr Ripsher that they turned for help.

He persuaded the local YMCA to give them room for their practice, and they were happy there for two years. But one day they were caught playing cards - which was against YMCA rules - and they were thrown out. The same thing happened again at their next headquarters, but Mr Ripsher stood by them and arranged for them to meet at a local coffee shop - a building which is still in the hands of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.

When the club was formed, Mr Ripsher became their first President. When he retired, he moved to Dover to be near his sister Jane and her husband who ran the Diamond Hotel in Heathfield Avenue. His health failed, he became blind, and he fell on hard times. He was accommodated at the Workhouse - now Buckland Hospital - where he died on 24 September 1907. With no means of support, he was given a pauper's burial, and the grave remained unmarked.

Cllr Markham said: "A pauper's grave was not the right place for John Ripsher, and we are proud to adopt him. We will ensure that this grave and headstone are shown in our tourist and information literature, and make sure that he is never forgotten again."

Paul Barber, Spurs executive officer, said he was delighted that the man who is known as our real father and founder had been found and they were now able to honour him.

It was author Peter Lupson, while writing his book Thank God for Football, who tracked down the grave. He was researching the history of premiership football clubs which had their roots in the church, and in people like John Ripsher. Mr Lupson said he made it his mission to find the grave.

When he did, Spurs fans, including Dover resident Paul Verrill, demanded that the grave should be marked, and the Tottenham Hotspur Football Trust paid for the headstone, which was made by memorial masons Cleverley and Spencer in Dover.

The dedication was performed by Father Colin Johnson, Parish Priest of nearby Charlton Church, who said he was wearing a blue stole especially for the occasion. "We thank God for John Ripsher and his faith and vision," he said.

Mr Lupson said Mr Ripsher had shown unconditional Christian love to the boys. "He loved the unlovable, stood by boys who had been written off and turned their lives around."