AMONG the new faces at the ever-burgeoning Age UK men’s breakfast in Durham the other morning was 80-year-old Gordon Hughes, 160 games on Newcastle United’s right wing before lengthy spells with Derby County and Lincoln.

Some remember him as the Fatfield Flyer, a nod to his Washington browtins up, others as Charlie on account of a perceived resemblance to equally diminutive comedian Charlie Drake.

Signed from Tow Law in 1956 by Magpies manager Charlie Mitten, Gordon continued to work down the pit – and was still a miner when scoring twice in United’s sensational 7-3 win over Matt Busby’s Manchester United on January 2 1960.

They were the days of the white-hemmed shorts. “They said it would make us more streamlined,” Gordon recalled.

Before his first game, left half Charlie Crowe demanded that Gordon roll up the wing half’s sleeves. “It was just superstition, a job for the No 7. I did it every match after that.”

He gained an engineering degree, worked for 20 years with Rolls Royce in Derby before returning to Co Durham.

The next men’s breakfast kicks off at 9 30am on Wednesday April 19 at the café in Durham’s indoor market. You’d not bet a lot of money against the speaker being Gordon Hughes.

STILL eight months before the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards and already Geoff Johns has been sounding odds against Jermain Defoe.

“It’s not sports achiever, it’s sports personality. What he’s done for Bradley Lowery is incredible,” says Geoff, from Darlington.

BetFred declined to quote, Ladbroke’s offered 30-1 – “maximum bet £20” – but Geoff’s £2 50 each way is with Paddy Power, who accepted 250-1 against the Sunderland striker’s success.

Boxer Anthony Joshua is 2-1 favourite, Wimbledon champion Andy Murray 5-1 and sailor Ben Ainslie 9-1 – but that was before Geoff’s fiver frightened the hell out of the market.

Now registered blind and back in his native Co Durham, former England footballer David Thomas – and guide dog – were guests at Bishop Auckland Rotary Club the other evening. “Normally we allow our speakers 20 minutes,” says our man at the Rotary hub. “Dave was talking and answering questions for 90 minutes and we could have stayed all night. Now 66, the eight times capped midfielder lives in Teesdale.

The Northern Echo: Backtrack. Helmsley, North Yorkshire. Duncombe Park V's High Farndale in the Feversham Cricket League.

Duncombe Park v High Farndale in the Feversham Cricket League

THE good news is that the Feversham Cricket League, quintessentially English, is to continue. High Farndale, Slingsby and Spout House will play one another three times in a six-match league, supplemented by two or three other teams for cup competitions.

The bad news is that Brian Leckenby, one of the Feversham’s great stalwarts, has died at the age of 86.

We’d first encountered Brian at an unforgettable Lady Feversham Cup final at Bransdale, the middle of North Yorkshire’s nowheres, in August 1995.

The setting was gloriously improbable, the horseflies the size of Clydesdales. Though the sheep had been evicted for the occasion, there remained enough wool to clothe the entire Marske Fishermen’s Choir.

“It’s t’only level bit o’ land in Bransdale,” said Brian, “and not very level at that.”

Though cricket is long gone from Bransdale, his son – another Brian – lives, like the horseflies, to torment forever the Feversham’s fielders.

MONDAY'S Times devoted a full page to a match report of the potential Ebac Northern League title decider between North and South Shields. The headline was “El Working Classico.”

WANTING it both ways, our last column noted that Stockton Town footballer Kallum Hannah had a palindromic surname and wondered if there were more.

Having briefly got excited about Craig Noone of Cardiff City – “until I realised he was from the posh side of the family” – Gavin Ledwith comes up with Japanese international defender Shinji Ono and with Eugene Ekeke, who put Cameroon 2-1 up in the 1990 World Cup quarter-final against England.

David Skelton proposes Spanish international Jonathan Castro Otto but perhaps surprisingly overlooks Heine of that ilk, 24 goals in 166 Middlesbrough appearances in the 1980s.

The Dutchman, a Boro all-time legend according to his Wikipedia page, made 155 successive appearances between 1982-85 and in 1981-82 was joint top scorer with five. Boro were relegated.

Alvaro Negredo’s leading scorer this season. He has eight of their 22.

FOOTBALL at Easter? Willington’s the place to be. On Good Friday morning (11am) Wolsingham play Middlestone Moor in the Norman Wright Cup final, on Easter Day (10 30am) Middlestone Moor take on Witton Park in the Crook and District League first division final and on Easter Monday, back to 11am, Heighington meet Newton Aycliffe Navy Cub in the Colin Waites final. “A real festival of football,” says Crook League chairman Maurice Galley.

….AND finally, the sport which once had 35 London venues but now has none at all (Backtrack, March) is greyhound racing. Wimbledon held its last meeting on March 25. Geoff Johns on the money with that one, too.

Readers are today invited to name the only manager in the top two English football divisions to have been capped by England. North-East connection there, too. The answer next week.