I knew that Tom had been in hospital recently, and at one point, was giving regular updates on his progress whilst focusing on being positive.
He'd also been commenting on my cricket umpiring posts, and I wondered why he'd suddenly stopped.
As for football, I always regarded Tom as City Royalty, and without checking, I seem to recall him being interviewed in LIFE AMONGST THE DEAD MEN, and making jokey comments about his City obsession making him ill.
Tom was there in the bad times, and I think his fanzine once provided a free straw for everyone to clutch in our annual fight against relegation.
Never get out of the boat Tom!