Sir, – Paul Clements's Irishman's Diary (April 11th) about Danny Blanchflower was a welcome reminder of that great footballer. Not only Blanchflower but also Richard Gordon (the author of the Doctor in the House books) refused to appear when confronted by Eamonn Andrews on This is Your Life (the latter did appear later). As for Tip Top Tottenham being the first of the football song genre, this was preceded by several years by the Manchester United Calypso sung by Edric Connor and devoted to the Busby Babes of 1955. One of those Babes, incidentally, was Jackie Blanchflower, Danny's younger brother. Although he survived Manchester United's air disaster in Munich in 1958, Jackie sustained terrible injuries and never played again. – Yours, etc,
KEVIN O’SULLIVAN,
Letterkenny,
Co Donegal.