I'll always remember being bored in class at Middlethorne Middle School, age around 11, and our teacher walking in with a new student, asking "ok everyone, this is Xavier from France. Who wants to sit next to him".  I always liked to befriend the new kid and I raised my hand straight away.  We become good friends and a few weeks later Xav invited me round to stay at his house.  He lived upstairs, above the Jester Pub and we were tasked with asking all the customers to leave at the end of the night.  One drunk bloke nicked off with one of the large umbrellas and Xav, aged 11 or 12, chased him up Harrogate Road to get it back!

He obviously beat me at tennis every time we played.  And it was always a pleasure playing football on the same side as Xav.

Even thought I left Middle School a few months later, Xav and I kept in touch and saw each other a few times over the years.

The last time was when he came round to my place in Mallorca while he was away for his is 40th birthday, in 2014. He left with a smile and a "see you at my 50th" message.

Xav was a lovely genuine bloke. He'll be missed.