Mural celebrates WW2 veteran at Wallasey football club he founded

A mural of a World War Two veteran has been painted on the clubhouse of the football club he helped to found in celebration of his 99th birthday.

Wallasey's John Dennett served as a Navy gunner in North Africa, Italy and Normandy and later founded Ashville FC to give local boys somewhere to play.

He started it with his wife and named it after the street where they lived.

Artist Paul Curtis said the work was "a nice way to thank him for everything he's done".

Mr Dennett previously told the BBC he signed up to serve against his mother's wishes at the age of 17 in 1941.

He said it was six months before he was eligible, but nobody asked to see his birth certificate.

He said being a gunner on a landing ship "had you on your toes and you hoped it wouldn't get no worse".

"You realised what war was about," he said.

"Your life depends on each other."

Just before the D-Day landings in 1944, his ship docked in Birkenhead, and whilst ashore, he met his future wife Joyce.

Together, they formed Ashville FC in 1949, named the club after the street where they lived in Wallasey, Ashville Road.

They had immediate success in the Wallasey Youth League, before progressing to the Bebington League in 1951.

After winning the championship, Ashville moved to the Wirral Combination and won the league for three consecutive seasons.

Mr Curtis, who has become known for his large-scale street paintings such as the Liver Bird wings in Liverpool's Baltic Triangle, said he was approached by the club about three months ago to do the painting, which took about three days to complete.

"They were doing up the clubhouse and had the idea of doing the mural," he said.

"It was meant to be a birthday surprise, but we didn't want to give him too big a surprise at 99 years old, and thought it was best to tell him when we were starting.

"He is always at the club, so it would have been hard to keep it from him."

He added that Mr Dennett, who was awarded the British Empire Medal in 2022 for voluntary services to veterans, had been "really happy and moved" when he saw the finished work.

A spokesman for Ashville FC said Mr Curtis had played a "key role in the running of grassroots football within the local community for both youth and adult teams".

"John is known far and wide for the great work he does," he said.

"To recognise this and also to celebrate his 99th birthday, all 23 Ashville Football Teams wanted to give him something that would show him just how much he means to us all.

"We felt this mural was a fitting tribute for a man that has done so much for both the local and wider communities."

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