WHEN Gina Blakey heard that a play about her footballing father was being performed at Bolton's Octagon theatre, she was determined to see it - even if it meant travelling hundreds of miles.

Gina's father was David Jack, the legendary Bolton Wanderers striker - and now a character in the Octagon's current production And Did Those Feet - who scored the first goal at the old Wembley Stadium when Wanderers beat West Ham 2-0 in the 1923 FA Cup Final.

Gina and her husband, John, travelled from their home on the Isle of Wight to see the play in Bolton.

She visited the Wanderers' modern-day home at the Reebok - and got to lift the FA Cup, even if it was a replica.

The play, written by University of Bolton lecturers Les Smith and Martin Thomasson, deals with the famous "White Horse Final".

Gina said: "It was brilliant. After the play, the cast came to talk to us and have a few drinks and they were all genuinely excited by the mementoes of my father's that I brought with me.

"I knew he was mentioned in the play, but I really didn't expect his to be as big a part as it was. We had a wonderful time."

Jack was the Wanderers' top league goalscorer in five of the seven seasons at the club, before he was sold to Arsenal for a then-record sum of £10,340.

He moved into management - first at Southend, then Middlesbrough and Shelbourne - in 1934, and Gina was born shortly afterwards.

Jack came from a family with a huge interest in football. Along with his brothers, Donald and Rollo, he played for Plymouth Argyle under the watchful eye of their father, Robert, who was the manager.

After his managerial career ended, Jack worked in an office before finding a job at the Air Ministry. He died in 1958, aged 59.

Gina said: "The last football-related memory I have of my father was, shortly after my mother died, when he was asked to go on a television programme called Hall of Fame, hosted by Peter Dimmock.

"I accompanied him and we were taken by chauffeured car to the studios where I met Jackie Milburn and got to hold the FA Cup, which had a wobbly lid."

  • And Did Those Feet finishes at the Octagon tomorrow.