John McAndrew
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Sean Victor McAndrew - or 'John' as he is known - was born in the small County Mayo town of Bangor Erris on the 8th July 1927.
John is one of the few Mayo Gaelic footballers still alive to hold All-Ireland Senior Football winners medals. He was part of the 1950 and 1951 team, captained by Seán Flanagan, that won titles back-to-back those years at Croke Park, Dublin.
In the mid 1950's, John studied and graduated from the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin.
After emigrating to England in the early 1960's, John led John Mitchel's Gaelic Football team in Birmingham to numerous Warwickshire Senior Championships.
Dr McAndrew's first medical practice in England was in the rural Staffordshire town of Madeley. After a short period there, John saw an opportunity to take over a practice in the Sandwell town of Old Hill, near Cradley Heath. It was here, and for over 40 years, that Dr John McAndrew ran a single-handed practice deep in the Black Country, serving the local community.
Always interested in sport of any kind, John successfully took up the hobby of Greyhound racing, both at NGRC and indepenedent tracks - although not both at the same time. Dr McAndrew gained a reputation for his astuteness in selecting young dogs from Ireland, and developing them through intensive training and superior nutrition. Amongst accolades collected were the Birmingham Cup, ran at the old Perry Barr Greyhound Stadium, and the Welsh and Bolton St Legers.
John McAndrew married Bridget Catherine Corr in the early 1970's and had a son, also named Sean, in December of 1973. Sadly, 'Bridie' passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on 23rd May 2006.
