DAN Wooding, 63, a US-based journalist and author, is asking readers of the Daily Echo to help him find an old friend so he can present him with a copy of his latest book.

Mr Wooding, a former Fleet Street journalist who moved to Southern California in 1982 and now runs his own news agency , is trying to find Robert "Bob" Evans, the stepson of George Liddell, the former Birmingham City player and manager who, he believes, later settled in the New Forest area with his wife Betty.

Mr Wooding said; "Both Mr Liddell and his wife will have since passed away. When I was growing up in the Kings Heath area of Birmingham, Bob lived in the next road to me and we were firm friends.

"Mr Liddell and Betty were very kind to me. He even provided Bob and I with tickets for the 1957 FA Cup final at Wembley when Manchester City beat Birmingham 3-1.

"I eventually moved to London in 1968 and lost contact with Bob, who I know joined the RAF and after his service was married and joined the Salvation Army."

Mr Wooding's latest book, From Tabloid to Truth, is his autobiography and carries endorsements from Hollywood personalities including Pat Boone, and Rick Wakeman.

"I'd love to be able to send a copy to Bob so he can find out what happened to me over the years, and I'd also like to find out about his life," said Mr Wooding, who also broadcasts each week on nearly 500 American radio stations.

If anyone has any information, they're asked to call Dan in the USA at (714) 840 5534, or send an email to danjuma1@aol.com.