I'm so envious , although holding Ball's medal was great enough you had a chance to work with Hickson. I had a tour with him a decade ago and he was so nice and so proud . One big burly fella mentioned how he was one of the original hardmen strikers and Hickson told this big [Poor language removed] off explaining that his reputation was unfair and not true. The big [Poor language removed] was scared for his life.
Which of those brilliant players in the charity side impressed you most, skillfully and personally ?
...Dave was very modest but he did open up a few times when we were having a drink. He spoke really highly of team mate John Willie Parker and felt hard done by for not getting an England cap. He was fearless, we trained on floodlit concrete tennis courts and in the little matches we would have he'd slide or dive on the concrete if he had a chance of scoring. I remember his ankles were enormous which I imagine was from the battering they got.
Regarding the Charity match, Derek Temple was amazing. He and I changed early and such was his enthusiasm he grabbed a ball and said let's go out for the warm up. He had a reputation of being a sweet striker of a football and that was very true, we were pinging the ball back and forward to each other and everything he hit was true.