As a teenager he had a squint so bad he had to wear National Health spectacles. But even then — back in the 1950s — the silky skills of Denis Law made our jaws drop.
We travelled to watch him from the Pennine village of Diggle — yes that’s right, Diggle where I lived — roughly halfway between Manchester and Huddersfield.
In those days Law played for Huddersfield. One week I would go to watch him with my mates, the next I would travel in the opposite direction with my dad to watch Manchester City.
But never has that journey across the moors had such poignancy for me as it will have on Saturday when, for the first time in more than 50 years, I go back to Huddersfield to watch Town and my beloved City in the fifth round of the FA Cup.