Amid extreme darkness came a reminder that the braveheart spirit remained.
In November of last year Gordon McQueen, the man who – golden mane flowing – towered above English defences to power a header beyond Ray Clemence on that famous June afternoon in 1977, could not manage the simple act of lifting his head from the pillow.
As is often, tragically the case with this brutal disease, dementia had taken a relentless hold and the descent had been rapid.
Fewer than two years had passed since the devastating diagnosis but the end appeared to be nigh.