In May 1956 my dad and I were at Johnny & Freda's next door watching the Cup Final (we didn't have a TV then). Manchester City & Birmingham City. The decibel level was pretty high - the TV was turned up and the tea cups were rattling (no lager then)! Dad and Johnny were giving the ref and the commentator good advice, John with his slight stammer and twitch - he'd been in the 8th Army, it was mild shellshock I suppose. My 9 year old self just sat there, drinking it all in.

I think there were about 15 minutes to go, Man City were 3-1 up, Bert Trautmann dived for a ball, and hit somebody's knee with his head. I can't remember if he just collapsed or whether he was rolling about. I do remember that we all went very quiet, as did the commentator, and Freda came in to see what had happened.

Anyway, no subs in those days, but we still thought he'd be stretchered off. Not Bert - he got up and played on for the last 10 minutes - with a broken neck. What a man. Here's to Bert!