In the 1952-53 season, Roy Patrick, aged 16 years and 277 days, became Derby’s youngest debutant since Fred Flanders in 1910 but, despite that auspicious start, he managed only 50 games for the Rams and not many more for Nottingham Forest after joining them in 1959.

Forest’s coach at the time was Joe Mallett who reckoned the 26-year-old would be a useful acquisition for his old team mate, Ted Bates as he rebuilt for a second season in Division II. Roy duly signed on the dotted line for Saints in June 1961 (see above), with Bates saying at the time

“I think Patrick will be a very useful addition to our staff. Both I and our and our scouts have seen him play, he is able to play in either of the full-back positions”.

The Echo also added “a small transfer fee was involved”.

That versatility meant at first he was competing with Tommy Traynor on the left and Ron Davies on the right, for game time, but when the experienced (and more expensive) right-back, Stuart Williams arrived in September 1962, Roy’s Southampton days were effectively done and he requested a transfer.

At Exeter he won promotion to Division Three but then a bad back injury forced him to quit League football. He played Southern League football for Burton while working for Rolls Royce and later moved to Glasgow with them. He kept in touch with the game by buying a season ticket at Ibrox.