As an apprentice at Fourth Division Barnsley, Mike Pickering converted from midfield to central defence.

He was delighted when Barnsley told him they had accepted a £35,000 offer from Second Division Southampton, but was less pleased when he later learned that he had not been informed of enquiries from Tottenham, newly relegated to that division, or from top-flight Ipswich. Grateful to Alan Ball, who “looked after” him and helped him to “adjust” – so well that he settled in at centre-back, alongside Chris Nicholl, for every game of that promotion season of 1977-78, bar the last one. The match he missed was, ironically, a draw with Spurs, by virtue of which both sides were promoted. The irony continued at the start of the next season, when his third – and last – First Division match for the Saints was against Ipswich. But he was now missing more games than he was playing and approached manager McMenemy for clear-the-air talks.

Within 24 hours, he was advised that a bid had been accepted from Third Division Sheffield Wednesday. The blow of suddenly dropping down two divisions was softened by, surprisingly, a rise in wages. Mike went on make more than 100 appearances for the Owls and to captain them. His three loans from Wednesday included a stint in the NASL, where he was aptly billed as “the man-to-man marker from Sheffield.” After which, he moved regularly, mainly within the lower divisions, at first, but then between non-league clubs. After which, he worked in the brewing industry, for Bass and then for Coors, in Sheffield, where he was Accounts Development manager. He continued to work in Sheffield, in office facilities, and became a match-day host at Hillsborough.