Liverpool-born Norman Catlin arrived in Southampton as a child and it was as a youngster he found footballing fame.

As a member of the Southampton Schools side that reached the Final of the English Schools Shield in 1932,

he made national headlines with his 17 goals in just one game of a nine-match run in which he totalled 42 goals.

This prodigious scoring promptly attracted the attention of Arsenal, for whom he signed amateur forms. But he was soon playing for England Schoolboys (see scrapbook section) and signing as an amateur for Southampton, prior to turning pro on his 17th birthday.

Norman never really developed into the player that such a start promised: his slight build was a disadvantage and he could be guilty of lapses of concentration. So, although tried in both right-wing positions, he managed only six first-team appearances for the Saints before, anxious to take up an offer of employment he quit League football when still only 19, even though Saints had offered him terms to sign on for another year.

With a day-job as a clerk at Cunard White-Star, he could now play part-time, initially with non-league clubs and then at a couple of League clubs, latterly Southampton, where he turned out for the “A” team in the Hampshire League. He joined the Royal Navy on the outbreak of war and soon signed to play for Bitterne Nomads when on shore leave. This arrangement would be short-lived: Norman went down with HMS Gloucester in action off Crete in 1941.