The Saints’ youth development officer, Bob Higgins, spotted “Danny” Wallace as a schoolboy in South London and borrowed registration forms from a friend at Millwall, in order to capture his discovery, as a matter of urgency. At 16 years 314 days, Danny became the club’s youngest-ever debutant, although this record has since been overtaken by Theo Walcott.

A combination of youthful exuberance and a debut at Old Trafford might explain why, in a televised post-match interview, he referred to his manager as “Lawrie”, before quickly changing it to “gaffer”.

His manager valued the fact that Danny was more than just a pacey winger – he had superior ball-control. “Danny can kill it straight away,” McMenemy enthused, “then be off on a run.”

This skill “came naturally” to him, according to the player himself. In March 1984, Danny showed off another skill in the first televised game at The Dell: his acrobatic overhead-kick v Liverpool was voted Goal-of-the-Season. Soon after that, he scored a hat-trick in an 8-2 home win v Coventry. So did Steve Moran, but he had earned a match-ball before and ceded this one to Danny. In January 1986, Danny scored for England in a 4-0 win v Egypt. While disappointed that this was his only appearance for England, he laughs this off with the thought that he has a “100 per cent goal-scoring record” for his country. Referees might be excused for confusing his twin-brothers, but it was Danny who suffered from a bizarre case of mistaken identity at Newcastle in December 1985, when he was cautioned for a foul clearly committed by Jimmy Case. Following a second bookable offence, Danny was sent off.

He generously excuses the referee, in his autobiography, on the grounds that Jimmy and he “both had moustaches at the time.” His personal highlight with Southampton include being First Division runners-up to Liverpool in 1983-84 – although he still feels the Saints deserved to be champions – and making club history in October 1988, when his twin brothers, Ray Wallace and Rod Wallace and he played together v Sheffield Wednesday at The Dell. It was the first time that three brothers had appeared in any top-flight encounter since 1919-20. Having played with Chris Nicholl, Danny was happy with him as McMenemy’s successor. The media may have thought Nicholl “a bit dour,” but Danny found him to be a “lovely person”.

After four seasons under Nicholl, Danny joined Manchester United in time to pick up a 1990 FA Cup winners’ medal. But niggling injuries soon started to affect his game and his opportunities at United became limited. He moved to Birmingham in 1993, but not before having talks with Ian Branfoot, who wanted him back at The Dell. Danny’s head overruled his heart: he decided against a return to his first club, even though he “loved it to death”. Worsening injuries and other symptoms forced him to retire in 1995. When he was eventually diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1997, he was “relieved to know it wasn’t my fault.” He needed time to come to terms with MS but has “grown to accept it” as a condition that you learn to live with. He pays tribute to one of his oldest friends – George Lawrence – for helping to organise his emotional testimonial at St Mary’s in 2004. In 2006, another friend, the former boxer Michael Watson, presented him with his medal for the “hardest thing” he has ever done: completing the London Marathon in just over five days.

Living in Manchester with his wife Jenny and their children, Danny has continued to raise funds for the Danny Wallace Foundation and the MS Society.The last word should go to McMenemy, whose description of Wallace, the footballer, could have been of Wallace, the man. “He has got guts,” Lawrie said. “When things don’t go right for him, he doesn’t drop his head and hide.”