In the 1960s, when a mere handful of Football League players came from outside the British Isles, Fred Kemp, born in Salerno to an Italian mother and an English army father,

had a whiff of Latin swagger about his game, as he burst forward with the ball in a manner guaranteed to make any midfielder a crowd-pleaser.

Not that he was always a midfielder. Having been plucked by Ted Bates from Wolves’ Reserves while still only 19, he soon had a chance at inside-forward when George O’Brien went down with hepatitis. He obliged with a goal and had three more games at either No.10 or No.9, before he effectively lost out to Norman Dean.

When the Saints won promotion and Dean made way for Ron Davies, Kemp was in the Reserves for two seasons, always wearing one of those two numbers, until he became a goal-scoring wing-half in March 1968. Come September, he was in the first team in that position, from which he scored in a 2-1 win over his first club, and was nearly ever-present as the Saints qualified for Europe. Although Fred got to play in the Fairs Cup, Hugh Fisher more often wore the No.4 shirt in 1969-70.

Barrel-chested and far from balletic in appearance, Fred was a delightfully tippy-toed runner, with the stamina and work-rate to sustain all those crowd-pleasing surges.

But those who shared the right flank with him were not so easily pleased. Both Ken Jones and Joe Kirkup reasoned that, if Terry Paine were to be free to do what he was good at, the side needed Fisher’s more defensive discipline at No.4. It made matters worse, Paine reckoned, when Kemp’s runs became “infectious”, not only exciting the crowd but tending to “rub off on other players.”

In the summer of 1970, Brian O’Neil arrived to form a settled midfield with Fisher and Fred was soon moved on to Hugh’s old club, Blackpool. After a brief stay there, he topped 100 League games for Halifax. Then, having signed for Colin Addison at Hereford in the 1974 close season, Fred had the misfortune to see Addison replaced by John Sillett, who promptly brought in Paine as his player-coach.

Goalkeeper Tommy Hughes has recalled how Kemp viewed Paine as his nemesis: “That’s it then”, he told Tommy: “it’s been nice knowing you.” Addison gave him a way out – to join him at Durban City. But he soon returned for a final flurry of non-league football. Then, back in Wolverhampton, he organised and played in Wolves’ charity matches into his mid-forties, while developing a business supplying furniture to offices and schools.

Fred’s son-in-law, John Marshall, formerly a long-serving Fulham player, is part of this family enterprise – although he has been known to take time off, to scout for England’s manager.