In April 1984, as autograph-hunters and other hangers-on waited in the Dell car-park after the Saints’ 8-2 win v Coventry,  a pair of 14 year-old twins let everybody know that they were waiting for their big brother, Danny Wallace, to emerge with the match-ball. Who would have dared to think that these two nippers would go on to play for the Saints, even in the same team as the hat-trick hero himself, let alone that one of them – Rodney – would be judged by some to be even better than Danny and that Manchester United had bought the wrong Wallace?

Relying less on sheer pace than Danny – though he could certainly motor – Rodney was a good crosser, who linked up intelligently with other forwards,

notably Matt Le Tissier in the formation described by Matt in his profile and by Chris Nicholl. The 4-1 win v Liverpool has been much revisited as the high-spot for that system, with Rodney and Matt each crossing for the other to score. Matt’s personal catalogue of top-assists includes not only that goal of Rodney’s but another of his at Charlton, later in that 1989-90 season. It demonstrated the flexibility of their roles, starting from wide, as the two of them popped up centrally and exchanged passes to put Rodney in. Rodney has repeatedly referred to the Liverpool game as his best, but it was an outstanding goal-scoring season – 18 times in 35 League starts – for a player who lined-up wide.

Although Danny’s departure early in that season had created the opportunity for Nicholl’s unorthodox formation and for Rodney to become a prominent scorer, the way the transfer was handled was among the issues that unsettled Rodney, who made a series of unsuccessful transfer requests. Eventually, when his contract ran out, he left, along with brother Ray Wallace, to join Leeds for a tribunal-fixed fee of £1.6m – the highest arbitration up to that date, but still a bargain for Leeds. He went on to help them to win the First Division championship and the Charity Shield but, although he had a call-up to the England squad, he never got to add a full cap to his 11 at U-21 level. After Leeds, Rodney had three seasons with Rangers, where he certainly made his mark, not least in scoring their winner in the 1999 Scottish Cup Final v Celtic. In November 1999, he completed a 20-pass move against Borussia Dortmund, to score what has been described as “Rangers’ best-ever goal in Europe”. He then spent a season at Premiership Bolton, with whom he came to St Mary’s in February 2002. Having wound down at second-tier Gillingham and qualified as a coach, he managed the U-18s at Kingstonian and then coached at two other non-league clubs in Surrey, where he has continued to live.