The day I saw Greaves score a hat-trick

It is only natural that every football fan will have grown up idolising a particular player who catches their heart.

The players change with each generation of course and every decade new favourites emerge.

Growing up in the 1960s, my hero was Jimmy Greaves who sadly passed away last weekend at the age of 81.

I have never seen such a gifted goalscorer, netting 382 goals in a career that took him from Chelsea to AC Milan, Spurs, West Ham and Barnet.

There were also an impressive 44 goals in 57 appearances for England.

At that time in England, apart from the FA Cup final, the only football you got to see on TV were Saturday night highlights of what was then Division One.

If you were lucky, you actually went to a stadium and maybe see your idol perform. That’s what happened to me one day in 1960.

As a schoolboy, I was a regular at Elm Park to watch my home team of…