
Man Utd have been my heart and soul all of my life. When I was five years old, I walked with my brothers and my friends to Old Trafford from Urmston on a Sunday, just to pick up the ticket stubs. When I got home my mother went mental at me. I played for Victoria Boys when I was 10 and was vey skillfull on account of having a ball at my feet and playing the game every spare moment on the local council schools back field. Sometimes playing wally on my own for hours. I will never forget the glorious northern sunsets over Urmston Council School, as it got too dark to see the ball coming back off the wall. I met Harry Goodwin a few of years ago. Harry is a good friend of Alex Ferguson. Harry was 84 years old at the time. He was Top Of The Pops stills photographer from 1963 to 1972. I rang him from one of my first telesales jobs. I went to see Harry to give him a book I was working on 'Salford Past' after trying to get some sponsorship off him for the book. When I walked into Harry's back room, I had to catch my breath. Every inch of wall space was covered with iconic photography of the greatest bands and sportsmen of all time. Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Neil Young, The Kinks, The Byrds, Aretha Franklin, The Supremes, George Best, Mohammed Ali and Sir Alex Ferguson to name but a few. There was a huge pile of photographs in the middle of the room. Harry was in the kitchen making tea. I walked up to them and saw, on top of the pile, a photo of 84 year old Harry with Yoko Ono at John Lennon Airport. Harry came in and asked me if I was impressed. I laughed and said I was. There was a huge cut out of a Legs & Co girl in the corner of the room. I looked at it and back at Harry. He looked at me with a glint in his eye and said "That's a proper woman that, not like these thin things you see nowadays". I had to agree, she was all woman, in all the right places. I sat on the couch with my tea. There was something sticking in my bum. I reached underneath me and it was a sheet of polaroid pictures of John Lennon bent and crumpled. I couldn't believe my eyes. Harry then said this "It wasn't easy to photograph Lennon, he could be difficult. I took those a week before he got shot and it was the best mood I had ever seen him in, he had completely changed, shame what happened". The full story is a full page in my book. Harry's greatest praise though, was reserved for a man who has just retired from managing the greatest football team the world has ever known. Sir Alex, this is my tribute to you.







