First published in The Pink, November 14, 2009

THIS WEEK, lifelong Saints fan Herbie Taylor was immortalised in a painting (right). Trust me when I say there are few more deserving than Herbie.

His passion for the club is nothing short of remarkable. I’ve been lucky enough to be on a tour of St Mary’s hosted by him a few years ago and he filled the ground with his passion for the club.

He regularly files reports on the Saintslist – a group of some 700 fans on the internet who keep in touch by email – of some of the tours he takes around the stadium, regaling members with anecdotes as funny as they are heart-warming.

Tales of the children from Chernobyl he has shown around Saints’ home stick in the memory.

Herbie’s ability to convey exactly what seeing a club like Saints and the presents they get such as shirts and footballs truly does hit home the positive impact we can have by doing what we may think as very little.

So, Herbie, I hope your debut on canvas inspires many more Saints fans to do what you have done.