First published on September 5, 2009

AS the regular reader of this column knows, at my age you tend to look at the sections of the Daily Echo which tells you what happened 25 years ago – or more in some cases.

One such article caught my eye recently.

It was the news of when I signed Joe Jordan which was described as a ‘dramatic transfer swoop’ – in those days when it was unusual, would you believe, for British clubs to sign players from abroad.

But Joe was one who had become a legend in England and Scotland and he is one of the few players to play, and score, in finals of three successive World Cups.

I suppose if you are Brazilian, Italian, German or even English it might not be too big a shout, but to get there with Scotland is no mean feat.

Joe moved from Leeds to Manchester United to Italy and is still revered in both Milan and Verona in the same way a previous Leeds legend, John Charles, is.

In the ‘25 years ago’ article mention was made of the fact that on the same day Joe came here, which naturally caught all of the attention, we signed a young goalkeeper called Phil Kite from Bristol Rovers.

It reminded me of another double signing where one caught all the attention and the other more or less slid into The Dell unnoticed.

It was, of course, the day Kevin Keegan arrived from Hamburg.

The beauty for me was that, although I had been negotiating for quite a while, I was able to keep it a complete secret until he arrived in the door .

Even the hard-bitten national press who had assembled to a man stood up and applauded.

He was, after all, a double European player of the year and the then captain of England.

But how many can remember the other signing, which in my opinion was a good one, that we made at the same time?

David Peach had left after being my regular left back for many years.

Even nowadays this is one of the most difficult positions to fill and I brought in 25-year-old Mick McCartney from Carlisle United.

The fee was £50,000.

In the same way as Phil Kite, there were no complaints about the lack of attention because both youngsters were stepping up, not necessarily to a bigger ground but certainly a top quality club.

My only fear with any players I signed from the lower levels in those days was not so much how they would perform, because my staff and I had seen them often enough to gauge their potential, but how they could handle walking into a dressing room with big names and star players such as messrs Keegan, Channon, Ball, Osgood, Shilton etc.

I can’t remember how long Phil was there, I think he was mainly used as a back-up keeper, but Mick played 24 games, scored one goal and I moved him on to Plymouth for the same amount I paid for him.

I remember him as a good, solid professional and I suppose Southampton broke for him the long journey from Carlisle to Plymouth.

Incidentally did anyone else notice last week that Exeter City had a good away win at Carlisle?

I assume our Sports Editor, Simon Carter, was jumping up and down when he heard that result.

* Sports editor’s note – Lawrie isn’t wrong, I was pleased; the way we’ve started I’ll take any wins this season – but I stopped short at jumping up and down. I’ll save that for Boxing Day ...