Last weekend, when most people only had international football on the TV to watch, my wife Anne and I enjoyed one of the big fixtures of the day - Grimsby v Rochdale!

I was back on my old stomping ground officially to open the new suite in the Main Stand, which the club has generously named after me.

I left Blundell Park to join Southampton in 1973, yet the team of 1971-72 which won the Fourth Division championship is still talked about.

And I was delighted to see that eight of them were brought back to enjoy with myself introductions on the pitch before the game.

Although the crowd was just under 5,000 the weather was terrific and we enjoyed walking around accepting the warm applause and shaking hands with sometimes three generations of one family - with the eldest having bored the younger ones stiff with tales of the team that scored 88 goals in the league and 12 in cup ties to reach the magic total of 100.

We probably conceded quite a few but the attacking policy was very popular.

Our first week gave us a 4-1 win in the league at home, a 4-3 victory in the League Cup and another 4-1 away win, so 12 goals in seven days certainly whetted the appetites.

I decided early on that we needed to get out into the community and famously took the team down to the then thriving and bustling fish docks at 6.30am.

Most players didn't realise there were two 6.30s in the same day and they were all laughing last week when I recounted in my speech that one or two of them had been known to be just getting home at that time!

That trip to the docks, where local TV, radio and newspapers were on-call, welded the team and the community together. I was able to say to the players 'that's how hard these people have to work every day of their lives to make enough money to come and watch you on a Saturday.'

We also visited other factories and of course the local hospital and schools.

All those years ago I was having a collection for a particular charity. I had donated one of the big gallons of whisky that the manager of the month received autographed by the whole team and the lads in the docks had a whip round.

One young fella who had been injured was sent to see me with the money. He arrived in my office walking with the aid of sticks.

I gave him a cup of tea and we had a good chat. A few weeks later the team was playing away to Stockport requiring only a draw to ensure promotion. We got the result we needed and after the game there was a knock on the dressing room door.

A huge policeman asked me to come out and move the Grimsby supporters away who were clogging up the street cheering on the team.

I accompanied him and stood on the step outside with a policeman on either side. There must have been 5,000 supporters that day and when they saw me they were signing and chanting. I put my hands up in the air and they went quiet.

The burly policeman muttered out of the side of his mouth something which can't be repeated. I then thanked the crowd for their terrific support and asked them to move on to allow the traffic to flow.

After a rousing three cheers they made their way off but at the back of the crowd there was a shout from a slow group which contained the lads from the docks.

One shouted to me 'well done Lawrie.' I recognised him as the lad who had come to see me and he threw down the sticks and said 'I can walk now.' To which the copper said 'he's performing miracles now!'

The man himself was introduced at the function last week - minus his sticks of course.

Only a couple of months ago, I received a letter from Stockport telling me that particular policeman had just died but for the last 30 years had dined out on that story!