Roy recalls playing for Chorley against Fleetwood '“ and winning

Fleetwood’s 2-1 win tow Mondays ago was a complete contrast the historic match in 1955, where Chorley thrashed their Lancashire rivals 5-1.

Striker Roy, now 89, netted twice in that game.

He played for Chorley for two seasons from 1953 to 1955, and says: “I have never enjoyed anything else other than football.

“I played for several Lancashire Combination teams, including North End Reserves, but ChoPreston rley was the main one.

“The game against Fleetwood was fantastic – and I scored two goals.

“It has been a long time since we played them again, so when they played together last week, it brought great memories.”

Also in the Chorley team in 1955 was Harry McShane, whose son Ian has led an illustrious TV career, starring in Lovejoy, Deadwood and Pirates of the Caribbean.

Roy, a father-of-one, with four grandchildren, found his football feet when he joined the Navy in 1946 as an arm air mechanic, based in Portsmouth.

While there he represented the Navy when playing football.

He adds: “The war had ended and things had slackened off so we had more time to play football.

“I carried on afterwards when I returned home and played for Lancashire Combination at Chorley.

“I played for Combination for a while and went to Kendal and several other teams in the West Lancashire League.

“I moved down the leagues as I was wearing down.

“I carried on until I was in my 40s. I worked at English Electric, where I played football, and then I worked at Goss.”

Football is in the family as Roy’s brother, Dennis, used to play with Tom Finney, at Preston.

His son, Warren, was also a keen player, as he explains: “My dad used to love watching me play for local teams – St Gregory’s, Lane Ends FC and AFC Sumners.

“I then went on to manage my son’s team – Penwortham Town.

“Dad used to come down and watch and was a bit of a legend with the lads.”