“I remember being in the Grange Park committee room when chairman John Raynor told me he had agreed a £2,000 deal with Forest and that Garry Birtles was on his way,” reminisces former Long Eaton Advertiser journalist Kevin Marriott, who still covers The Blues – Liskeard Athletic, Cornwall, to be precise.

“My first full season covering Long Eaton United would have been 1975-76 when Birtles joined from Clifton All Whites.

“He soon established himself as the club's main scorer and it’s possible that some of the Advertiser match reports about him alerted league scouts to Grange Park.

“I certainly remember Brian Clough turning up to watch him on a wet November afternoon in 1975 when he made the famous comment about the Bovril being better than Birtles.

“It wasn't Garry's best performance but what impressed Clough was the fact that he carried on playing after suffering a nasty cut on his shin early on. I suppose the rest is history.

“Even at the time it was considered a bargain and the club missed out on a fortune at a later stage when Birtles joined Man Utd for £1.2 million by not including a sell-on clause in the original transfer.”

And it wasn’t the last time Long Eaton United would receive the media’s attention because of Birtles.

“When Birtles scored that goal against Liverpool in the European Cup, the following day the chief sports writer for the Sunday People visited the Advertiser offices and wanted to know everything about him and Long Eaton United,” adds the 59-year-old.

“I remember it well because he shoved a £20 note in my hand as a thanks for my help. There was a big article in the People that weekend.”

But Birtles isn’t the only memory Kevin has of his time at Grange Park.

“During my time covering the Blues I have fond memories of away games at places like Guiseley, with president Reg Saul giving me lifts to games, in the Northern Counties (East) League era.

“Long Eaton, I think, also did well in the Derbyshire Senior Cup and I recall them beating Matlock Town away with a Birtles-inspired performance.

“I think Geoff Barrowcliffe was player-manager and then manager at the time; he was well known as a former Derby defender, but I remember him as not being friendly or very co-operative to me as a young, raw reporter.

“Fortunately, the rest of the club were always very helpful, especially John Raynor and Reg Saul, and I remember another player, Pete McGurk, as another good performer and always happy to talk.”

Later Kevin would move to the Derby Evening Telegraph to cover the Rams’ reserves, their first team and later Nottingham Forest.

“That brought me back into contact with Mr Clough and Mr Birtles of course.
“It was a good five years and after a rough start I built a good relationship with Cloughie.

“When I moved to the Plymouth Evening Herald in 1987 to become sports editor, Clough rang the office and asked for me.

“One of my new colleagues, thinking somebody was winding him up, told him to eff off!”

Kevin – who grew up in the town and attended Long Eaton Grammar – still has family in the area but now lives in Cornwall.

Despite living 260 miles away filing match reports for the Cornish Times he is still a Forest season ticket holder and regularly airs his views on the City Ground situation on Twitter.

But past the #FawazOut hashtags and tweets about Cornwall you’ll still find him spurring The Blues on - Long Eaton United that is.

Kevin Marriott can be found using the Twitter handle @kjmarriott57.

Long Eaton United can also announce that Blues legend Garry Birtles is to return to Grange Park on April 7 for a special "evening with" celebrating the club's 60th anniversary. For more details click here.