It was the day that Manchester United came to the village.
I vividly remember the buzz that went round Hethersett. It started as a rumour but quickly spread - the mighty Manchester United were going to have a training session on the Memorial Playing Field.
"Yeah right," said the sceptics.
"No it's true," said the believers.
And it did make sense as the team were staying at nearby Park Farm and could easily have been looking for somewhere nearby to train. I was involved in the youth football set-up in the village at the time. Hethersett Athletic Football Club was set-up in 1989 and I would have been coaching the Under-12s that year. The club played many of its matches on the memorial field, but I don't remember the football club or the playing field authorities having advance warning of the session - although the playing field trustees may have as we heard that Manchester United had asked for a closed session with nobody present to watch.
I may have got that wrong of course as I am looking back almost 30 years and memories can get twisted and distorted. Of course the chances of nobody turning up to watch were nil.
The Red Devils were obviously preparing to play Norwich City at Carrow Road and date of that game was 30th March, 1991. The training session on the Memorial certainly paid off handsomely as Manchester Utd beat Norwich 3-0.
As always I refer to my personal diary from the time and find that the training session took place on Friday March 29th, 1991. This is what I wrote:
"At 2 pm went down to the park. There was a rumour that the Manchester United players would be training there before their match tomorrow at Norwich. It seemed a bit far fetched but gradually grew into more of a rumour as they were staying at Park Farm Hotel. Had to hang around until 3 pm but they did turn up and had a leisurely training session which was more posing than playing." I have only hazy memories of the players themselves, although Clayton Blackmore does stand out as somebody who was rather noisy and extrovert (he's also a good answer for many Manchester United questions on Pointless).
This is what Malcolm wrote on Facebook: "Here is a brain teaser for anyone who has lived in Hethersett for some time. Can you remember the month and year in which the mighty Manchester United football team trained on Hethersett Memorial Playing Field? Here are the pics to prove it! The team was staying at Park Farm Hotel and word got out that they were planning a light training session on the Memorial Playing Field the day before their match at Carrow Road against the equally mighty (?) Norwich City FC. The news spread like wildfire throughout the village and there was a big turnout when the coach arrived and Bryan Robson, the captain (and also captain of England), led the team onto the pitch. I was impressed by how tall the defender Gary Pallister was and by the size of the calf muscles on most of the players! Bryan Robson generously spent time signing autographs after the training session. Have fun in identifying the players and spectators in the pics."
Hopefully we have answered Malcolm's conundrum. I do have a hazy memory of Manchester United players signing a football which was raffled off by the Hethersett Athletic Football Club and I was the lucky winner. I believe that ball is now in the possession of my eldest son who has it on display in a cabinet.
As for the game, the Manchester United team reads like a who's who of football stars. This was the line-up - Les Seeley, Denis Irwin, Clayton Blackmore, Steve Bruce, Mike Phelan, Gary Pallister, Bryan Robson, Paul Ince, Neil Webb, Mark Hughes, Lee Sharpe. Substitutes - Mark Robins and Brian McClare.
The score at half-time was 0-2 and Steve Bruce scored twice including a second half penalty and a first half header and the other goal came from a low Paul Ince shot.
There were a number of Norwich connections with the Manchester United squad. Steve Bruce, Mike Phelan and Mark Robins all played for Norwich and have gone on to have successful managerial careers. That year Mark Hughes was voted the Professional Football Association's Player Of The Season and Lee Sharpe was the PFA Young Player of the Season.
Interestingly you can see footage of the match on You Tube on this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVfvsaOlOyA
Ironically I have been a Norwich City supporter virtually all my life and for many years reported on their games for the Norwich Mercury and the now defunct News of the World newspapers. I have also been a season ticket holder for many more years than I would hope to remember but I wasn't at this game. Instead I went to see Wymondham Town beat Stalham Town 2-1 in the local league, taking my two young sons - aged eight and six with me. Strangely Matt would go on to play many games for Wymondham Town. I believe that, despite no longer working for Eastern Counties Newspapers (now Archant), I was still reporting on Wymondham Town matches for the Wymondham Mercury.
Going back to the Steve Bruce Norwich connection, somewhere in my collection of photographs I have a photo of myself with Steve Bruce which is a prized possession as Steve was (and I am sure still is) a lovely man and, in my mind, is the best defender never to have played for England.
Many thanks to Malcolm M for the photographs and permission to reproduce them. I have posted this a day ahead of schedule after an excellent article appeared in the Eastern Daily Press newspaper.