| | About the Collection's owner - Ricky HeppoletteA former Peterborough United colleague, still a friend and now an author and football writer for The Daily Telegraph, David McVay recalls the sporting life and times of Ricky Heppolette through some personal anecdotes.
The first time I saw Ricky Heppolette in action, he was holding a handbag. Metaphorically speaking, that is. Come to think of it, that was the second occasion. The first sighting was a brief glimpse at Meadow Lane on a crisp Saturday afternoon in December 1973.
A flash of jet black locks and a distinct aroma o f Friday night's chicken vindaloo wafted into the penalty area at Meadow Lane, a drop of the shoulder and Ricky was gone, buzzing down the left and crossing into the penalty area where Micky Bullock headed just wide of the post.
This was Notts County against Orient, the London club having jettisoned their geographical identity of Leyton during a period of madness, locking horns in a top of the table contest between a couple of the old Second Division's finest.
A milestone home league debut for myself but for Ricky just another routine Saturday afternoon terrorising defenders and tormenting midfield players in equal measure.
My first impressions were twofold. 1 ) He had a decent turn of a pace for a man of his advancing years and 2) how well he had worn and kept his hair intact despite those years.
Imagine my surprise when six years later Ricky arrived to join me as a team mate at Peterborough United, trumpeted by our manager Peter Morris as the 'engine room' of the Posh midfield!
| | | Ricky's Orient prevailed 4-2 that December day, a result that thrust them into second place as serious contenders for promotion to the highest echelons of the domestic game.
It was a surge that was sustained until the end of the season but eventually three 1-1 draws in the finale, including an agonising stalemate with Aston Villa on final day, saw the East London club fail by just a single point to claim a place in the First Division, their superior goal average counting for nothing as Carlisle United and Luton Town squeezed into the positions behind run away champions Middlesbrough.
Although that was as close as Ricky came to top flight football, his career remains a credit to his profession, an enviable one to his peers and littered with moments to cherish?
Born in Bushwal, India, his family moved to Bolton, Lancashire when he was just four. Fittingly, he signed for Preston North End as an apprentice in 1964, the year Preston were pipped 3-2 by West Ham United in the FA Cup Final. |
| | | Fittingly because the Museum of Football is housed at Preston's Deepdale ground where visitors learn that one of the first black players to play his trade in the English game played for Preston, during the twilight years of Queen Victoria's reign.
Another Queen was on the throne as Ricky matured in the 1960s. His name alone was enough to cause confusion the son of the French Lieutenant's woman or something worn on the shoulders of her fella, who could tell?
However, his name and striking presence on the pitch, certainly the only Asian with a broad Lancashire accent in the game, would have earned him a certain fame but his ability, energetic style and boundless enthusiasm endeared him to Preston fans, for whom he became something of a cult hero by scoring the winning goal that secured the Third Division title in 1971.
His stock rose considerably and a £45,000 move to Brisbane Road followed shortly after and despite that disappointment with Orient, Terry Venables took him to Crystal Palace where he once again played a part in a promotion campaign, this time in 1977 from the old Third Division.
A transfer to Chesterfield and then a £35,000 move to Peterborough's London Road brought to an end his time in the English game where he totalled almost 400 league and cup appearances from 1964 to 1981.
The curtain came down on his actual playing days in Hong Kong where he secured the equivalent of their FA Cup and Player of the Year in an Eastern FC side led by the legendary England captain Bobby Moore. But back to the handbag moment. The City Ground in February 1974 saw Orient beaten 2-1 by Nottingham Forest but not before Ricky and Forest's diminutive Northern Ireland midfield player Tommy Jackson had a difference of opinion.
As the unlikely pugilists raised fists, a seemingly endless impasse ensued before both men were sent off, a mercy dismissal by the referee as it turned out. A pacifist at heart, Ricky's most potent weapons on a football field had always been at the end of his ankles, not his wrists.
Those and the vision to pick out a decent pass -- and a 20 cultured eye for an exceptional work of art, of course. |
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