Spud Thornhill: 'Ken still gives every single person his time to chat to them'

For someone who has worked with people with dementia I do have some understanding of the awful disease, but at the same time you don’t fully appreciate how debilitating it is until you see the damage it does to an individual who you have known for so long.

I’ve always enjoyed charity games, some of which I have been fortunate to referee. It may not be edge-of-your-seat stuff, but it’s really nice - you don’t need to take the game too seriously.

It’ll always nice seeing players like Grant Holt still wanting to make his opponent know he’s there before scoring a goal or two. Plus seeing players like Robert Fleck still being the entertainer when he does the odd press up or two after a misplaced pass. Some things never change.

There was plenty of love for Robert Fleck, whose relationship with Norwich City fans still shines brightly (Image: Ian Burt)

Nearly 35 years after Flecky arrived he still has that special something about him and he’ll always have a place in many Canaries' hearts, like mine.

In the evening I was fortunate enough to attend the special dinner. I had the pleasure of sitting next to Keith Bertschin. I may not have witnessed his famous Hillsborough goal when we won promotion in 1982, despite us losing 2-1 to Sheffield Wednesday, or his FA Cup winning goal against Ipswich Town in 1983. But we still talked about those goals plus his time at Norwich with fondness.

It was great to chat with Anglia TV legend Gerry Harrison, whose commentary I always enjoyed hearing, and even these days when I watch the Big Match Revisited on ITV 4 I love it when they show a Norwich game and they mention Harrison’s name.

I would’ve loved to chat with the former Evening News reporter Bill Walker, but the time got away. He’s another name I remember with a smile. I still have the Canary Scrapbook that was produced following our Milk Cup win and our 1985/86 Division Two winning season and Walker is in there so much.

I saw so many players that played their part in why I fell in love with Norwich City.

Then there was Ken Brown.

At my wedding, we had plan of 12 tables. Eleven of them were a combination of mine and my wife Hayleigh’s favourite players. The top table was known as the ‘Ken Brown’ table.

Growing up, every home game from about 1984 until he left in 1987, me and my brother would be down the ground to greet the players and Ken as they got out of their cars to the players' entrance. Every week, Ken would chat to me, asking how I was getting on and, most importantly, was I behaving myself at school?

More than 35 years on, despite being 88, Ken still gives every single person his time to chat to them. I watched from a distance and there were so many people, like myself, who wanted to chat to him. The love towards him was just wonderful. I did speak to him briefly, but as my daughter was being impatient and not understanding the importance of the man, I didn’t get a chance to have as long as I would’ve liked.

There were video messages from many players, including Kevin Keelan, Ted MacDougall and Ian Crook. They all had their own stories about Ken Brown. It seems everybody could’ve talked all night about him.

Such a worthy cause (Image: Football Against Dementia)

It really was a celebration of some great people who have played parts in the history of our club, one we must cherish. But most importantly it was about trying to raise money and spread awareness of dementia, which I believe was achieved.

Let’s hope we can see action being taken for the future of people who are or will suffer in the future.

Never mind the danger.