Blues boss Mick McCarthy admits that his return to his hometown club Barnsley will be tinged with sadness this weekend with his mentor Norman Rimmington having died at the end of last year, aged 93.
Rimmington worked at Oakwell for more than 65 years, first as a goalkeeper in the 1940s, then subsequently as a coach, assistant manager, caretaker-manager, groundsman, physio and kitman and at the time of his death in the laundry room.
"It will be sad on Saturday, for the first time in 42 years Norman Rimmington won’t be there. It’ll be a sad day. I always like going back but it’ll be pretty sad because of that,” said McCarthy, who spoke at Rimmington’s funeral in January.
He added: "He was the first person I went to see whenever I went back there. I’d go straight into the laundry room and say ‘Where’s Rimmo?’
"Everyone needs good advice from people they trust at some stage in their life. They don’t put themselves up as a mentor but they give you the right advice at the right time.
"It might not be what you want to hear but it’s the right thing to hear and Rimmo was always good with that.
"He was at the club when I was there at 16 years old and it will be strange and sad without him there on Saturday.”
The Town boss recalled his earliest memory of Oakwell: "Standing where our fans will be there used to be a slag heap [on which stood] the old Spion Kop. I was standing on there with my dad, watching them play Leicester, Allan Clarke had just signed for them, Andy Lochhead [was in the Foxes team as well], that was my first memory."
Was his family proud when he signed for the Tykes, their local club? "You’re kidding me, they were incredibly worried, they thought I’d end up without a job in two years. That’s what they thought, like everybody else who told me I’d never make a living as a footballer.
"Not so much my mum and dad, of course, but I’m sure they had their doubts, like anyone going into acting or football or into a career where 95 per cent of the kids don’t make it. Is that the percentage? Something like that. It’s pretty fickle, isn’t it?
"I’ve a nephew that’s in the game and I would encourage anybody to do it because I’ve had a wonderful, wonderful life out of it.
"But if you’re the parent I think you’d be right to be worried. But they were incredibly proud when I made my debut and from then on, of course.
"And they were incredibly supportive of me, of being an apprentice footballer, despite the fact that when I first signed they were all waiting for me to go down the pit as an electrician and have a career behind me. Thank goodness I made that decision!”
McCarthy made his senior debut for Barnsley in 1977 and went on to make 314 appearances, scoring 10 goals, before leaving for Manchester City in 1983, having been part of a side which had climbed from the old Fourth Division to the old Second.