May I offer my support for the new sports pavilion at the King George V playing grounds in Winchester being named in honour of Terry Paine, probably the city's greatest ever sportsman. 

This would be a fitting and just recognition locally of Terry's fantastic contribution to our national game and to the enduring legacy of excellence achieved by such a truly outstanding home-grown footballer.

A member of the England 1966 World Cup winning squad, in which he played in the qualifying victory against Mexico, Terry is one of the elite 22 group of English footballers who are rightly revered for bringing home the greatest trophy in the sport for the first and only time. He was awarded an MBE and later a World Cup winning medal. So, Terry is unique to the city of Winchester in being an integral part of arguably Britain’s greatest sporting triumph.

But that is not all. His longevity and loyalty to his local league team, Southampton Football Club, is almost unique in the history of the game in this country. An extraordinary 800+ appearances over an 18 year period, amassing 187 goals. Making his debut when he was still only 17, scoring his first goal on his 18th birthday, becoming team captain at just 22, scoring the goal that secured Southampton promotion to the First Division in May 1966 and becoming Southampton’s longest serving player as an accomplished, pacey goal-scoring winger who then turned into a commanding midfielder.

What a record. Saints legend Mick Channon rated him one the greatest footballers he ever played with or against. Moreover, 19 England caps including that World Cup match against Mexico at Wembley mark him out as a true great of English football.

Although emigrating to South Africa in 1984, Terry, now 85, has never forgotten his roots as a Winchester and Hampshire boy. He played for All Saints School and then Highcliffe Corinthians when he was growing up in the city, he then went on to play for Winchester City in the Hampshire League when he was just 15 before being signed by Southampton in 1957. In recognition of his longstanding service to Southampton, he was elected honorary club president in 2013.

In all this context, the name of Terry Paine being linked to the new sports pavilion, just a few hundred metres from where he grew up in Highcliffe, would be the most fitting of tributes.

Mark Byford,
Clifton Hill,
Oram's Arbour,
Winchester

Send letters by email to newsdesk@hampshirechronicle.co.uk or by post to Editor, Hampshire Chronicle, 5 Upper Brook Street, Winchester, Hampshire, SO23 8AL.

All letters and e-mails must include full names and addresses (anonymous letters will not be published), although these details may be withheld from publication, on request.

Letters of 300 words or less will be given priority, although all are subject to editing for reasons of clarity, space, or legal requirements. We reserve the right to edit letters.