It was May 1985 and Watford’s pop star chairman spent ages signing autographs for star struck youngsters.
He also brought precious booty. Elton gave Keith, who was retiring from the game, a gold disc of his ‘Goodbye Yellow brick Road’ album and a video cassette of his latest single.
The Gazette reported how the crowd at Bloomfield Road was superb and were rewarded by a terrific display by both teams who played at full throttle.
Watford gave Blackpool a taste of what it took to reach the top flight with a 5-2 win but Blackpool had the consolation of a magnificent goal by Alex Dyer.
Afterwards Keith Mercer tossed his boots to the crowd as a gesture of thanks for a magnificent turn out of more than 4,000.
In case you missed it:
23 Blackpool FC crowd scenes showing the highs - and lows - of watching the Seasiders back in the 80s and 90s • 19 photos of youth football teams who battled it out on the pitches in Blackpool during the noughties
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