Son of Blackpool football legend finally tracks down dad's memorabilia

Steven Roy Gratrix, 63, had always wanted some of his dad's Blackpool FC memorabilia, but when Roy died aged 70 in 2002, circumstances meant the items ended up elsewhere.

Roy was remembered as a reliable defender who was with the club from 1953 to 1964, right through the Tangerines' glory years when they were a force to be reckoned with in the top flight and finished fourth in two consecutive seasons in the mid 1950s.

When Steven was a boy he recalls Jimmy Armfield and other players regularly calling at the family home to see his dad.

Steven, who now lives on Garstang Road in the Fylde village of Larbreck, had lost a little hope in tracking down anything pertaining to his dad's playing days - after all it had been more than 18 years since Roy died, after suffering dementia.

But he happened to be looking on eBay when he did a double take, because there was his dad's old Blackpool contract up for sale.

Steven, a retired civil servant, said: "With lockdown I suppose I've had a little more time than usual to surf the net.

"There had been some things in the news again about footballers getting dementia after heading those heavy leather balls, and I ended up thinking about my dad and I just want on eBay on the spur of the moment.

"And there it was, his contract, probably the most precious piece of all.

"I knew what to look so I could tell it was the genuine thing, with his signature there too.

"As soon as I saw it I got in touch with the seller straightaway and I couldn't wait to get hold of it.

"I paid £86 but it's priceless to me, definitely money well spent."

The contract says Roy was earning £12 a week at that stage, the same as his illustrious team mate Stanley Matthews.

Steven was not a football fan when he was younger but in more recent years he started going to matches at Bloomfield Road and he is proud that his dad played in more than 400 matches for Blackpool, believed to be the third most number of games notched up by any player in the club's history, behind record holder Jimmy Armfield and Hugh Kelly.

Before lockdown, Steven would go to matches with daughter-in law Cheryl, who is married to his daughter Kimberley, and they often had season tickets.

Although he didn't follow in his dad's footsteps as a footballer, Steven is a master scuba diver trainer and emergency First Responder, and he was presented with a medal himself last year when he was named as a Covid hero for Fylde after delivering food parcels during lockdown.

Roy kept on playing after leaving Blackpool, with two spells at Toronto City in Canada and one season with Manchester City before ending his career with Welsh non-league outfit Bangor City.

Upon retiring, he became a milkman for Cress Dairies in the Bispham area..

Steven added: "They didn't earn big money in those days but my dad will always be a Blackpool legend to me and I'm over the moon to be reunited with his contract, it means so much to me."