Ronnie Clayton: Brazil v England - Rio de Janeiro 13 May 1959

RONNIE Clayton's most testing match was when he came up against Brazilian great Pele.

It was 1959 and the Rovers legend was playing for England in Rio de Janeiro in a friendly game.

"At that time we man-marked players and it was my job was to man-mark Pele," he said.

"Obviously he was rated as the greatest player at that time.

"But I think I had a good game against him.

"I remember I kicked him 37 times just to slow him down," he laughed.

"No, I'm only joking. It was a real test to mark him and I think we did okay as we only lost 2-0!

"That was an achievement.

"I remember there were 180,000 people in the stadium and the firecrackers were going off and it was a tremendous atmosphere.

"And it was so hot. I can remember the heat.

"But it was great to face Pele. That was a challenge."

Another game Ronnie remembers well, which was earlier in his England career -- he made 35 appearances for his country -- was a 3-1 win over Germany in the 'People's Stadium' in Berlin in May 1956.

England, at that time, consisted of players like Billy Wright, Duncan Edwards and Tommy Taylor.

"Germany were the World Champions and they were virtually unbeatable," he said.

"Nobody had beaten them and we won convincingly 3-1.

"The atmosphere was electric. "I remember I had a good game and Duncan Edwards scored the first goal.

"He was my best mate.

"I honestly believe that if he had lived he would have been the greatest footballer ever.

"He was that good."

Unfortunately, the Manchester United man died in the Munich air disaster in 1958 but Ronnie can still laugh at his memories of Duncan.

"I remember he was my chaperone when me and my wife were courting -- and he did the job too well.

"He was behind me every turn!

"One time we were playing for England in Scotland and it was my honeymoon.

"We went to the pictures and Duncan sat in between me and my wife!" he laughed.

While he enjoyed his international career, a match which sticks out in the wing halves 20-years as a Rovers' player was the FA Cup comeback against local rivals Burnley in the quarter-final in 1960.

Burnley were leading 3-0 with 17 minutes left before a disputed handball by Clarets defender Alex Elder gifted Rovers a penalty at Turf Moor and they battled back to make it 3-3.

"I remember when we were 3-0 down, Peter Dobing came up to me and said 'It looks like we have had it, Ron. The only thing we can do is keep on fighting', and that's just what we did.

"The penalty, though, was never a penalty.

"But we took it and then we won the replay. It was certainly an exciting game to play in. "It was nice to get one over on your local rivals but at that time all the players tended to be all friends together. We had a lot of respect for each other.

"I knew Jimmy McIlroy, John Connelly and Brian Miller, and a lot of the other Burnley players.

"We had a natter, but on the pitch we kicked each other a bit! That was a great fightback though."

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Ronnie Clayton Factfile

Born: Preston, 1934

Debut: v Queens Park Rangers at Ewood Park in 1951

Ewood career: 1950-69

Other clubs: Morecambe, Great Harwood

International Honours: Capped 35 times for England (1955-60); England Under 23 six caps (1955-57).

Domestic Honours: Blackburn were FA Cup runners-up (1960)

Appearances: Football League: 579+2; FA Cup 56: Football League Cup 28.

Goals: Football League 15: FA Cup 1.