YORK City boss Russ Wilcox has recalled with a smile the day former Northampton Town team-mate David Longhurst drove then manager Graham Carr mad after putting on ten pounds in weight over one weekend.

Former Minsterman Carr, who is father to comedian Alan, was left cursing after Longhurst's zest for life landed him in trouble with Newcastle United's current head scout.

Wilcox laughed: "Carry had retired at 27 because he was fat and unfit, in a nutshell. He didn’t look after himself off the pitch and, because of that, when he became a manager he was obsessed with weight.

"We all got weighed on a Friday and again on a Monday and I remember David, even though he had played on the Saturday, putting ten pounds on. I don’t know how he did that and Carry went mad.

"He always sounded like Blakey from On the Buses and he whined: ‘What the hell have you been doing over the weekend'? David replied: ‘Gaffer, I only had a few pints and a curry’ and Carry then shouted: ‘A few pints’?!"

Wilcox also revealed that with the benefit of hindsight there might have been early clues regarding the condition that was to cost Longhurst his life.

"I remember him not being able to do long-distance running and, looking back, that was probably to do with the defect," the City chief reasoned. "Carry used to call him lazy because the goalkeeper was beating him but, with short stuff like sprints, he was brilliant and sharp."

Wilcox went on to reiterate what Longhurst's ex-Bootham Crescent playing colleagues declared about the centre forward's endearing personality.

"He had a Scottish accent even though he was born and grew up in Corby, which was very strange for a start," Wilcox added. "Corby was like a little Scotland back then because a lot of families had come down to work in the steel industry during the 1960s and the kids still spoke the same as their parents.

"As a player, he was quick, lively, tenacious and a goalscorer and, as a person, he was fun to be around, good company and a great character. He used to come in wearing a Trilby for some games as a wind-up.

"He was mischievous – a real joker in the pack – and I’m sure he was the same at York. He had so much to offer as a player and a person and, when you hear something like what happened to him has happened, football goes out of the window. It’s important, but not the be all and end all."