Express & Star

Pics mourn one of the 'magnificent seven'

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Club legend Mick Clayton is being mourned by all at Rushall Olympic as one of the 'magnificent seven' was remembered.

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Clayton was one of the playing stars in a golden era for the Pics, during the 1960s, and then helped the club take strides off the pitch over the following decades.

Clayton featured alongside Brian Greenwood, Trevor Westwood, Graham Wiggin, Ray Wiggin, Johnny Edwards and Brian Humphries.

They played their part in masterminding Rushall's return to the village in 1977, when they moved to their current Dales Lane home.

Long-time friend and fellow committee member, Edwin Venables, praised his influence on the football club.

"They were a gang of lads that had a kickabout and thought, 'we fancy our chances'," he said.

"They started using a local chippy as changing rooms but they became quite a prominent side.

"They spent hours mucking in when they moved into their own base, chopping trees down and building the clubhouse.

"We moved to the Aston University Sports Ground in 1975 but soon after they started working with local councillor Dick Arkell and got the club a return to the local area."

The dominant era of the 1960s saw Rushall claim a host of silverware including the Walsall Senior Cup, Sporting Star Cup, Lichfield Charity Cup, JW Edge Cup, Walsall Memorial Charity Cup and Wednesbury Senior Cup.

Clayton, described as a 'very fragile, slight winger' in his day by Venables, played a large part – becoming the club's third highest-ranked appearance holder, and second-top goalscorer in the process.

He racked up 535 appearances for the Pics, plundering 254 goals, while also clocking up 103 consecutive outings for Olympic between 1967 and 1970.

Venables hailed the spirit of the side in the 1960s, and how a 'family' bond with the Pics stands to this day.

"As they get older they beg\n to dedicate time to family, but the love and passion remained to the end," he said. "Mick was a good all-rounder.

"The players of that time were one big, strong, happy family.

"The funeral at Streetly Crematorium was rammed full of probably 200 people.

"He was also a member at Little Aston Golf Club. There were all sorts of friends in there swapping notes and seeing old faces.

"Players of today don't have that bond. There are no characters.

"Whenever there's an event, we don't need to tell them, they turn up and support it no matter what."

As well as heroics on the field, Clayton was ready to muck in and as well as serving on the committee, he has also had a spell as secretary and even first team physiotherapist at Dales Lane.

The club now sits as a well-established outfit in non-league football, playing in the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League Premier Division. Comfortable and with potential to continue rising, surely what Clayton would have dreamed of.