On a hot summers night in July the OSC Beverley branch welcomed Tigers legend Dean Windass to the Hodgsons Pub in Beverley.
The event which was to help raise funds for ward 33 at Castle Hill hospital was up against stiff competition with Beverley races, The Hull Rugby League derby and the first week of the summer holidays to contend with however with a strong turn out of over 60 people there was quite a buzz around the venue.
Dean arrived at just before 8pm and after a brief speech from Bernard Noble about his forth coming meetings with Hull City officials Dean took to the stage.
He was of his usual calm and entertaining demeanour and was more than willing to answer all questions that where put to him by members of the audience.
A lot of the early focus was centred on that glorious day at Wembley in 2008 with Dean jokingly confessing ‘it was so hot, I was knackered before kickoff’ and admitting he was so drunk he doesn’t remember much of the day or two after as the team like the fans where just celebrating non stop he even quipped ‘I think Ash was putting champagne on his cornflakes’.
When asked about the belief in them achieving promotion before hand Dean commented that he had a conversation with Phil Brown back in the
December where they agreed that the team was so strong they didn’t see how they could lose a game.
On that famous winning goal Dean stated jokingly ‘it wasn’t a chance, I’m just that good I made it look easy’.
On the current city squad Dean stated that he thinks Steve Bruce is a good manager and has made some good moves in the transfer market but the squad could do with a little more experience and somebody like Emile Heskey would be perfect.
During the break the Branch held a raffle with a staggering 21 prizes up for grabs before Dean came back to the stage for another session of questions and stories.
Asked about his favourite strike partner Dean mentioned Alan Fettis saying how goalkeepers love to get out the net and have a kick around and
Alan managed to get on the bench as an outfield player and he loved it. Dean also had praise for Frazier Campbell, Linton Brown and Caleb Folan. He said the best player he ever played with was Alen Boksic who he played with at Middlesbrough.
Dean gave some insight into his work with Sky sports Soccer Saturday and explained how easy it is to make mistakes with how hectic the job can be. He admitted he hopes to be back on the show this season as he enjoyed doing the work he also stated he is looking for his break in coaching but it is hard as there are more and more coaches and managers out of jobs at the moment.
After the event was wrapped up by MC Peter Johnson who said of the event “I thought it was a massive success and Dean was great” Dean stuck around to sign autographs and pose for photos with the many fans in attendance.
Everybody at the Beverley OSC would like to thank Dean for a great night and all the people who came down to show their support. We hope to have raised a reasonable amount for the charity to add to what the OSC has already contributed.
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