had bought me for my birthday. I'd said: 'Get me something I'll remember'. So she bought me these Cica boots in Brighton colours.

'Then somebody ran on field after the match and said: 'Let's have yer boots' and I gave them to him. Lisa was in the crowd and she saw it happen. After the game, I came out all happy-happy and she said: 'Why did you give your boots away? Couldn't you have given him your shirt?'

'I'd only had them for two months. It was the first time I'd played in them. I hadn't even stretched them in. I'd been saving them to wear them on an occasion. So I wore them on an occasion and gave them away.'

Reinelt joined Brighton as a free agent and left afterscoring a goal which changed their future

Reinelt's deal at Brighton was his last professional contract and he now works for Network Rail

His shirt fetched a four-figure sum when it was auctioned for charity a few years later and there was a fleeting reunion with the chancer who made of with his blue boots.

'I was at Brighton Races for one of Kerry's testimonial events and that guy was there,' said Reinelt. 'He said: 'You won't recognise me because my hair's shorter but I've got your boots'. I said: 'My missus wants to speak to you'. I never saw him again.'

Steve Gritt was thrilled at the chance to get back into football management but as he pulled up at the Goldstone it was impossible to miss the graffiti inviting him