Walking through the M.E.N. Arena on the night of a Ricky Hatton fight , it seemed like someone had picked up Hattersley and Hyde and plonked it down in the venue.

Familiar faces from ringside all the way up to the ‘nosebleed’ seats at the back.

This was the legacy of the Hitman, he took us all along for the ride on his incredible sporting journey.

My first job in journalism was as sports editor at the Tameside Reporter, which mainly involved covering the footballing exploits of Stalybridge Celtic, Hyde United, Ashton United, Curzon Ashton, Droylsden and Mossley. The occasional presentation evening at the Tameside Table Tennis Association was as glamorous as it got.

But I was also fortunate enough to fall into the Tameside sporting scene at the same time as Ricky began his ascent

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