ONE of the Stockport Schoolboys heroes who had disappeared 40 years ago - and was presumed dead - made a last gasp dash to be reunited with old pals.

The whereabouts of Brian Fletcher, a full-back from the side that shared the FA Trophy in 1948, had remained a mystery despite immense efforts to find him by Marcus Heap, the organiser of the 60th anniversary celebrations.

But that was until his cousin, Joyce Southern, from Offerton, saw our article about the reunion in last week’s Stockport Express and set off a remarkable chain of events.

We put her in contact with Marcus the day before Saturday’s (April 5) get together at Edgeley Park, and he made a four-hour detour to pick Brian up and bring him along.

Brian, who had only heard about the reunion on Friday, said: "I had just two hours to pack, it all happened so quickly, but I really wanted to be there. It was an absolutely fantastic day, I couldn't believe people remembered me.

"But it was like we’d only seen each other yesterday. I saw Bryan (Brennan) and Johnny (Tippett) first and we hugged each other. Because it was so unexpected, that made the day even more memorable. I’m really grateful to Marcus, I thought I'd just be playing bowls at the local club that day."

County-fanatic Marcus had spent months trying to find ex-bobby Brian, 75, but had drawn blank after blank. He even contacted the police pension department and retired officer association to no avail.

The problem was that Brian, who went on to play for Stockport County’s second team, is known by his middle name and his actual first name is Arthur.

After school, he worked as an engineer in Stockport before joining the Army and serving in Germany. He met his wife, Val, on holiday in Jersey and the couple moved back to the borough.

They returned to her native London in 1963 when her parents became ill and Brian, now a grandfather, joined the Metropolitan Police Force, losing any remaining contact with his schoolboy team mates.

Marcus was told about Brian’s emergence as he was driving from his home in Winchester to Stockport for the reunion. So he turned round at Oxford and picked him and Val up from their home in Epsom, Surrey.

Marcus said: "I just stopped the car and turned round as I’d been trying to find him for ages and it was a miracle I finally did. It was like he’s come back from the dead. He was absolutely made up."