Following the recent death of former Torquay United, Plymouth Argyle and England physio Norman Medhurst, we will now look back at his career in greater depth.
It is often said that every Torquay United manager must possess three things: contacts, contacts and contacts as owing to the club's geographical location recruitment is often harder than in other part of country.
In 1988, the then United manager Cyril Knowles pulled off arguably one of the club's greatest transfer coups - however his transfer target wasn't a player, but a physiotherapist in the form of the then England physio Norman Medhurst, who he recruited for the Gulls from Chelsea.
Medhurst, by his point, was a well known figure in London football having worked with Chelsea for a number of years after succeeding his father, Harry, a role which he combined with working as the physiotherapist for the England national team, which had seen him involved in the 1982 and 1986 World Cups.
After discussing the offer from Knowles with the then England boss the late Sir Bobby Robson, Medhurst agreed to accept the position at Plainmoor, which he would continue to combine with his role with the England set-up.
His first season with the Gulls proved to be a memorable one, as they became the first of the three Devon professional to play at Wembley when they reached the final of the Sherpa Van Trophy final against Bolton Wanderers.
There was more drama to follow for Norman a year later, this time with England at the 1990 World Cup final in Italy as he was present for England's penalty shoot-out defeat against West Germany in Turin in the semi-finals of the competition.
Anyone who witnessed to the shot of Bobby Robson's celebration in response to Gary Lineker's equaliser against the Germans will no doubt be able to spot Norman in the background.
Nevertheless, within a year penalty agony turned to penalty ecstasy as Norman was present for United's 5-4 shoot-out defeat of Blackpool, after drawing 2-2 in normal time, to win promotion from Division Four via Play-offs.
He remained at Plainmoor until 1995 when he left to join Plymouth Argyle where he remained for four years before returning to the United fold in 1999. Such was his popularity at Plainmoor, he was even awarded a testimonial in 1995 which saw two England All-stars sides - drawn from the managerial reigns of Ron Greenwood and Bobby Robson respectively - go head to head.
Norman eventually left Plainmoor for the final time in 2005, shortly after the Gulls' automatic promotion success under Leroy Rosenior, to embark on retirement in France. However, his heart remained with the Gulls and he even sent Leroy and the team a 'good luck' message ahead of their FA Cup third round tie with Birmingham City in 2006.
Even though 13 or so years have passed since his departure, the role of the United physio will forever be associated with himself and his successors from Graham McAnuff to Damien Davey to current physio Gareth Law will always be aware that they themselves are following in the footsteps of an iconic figure.
Law even cited Norman as being a big influence on his own career path and that his own interest in physiotherapy grew from the treatment that received from him during his brief time as a United player.
All players who received treatment from him spoke fondly of him, including the Gulls' all-time record appearance maker Kevin Hill, who described Norman as 'the nicest man in football.'
He will be greatly missed by all those who knew him.
