You remember Geoff Horsfield, don’t you? The one-time jobbing brickie went from part-time footballer to the Premier League.
You know, the one with testicular cancer.
A dreadful illness and proof, if any was still needed, that this particular disease does not discriminate.
Horsfield, now player-assistant manager to Micky Adams at Port Vale, where he has played in seven League Two games this season, hopes that by raising awareness someone, anyone, out there might be spared what he went through.
His story starts one year ago.
‘I was training at Walsall, trying to get match-fit,’ he said.
‘It was a Thursday night, three days before I was due to play in a reserve match. I was heading out with my missus, Tina, and I had a bath.
'You’re always told at football clubs to check yourself. So I did. And I felt this lump. I came out of the bath and said, “I’ve felt this,’’ and she replied, “Oh, it’s a cyst’’.’
‘I left it a few days and I went training but it was still in the back of my mind. I’m good friends with Kevin Conod, West Bromwich’s club doctor, so I texted and asked to see him.
‘The minute he saw me I could tell by the look on his face it was serious. He referred me for a scan, straightaway.
‘About a week had passed and I wanted it to hurt so much that I had broken the skin of my scrotum. I knew that they said cancer doesn’t hurt and that a cyst or a boil would hurt and I’d been tearing away at it with my nail, hoping I’d feel the pain.
‘But there was no pain at all.
Awareness: Horsfield hopes his diagnosis will prompt more men taking cancer tests
‘So, one week after feeling what I hoped was a boil, I lay on the bed in the BUPA hospital at Little Aston, underpants around my ankles and I’ve never been so nervous.
‘The consultant came in and was straight with me. He said, “If the waves bounce off it, then it’s cancer, if they don’t it’s not’’.
‘All I could see on the screen was these little light rays pinging back off my testicle. It was cancer.
‘My head started spinning. I looked at my missus. She burst into tears. I held back, but I had a little cry in the car afterwards.
‘The first thing that went through my mind was, “What have I done wrong?"
'Whoever I’ve met in life, I’ve tried to help. I’ve not turned anyone over intentionally. I’ve always played hard, any centre half will tell you that. Most of my good friends — Kit Symons, Chris Morgan, Chris Lucketti — well, I’ve had some right battles with them.
'We’ll smash lumps out of each other. And then go for a pint afterwards. It’s the way it is. ‘I rang my mum, Christine, and said, “I’ve got cancer’’.
Looking up: Horsfield appears to be over the worst
'It was a Friday morning. I knew it would become public knowledge eventually so I had to tell the kids, Chloe and Leah, my girls. That’s the hardest thing I’ve had to do. They both started crying.
'Even when I become a manager and have to tell someone they are released, it will be a piece of cake compared to that. At that point, I didn’t know anything about cancer. You don’t, really, until the illness begins to affect you or someone close.
'I’d done events at the various clubs I’d been involved with — Birmingham, Sheffield United, West Bromwich, Fulham. But if you aren’t affected, you don’t look closely into it.
‘After telling my kids, I was at my mum’s house. I just sat, talked, cried and got drunk.
'Off my face. Trying to numb the pain. At that point, you see, I didn’t know how far it had spread.
‘I could have been like John Hartson and it could have spread everywhere. By the time Sunday night came around, I had got over the pain. I remember saying to the adults in the room, “**** it.
'Let’s get it out of my body. I’ll beat this.”
‘A few days later the news got out. I had phoned up a few of my pals, Matt Upson, Richard Chaplow and the rest of them. They were flabbergasted. Do you know what the first thing they did was?
'They all checked themselves. I had the operation five days later. They took my testicle out. They asked me whether I wanted a prosthetic one.
'I said, “What for? I’m not in porn films. Let’s go with the one, I’ve done my bit for the population boom.”
‘You then have to wait for seven days. I had the operation done by a Professor Cullen.
'His assistant was a mad keen Birmingham fan and he told me the good news that I didn’t need chemo, that they thought they had it early enough. I shed a few tears.’
When every footballing wannabe looks at Horsfield, they want to see themselves. He was passed over as a kid, worked on a Black Country building site by day and hot-footed it to training at Halifax by night.
Strong as a Horse: Horsfield enjoyed goal-laden spells at Birmingham, West Brom and Fulham
He got his break and made the most of it. Eventually, he got to the Premier League with Birmingham City. When it was time to leave, Steve Bruce called it ‘the most difficult managerial decision I’ve ever made’.
He was loved at West Bromwich, too, where he scored the goal that ensured their survival on the day of the ‘great escape’ in 2005.
When Birmingham fans learned he had scored that goal, they struck up a chorus of:
‘Feed the Horse and he will score’ — even though they were watching a home game against Arsenal.
The fact he is seen as one of the people brings home the severity of the disease.
‘When news broke, there was a 15-year-old lad in Lincoln who read what had happened to me,’ he said.
‘He checked himself, found a lump and told his mum. They had it checked and it was cancer. His mum wrote to tell me, basically, that she thought he would have been too embarrassed to say something otherwise and to thank me for saving his life.
'That letter is by my bedside. It makes me feel so humble. Then there were the reactions of people I’d never met.
'Millwall’s Neil Harris rang me straightaway. I’d never spoken to him but I knew what had happened to him. He had one bout of radiotherapy. He’s done really well.
‘Jason Cundy, Matt Duke, who had been at Hull, loads of different people rang. One of the interesting things was that it affects people in different ways. My reaction was to get the testicle removed.
Horsing around: Horsfield and his former Birmingham team mate Andrew Johnson
'Neil Harris told me that he was embarrassed when he did that. It was nice to exchange views. Steve Bruce got in touch. He said, “Anything you want, name it’’.
'So I asked him for his bank account details and a five-year contract. I didn’t get either.
‘I tried to get John Hartson’s number. I think he waited after discovering his lump, which surprised me, given the character he was. So many people get it now.
'One in three people get cancer. I’m glad it’s me, if those are the averages and not my missus or the kids.
‘There is a lad here at Port Vale, the groundsman’s assistant. He was playing five-a-side. The ball hit him in the midriff. His bits swelled up and wouldn’t go down.
'Three weeks later, they found he had testicular cancer. He had a couple of bouts of radiotherapy and he’s on the mend. It can affect anyone, at any time.’
There is an uplifting ending. Horsfield, 36 next month, is checked every three months and, so far, it appears that they caught it just in time.
‘It’s dreadful, horrible and everyone knows it,’ he said.
‘I was walking around Asda an hour after having been released from hospital and this lad in a Villa shirt came up to me. I eyed him a bit warily, having played for Birmingham and West Bromwich.
Stricken: Neil Harris and John Hartson are also battling testicular cancer
'He asked me how I was doing and when I said that I’d had the operation, he said he hoped I was OK.
‘He walked about five yards, then turned around and said, “You have no idea how difficult it was for me to say that."
'You see, the disease crosses boundaries, colour, race, age. It doesn’t matter.
‘If you’re a bloke you must check. I check the one I’ve got left. It’s lonely, so I have to make sure it’s looked after!
‘Tina got pregnant at the end of the month I had the operation. It won’t affect your chances of having kids. Obviously, it just doubles the power of the one you have left.
'We have a three-month old now, called Lexie. She is cherished.’
This story has a happy ending simply because of a hot bath and common sense.
As Horsfield would no doubt say: ‘Gentlemen, you have been warned.’
had been keen to quit Birmingham on a temporary basis in a bid to play first team football but has seen previous requests rebuffed by 
Murrays (in Dublin,O'Connell St) have the game on live this sat 5 15 http://www.murraysbar.eu/ check on sat morning to see if it still is as sometimes matches change.
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