The passing of the football magician Pele came as no surprise but is still a saddening event. Not only was Pele a masterful footballer, he was a gentleman of the game, both off and on the field. It is much harder to find such a combination these days, such is the ego-driven, overpaid environment that top-flight professionals play in in the modern game.

Most of what I have been of Pele has been on film or TV. I did watch the live broadcast in 1972 of Australia vs Santos at the Sydney Sports Ground, tickets being impossible to get. He was well marked by midfielder Ray Richards but still showed beautiful touches on the ball. At 32 he was probably just ending the period of his best, having retired from the national team the year before. Shortly he would join the New York Cosmos to ride out into a golden retirement.

He is credited with scoring about 1200 goals in 1300 appearances for Santos and 77 from 92 games for Brazil. He was in three World Cup winning sides. His statistics are just astonishing. For all of us young players back then, he was a legend, his name a byword for genius. Truly, he was the GOAT.

I love this postage stamp commemorating his 1000th goal in 1969.