HUDDERSFIELD Town's academy manager Mark Lillis is as well known at Derby County as he is at the John Smith’s Stadium.
He played for the Pride Park club in the mid 1980s and also served them as a coach.
And, as Town launch a new football memories game to raise awareness of dementia, Lillis stepped forward to list his favourite recollections from the game, as Town prepare to host Derby on September 15 (after the upcoming international break).
Town are using the match to celebrate favourite football memories and will invite fans to submit their own moments to cherish from Town matches – to bring attention to dementia, a condition that involves loss of memory, mood changes and problems with communication and reasoning.
Lillis said: “Building memories is one of the best things about football.
“We all turn up every week in the hope of seeing an iconic moment. People tell you not to linger in the past, but I tend to use experience as an inspiration.
“The first thing that springs to mind when I’m asked about my time with Huddersfield is the 1982-83 promotion season.
“I captained the team against Newport and at only 23 I was so proud to have been given the armband. I played centre-half that day and I was facing John Aldridge and Tommy Tynan.
“We kept a clean sheet and Dave Cowling scored to give us a 1-0 win, which ensured promotion to Division II.
“I can picture the scene in the dressing room afterwards – I just sat there soaking it all in as the lads celebrated. Nobody can take that away from me.”
Currently the man in charge of guiding Town’s youngsters to their first professional contracts, Lillis was a cult hero on the terraces at Leeds Road as a key part of Mick Buxton’s successful side in the late 1970s and early 80s.
He netted 63 goals in 242 appearances for Town before being sold to Manchester City, his boyhood favourites, where he became top scorer.
Lillis also did well at Derby and, in his coaching days, he helped bring through such players as Tom Huddlestone, Lee Camp, Marcus Tudgay and Lee Grant.
