The call went out and it was answered. Logica's rapid slide down the Wandsworth Sportsmans League Sunday morning football pyramid over the last two years needed to be halted urgently. Finally a desperate Fleming turned to the Lags.

Many experts in the game had predicted that he would never play again. Medical experts strongly recommended that he should never play again. (Or was that the other way around?) But on Sunday 10th October, Keith Sidaway once more donned the red and black of the Logica club after an absence of almost three years.

Characteristically unselfish, the legendary Sidaway accepted his place on the bench with his usual grace, and even volunteered to run the line in the first half (an uncertain referee finally agreed despite his suspicions regarding our man's ignorance of the offside law). The regard, neigh, awe that the man is held in was evident in the sudden swell of support for this match, as a bulging crowd of four hugely outnumbered the attendance at any of Logica's previous games this season (by four in fact).

At the start of the second half, the moment the delirious crowd had been waiting for arrived. With the game balanced perilously at 1-1, Sidaway's experience was required at left-back. Immediately Sidaway gave the crowd what they yearned for, as he tried to score direct from the kick-off. It is this kind of blind-optimism and penchant for the unexpected that earned Sidaway post-match tributes such as "the largest personality on the pitch..." and "..bigger than the occasion."

In the first half, the young Lusitanos winger had turned Logica's Jake Gow around so many times with his vast array of tricks, that the wing back had to leave the field at the interval feeling dizzy and sick. Sidaway had the experience to deal with such a challenge, and a few wise words seemed to do the trick. "Try getting round me you little winger-cum-urchin and I'll break your leg (by falling on it...)". Faced with such a talented opponent, the young upstart faded dramatically, and was substituted some twenty minutes later. "I put him in my pocket" said the living legend afterwards.

After seeing Logica through the second half unscathed, Sidaway faced a drooling international pack of press hounds. One impertinent old hack had the temerity to inquire as to whether Sidaway felt tired after the game. Modest as ever, the legendary response was polite, courteous and had a dash of the famous dry humour. "Surprisingly I found it okay. Playing forty-five minutes instead of ninety helped!"

Sidaway was more forthright regarding the state of Logica FC after his three year absence. Despite Logica's current pole position, Sidaway still felt that "the team still has all the old failings - too nice, no stamina or fitness." It was not all bad news, however. "I felt the spirit was strong and I hope it continues. We all seemed to play without malice and with lots of encouragement."

Given this mixed reaction, Sidaway was asked whether he had enjoyed his comeback. "It felt good" he replied. Such understated satisfaction with his performance will not be good news for scamp-like right-wingers the length and breadth of Wandsworth's playgrounds. Sidaway is back.