One of Wycombe Wanderers’ Wembley heroes from 1957 has backed the campaign to repair the Red Lion – almost 60 years after he joined teammates next to the town landmark to speak to thousands of fans.

Looking back at the moment football fans greeted the players in High Wycombe High Street following their trip to Wembley, 82-year-old Jimmy Truett says he can still picture the sea of faces.

Returning home in an open-top bus, the Blues received the plaudits on the balcony of the Red Lion Hotel.

Some 90,000 fans cheered them on at Wembley and it seemed almost as many were in the High Street.

A resident of Coleshill, Mr Truett played for Wanderers throughout the 1950s and says that he remembers that iconic moment every time he visits the town and looks up at the crumbling relic.

He has now joined the Bucks Free Press in calling for urgent repairs.

He said: “If I’m walking down there, I will look up and remember the time I was standing on there and the thought of all those people comes back – it was a sea of faces.

“Wycombe supporters made Wembley look like a full house that day. The support from the town will live with me forever.”

He added: “I saw the start of the campaign in the Free Press and I agree, when I went there recently I looked up at and said it needs refurbishing.”

Mr Truett played alongside his brother, Geoff, in the 1957 final of the FA Amateur Cup, a game they lost 3-1.