It is one of the joys of sport that friendships forged in changing rooms and on playing fields can be immediately rekindled decades later. Conversation flows like a tap turned back on. My old Westminster School team celebrated an anniversary recently. Players flew in from Dallas, Miami and Tallinn or tubed it from Hampstead and Wimbledon. We had a team photo taken in front of the altar in Westminster Abbey (after asking some tourists politely to move). We had a tour of the school, admired the investment in science and arts blocks and especially in the restored and extended pavilion fronting the pitches behind Tate Britain. Standing on our old field, we reminisced about our defender who refused to head the ball and our striker who kept disappearing north to watch Leeds United and returning on a night train to be in Abbey for assembly first thing.

Talking of trips down memory lane, quite a few football clubs host sessions to help those with dementia by screening footage of old games. It’s very moving to watch empty eyes fill with life when recognising favourite players. Tottenham Hotspur send first-teamers to a nursing home in Enfield with photos of........

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