So who is he? Stoke City kit man, clown with Billy Smart’s circus, part of the furniture at Keele University for half a century, Neil Baldwin’s life seems to defy definition. Journalists have tried: a Walter Mitty with true stories; Keele University’s mascot.
Above all, Neil is a Christian.
“Every morning I get up and pray. Prayer is the best gift you can have.” I ask him whether his faith comes through in the documentary and he smiles. “My friends who came along to the premiere said ”˜you’ve put God in it first’ ”“ and that’s it how should be. Sometimes Christianity is not portrayed very well. If you’ve got no Lord, you are lost. God is always working in me, and through all the people that I’ve met.“
“Where do you go to church?” he asks. I tell him, and he shoots straight back “Your curate’s leaving, isn’t he? He’ll be missed. And a very good cricketer.” With unerring detail, Neil proceeds to tell me a history of comings and goings from my church over the years.