FEW people are alive who saw Wrexham Football Club's Tommy Bamford play in the late 1920s and early 1930s, but for those who know of his talent on a football field, he is a legend.

Tommy had a phenomenal ability to score goals and in one season, he scored a record 44 league goals in 41 games, setting a club record which remains unbroken to this day.

Geraint Parry, club secretary of Wrexham Football Club, shares what he knows of Tommy, who was born in Swansea in September 1905.

He says initially Tommy played for a few clubs in South Wales such as Cardiff Dock, Cardiff Wednesday and Bridgend Town in the local amateur leagues.

It was only by chance somebody mentioned him to Wrexham Football Club, which brought him north to play for the club. "His debut was March 30, 1929 and he signed with us a few days later," says Geraint.

"He set a record and kicked six goals in his first seven games. It cemented his place in the side and he never looked back after that.

"The following season he scored 25 goals in 37 games, which was his worst season with us. His usual was 31 to 34 goals."

It was in the 1933-34 season when Tommy scored his record 44 league goals in 41 league games, says Geraint.

"The next season he was still with us and got four goals in the first nine games then Manchester United stepped in and he departed to Old Trafford in 1934."

He says Manchester United were only in the second division in those days. While Tommy played for them, he scored 53 goals in 98 appearances.

Geraint says: "He picked up the first of five Welsh caps in 1930 when he was with us. When he was at Manchester United, in 1936 he won the Second Division Championship title and he got them into the top division.

"In total for Wrexham, in 204 league games he scored 174 goals plus with cup matches, his total was 245 games and he scored 207 goals! It would be amazing if anybody got anywhere near that now," says Geraint with admiration. "It was a great, great career."

Tommy left Manchester United in 1938 and went to the former Swansea Town, where he scored 14 goals in 36 games. In 1939 when the Second World War began, Tommy was in the army and stationed close to Wrexham, so he played for his old team again. They were non-official war-time games in the North Wales League and he played 17 games.

"When the war was over, he was about 35 or 36, so his career came to an end professionally," says Geraint. "He settled in Wrexham and went to work at the local steelworks at Brymbo and made his home in Queen's Park in Wrexham."

In December 1967, Tommy Bamford died at the age of 62. His memory lives on at the Racecourse, with the Wrexham Football Club naming its Bamford Suite, which holds its 'Hall of Fame', in honour of Tommy.

Geraint says Tommy's goal-scoring record is phenomenal. "No one ever played in this club who can touch him.

"He was only 5ft 9in tall, so he had to use a lot of agility to get his goals. He was just under 12 stone in weight and he was a nippy striker with his Brylcreem hair," he says.

Geraint says Tommy was a goalscoring machine and hat-tricks were common for him. In addition, he played in what was probably the best pre-war Wrexham team in the 1930s.

"Tommy was one of those little finds, bumping around a small team in South Wales when someone suggested him to Wrexham." The rest, as they say, is history. It is certainly very early days now, and no one would want to put a young lad under pressure, but maybe, just maybe, some of Tommy's genes have been passed down the generations.

Not long after taking his very first steps as a toddler, great, great grandson Jordan Bamford started playing with a football his dad had bought him.

His passion for kicking around a football has only intensified over the years. When the nine-year-old is not playing with his local team, he is kicking a ball around his home at Acrefair.

Jordan's dad, Mark Bamford, says there have been no passionate and talented footballers in the family to follow in Tommy's footsteps for three generations. In Mark's case, he played a bit of football with the lads but he says he was not much good at it.

However with Jordan, who is the fourth generation down from Tommy, Mark says proudly: "My little lad is really good at it. He is much more passionate than I had been. All he does when he gets home from school is ask me to have a game with him."

Jordan is gearing up for his third season of football, starting in September. He plays centre-forward in the local team, Cefn United, which is the same position his great, great grandfather Tommy played.

Already this season, Jordan has scored more than 20 goals for the team but his dad is quick to point out it is a good team, with many good players.

Mark says there is no pressure on Jordan at all to be like Tommy; he is just happy that Jordan is enjoying playing football.

Shyly, Jordan says he really likes playing football and the best part is scoring goals. "I just practice after school for the fun of it, every day," he says.

When I ask what he would like to be when he gets older, Jordan says with quiet determination: "I would like to be a professional footballer."

After hearing about Jordan's passion for football, Geraint says: "I hope he follows in Tommy's genes and I hope he turns out to be as great a footballer as his great great grandfather – even if he only has a quarter of Tommy's success.

"It would be nice to have another Bamford play for Wrexham, turning up in a red Wrexham shirt," says Geraint. "So long as he enjoys playing football."