John Milkins: Portsmouth scoring great Ray Hiron was my best man - and like a brother

The Pompey Hall of Famer died on Sunday afternoon aged 76 at a Fareham care home, following a long illness.

Hiron is the sixth-highest goalscorer in club history, with 117 registered in 364 appearances.

As a Dockyard employee, he was recruited from Fareham Town in 1964, spending 11 seasons with the Blues, where he befriended goalkeeper Milkins.

The pair were room-mates during Fratton Park days, while Hiron was best man at his pal’s wedding to Gillian in 1967.

Milkins said: ‘When Ray came to Pompey, we struck up a friendship straight away.

‘He was best man at my wedding, we always shared a room on Pompey trips, he was like a brother to me really.

‘Ray was very laid back, nothing bothered him, he was easy to get on with, we never had an argument in all the years we were together. He was very unassuming.

‘What a good player too. In those days we had at least one target man in the team and, when you put a ball up to him, he went for it with his whole heart and released a lot of pressure off the defenders.

‘Although the boss (George Smith) gave him an extra tenner at one time to buy a Guinness and steak to try to put some weight on! It didn’t do a lot.

‘When I was inducted in the Pompey Hall of Fame, I chose him to present it to me and he made one of the funniest speeches ever. He kept reading the same thing over and over again off a piece of paper!’

Pompey boot man, Barry Harris, was present for Hiron’s debut at Bury in September 1964, which ended in a 1-1 draw.

Harris added: ‘Ray worked in the Dockyard signing for Pompey the same day as Cliff Portwood from Grimsby for £8,000.

‘Cliff arrived at Fratton Park in a posh car – and Ray had to sign during his dinner hour, getting there on the back of his mate’s motorbike!

‘He was a clever striker, good in the air, he could take defenders on and was sharp in the box.’