OLDER, greyer, a little paunchier it didn't really matter - the Class of 83 marched out to a terrific welcome at St George's Lane on Saturday.

The roll-call of names - Kevin Tudor, Steve Crompton, David Hughes, Barry Lowe - jogged some happy memories among the City faithful.

One of the loudest cheers was for Paul Moss whose head for figures (he trained as an accountant) was more than matched by his eye for a goal as his 105 strikes in 213 appearances testified.

For Moss, now 45, the occasion was particularly memorable because he had not set foot in the ground since leaving City 15 years ago.

"It was great to meet up with the lads because we don't see each other which is a great shame but the banter and mickey-taking took off straight away," he said.

As a professional on the books of Wolves and Hull City, Moss had been a midfielder until Nobby Clark converted him to a striker - a decision which he wished he'd made a lot earlier.

"It suited my game moving up front and I'd have liked a crack in the pro game as a forward," he said.

Moss reluctantly left City to join Nuneaton in one last bid for FA Trophy glory which unfortunately ended at the quarter final stage. Soon after he hung up his boots.

The game has moved on since Moss patrolled City's frontlines, mainly fitness wise but he admits he would love to be playing in the modern game.

"I came with an open mind because football has moved on athletically and I expected it to be of a higher standard but the general play, awareness and ability has not really changed though fitness certainly has," he said.

"The pace didn't drop off in the last 20 minutes like it did in my day when huge gaps would open up and where I used to score a lot of my goals.

"When I played it was almost accepted that the centre half was going to come through you at least two or three times but these days the tackle from behind is banned and the forwards have better protection.

"There's much more opportunity to hold the ball and turn whereas back then you would be clattered and the centre would send both you and the ball into the stand."

Moss still has a link with the current side having played with a young Mark Shail and was impressed with Dan Jones' use of the ball from defence.

Adam Wilde and Danny McDonnell also caught his eye but he feared goalscoring could be a problem.

"It looked like there was not an awful lot of creativity in the front two and they didn't really seem to have the ability to open up defences themselves," he said. "Without Adam Wilde they are going to struggle to open up sides but I think they look solid at the back."

Saturday is the last chance to buy ground season tickets - £80 (£50 concessions).