When Pele's Brazil team lived in a Cheshire hotel
· Yahoo Sports
A man has described the "amazing" moment Pele and his Brazil teammates visited his hometown in Cheshire.
The South American side stayed at a hotel in Lymm during their 1966 World Cup campaign, which saw them dumped out of the competition at the group stage.
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But as part of their time in the rural village, the squad, which also included Garrincha and Jairzinho, met with locals and signed autographs.
Sixty years on, Laurence Bennett, who was just five years old at the time, said he would spend mornings before school serving toast to the players as his mum Bessie worked at the Lymm Hotel.
"I got to just wander around these magnificent footballers," Bennett told BBC Radio Manchester.
He said the access people in the village had to the players would never be allowed today.
"You could just go into the hotel and they'd be standing there.
"People from all over Lymm could talk to them, meet them, shake their hands, and get their autographs."
Laurence Bennett (l) met Pele in the July 1966 visit and was able to serve food to his teammates [Laurence Bennett]Bennett came away from the experience with special piece of memorabilia, which he still treasures today, 60 years later.
"Pele gave my mum his training shirt and I've kept it all these years."
He added: "My grandson's had it on and he's still taking it all in now because Pele is such an icon in football - it's just amazing".
Laurence said Pele gave a training shirt to his mum [Laurence Bennett]The memories of the visit have since been immortalised in an exhibition at the Lymm Heritage Centre.
"They only stayed here for 10 days, and it's those 10 days people still talk about," said Alan Williams, who runs the Centre.
"Every boy in Lymm apparently had a kick about with Pele, and it seems everybody in Lymm had an autograph, too," he said.
"Because of how technology has moved on what we have been able to do is bring these photos, which were dark and dingy, to life.
"All together, they tell a remarkable story, and it makes you immensely proud."
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