Lou Macari, the famous footballer and manager from Largs, admits that he is ‘delighted and surprised’ to have his role as boss at Stoke City reprised in a BBC2 drama.

Lou, whose family ran a family cafe near Largs seafront for decades, played for both Celtic and Manchester United, but also featured as manager of Stoke.

In the plot for ‘Marvellous’, Lou’s character plays an influential role in the feature length tv film, and it is true to life.

The programme was aired last year, but it is still available to watch on BBC iplayer until Saturday evening.

‘Marvellous’ is an uplifting drama based on the true story of Neil ‘Nello’ Baldwin, played by Toby Jones, a man who defied being labelled as having learning difficulties to lead a remarkable life.

After a spell as a circus clown, Neil was offered a job as kitman for Stoke City Football Club by then manager Lou Macari.

Lou, who also went on to manage Celtic in the 1990s, said: “‘Scriptwriter Pete Bowker came to see me at a hotel in Stoke - he said that he wanted a chat about possibly doing a drama about Neil Baldwin. The hour meeting turned into a two-hour meeting, to three hours. It probably got to the four hour stage, and we were still talking about Neil! He asked to come and see me again, with the director, Julian Farino.

“The more I talked, the more interested Julian got. And by the time they left, they’d probably convinced me that something was going to happen.

“When I heard it was going ahead, I was delighted and surprised, and anxiously waited to see how it was going to come across on television.” Tony Curran, who plays Lou Macari, also starred in BBC Two’s This Life, which also starred Largs actress Daniela Nardini.

And during the BBC Sports Personality of the Year staged in Glasgow last month, Largs charity fundraiser John Burleigh met Lou Macari, and took this picture alongside him, with one of his Burns Bunnets, which was made famous last year after it was worn by Usain Bolt.