DELWYN DERRICK has had an amazing 12 months and you’d definitely need more than a page to write it all down.

Crowned unsung hero in the BBC Wales Sports personality of the year, the Bellevue football coach, came out of hospital the day the coronavirus lockdown kicked in.

“Doctors found a tumour in my skull in December, so I went into hospital to have it removed, got released the day lockdown kicked in and put on the high risk list while I was healing up,” said Derrick, who said naming his all-time favourite Bellevue team would provide a perfect pick-me-up.

What’s been the highlight of your footballing days so far? I’m a lucky man. I have had so many memorable moments in this sport, it is near impossible to pick just one.

My absolute highlight has to come from a dark place I think.

Obviously winning the BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year Unsung Hero is huge, but the highlight was that I was presented the award by Mickey Thomas at our training, so I got to share this huge moment with the lads.

It’s only because of the lads that I won the award as without them I’m just a guy who rents a patch of grass, so that was important to me. In amongst those lads though was one of our players who I’d saved from suicide twice in the weeks before the award.

My highlight was handing him the award. If his situation had gone a different way, that night could have been a very sad night, but to win an award that they say is for helping people, and to be able to give someone you’ve helped that award.

Seeing the smile on that guy’s face holding that award, that’s the reason I do this job, that smile made it the best moment of my life.

Who has had the most influence on you as a footballer and in what way? Abdul Ahmed from Bellevue FC. I first met Abdul years ago in the park, long before we were a team. My friends and I would just meet up some evenings for a kick about and Abdul was usually there on his own.

We would always invite him to join us and over time we heard his story. Abdul is a refugee from Sudan who’s been separated from his family since he was 10 years old, living alone in Wrexham.

After a while of knowing him, he began calling us his brothers and his family and saying that Bellevue was where he felt at home. This was the catalyst that eventually started this football club, somewhere for people to call home.

Also the name, we kept it as simple as Bellevue FC after what Abdul had said about Bellevue feeling like home - all inspired by little Abdul.

What’s the funniest thing you’ve seen or been involved in on a football field? I did once play 38 minutes of a game with two halves of a Pringles tub as shin pads. I’d had to cut the tube in half with my keys at the side of the pitch without the referee noticing and then hope that nobody two footed me otherwise my legs were undoubtedly going to fall off.

The ref did give me a funny look as I came across to test my shin pads, he gave them both a little kick and was satisfied that they sounded like real shin pads.

It provided great entertainment in the changing rooms after when I pulled sour cream and chive shin pads out of my socks.

What do you find to be the most difficult aspect of playing football? Definitely getting older. I’m in my 30s now and everything hurts a lot more than it used to. I’ve not got to the stage of losing my pace or anything yet, but it’s taking a lot longer than it used to bouncing back from matches. Ninety minutes feels like a really long time these days.

If you could pluck any player out of the Premier League to play in your team who would it be and why? Danny Rose. We’re a very different club from most, with our focus being on helping players that are from perceived adverse backgrounds. One of the areas we offer support in is mental health and we have had some great success stories of players coming from really dark places and through our club and the game we all love, rediscovering themselves.

I remember Rose speaking publicly about his struggles with depression a couple of years ago, which makes him my ideal choice.

Which football team do you support and what’s been your favourite moment watching them? I support Borussia Dortmund and my best experience of watching them is the reason I support them. I went to a Dortmund match years ago, wearing whatever I’d pulled out of my suitcase that day.

I must have been the only person in there not wearing yellow, something that could easily get you a good kicking in Britain. But in Dortmund, I got given a scarf, a hat and a flag by some of the fans around me. I had the best time at that game, there was none of the tribalism you get over here, just football fans loving the game. I loved every second of it and I’ve been a ‘Dortmunder’ ever since.

If you could change one rule in football what would it be and why? I have been very vocal about wanting to see a change in the way that hate crime is reported and handled in football. It has been great recently to see changes being brought in by both the FAW and the North East Wales FA which are paving the way for this change to happen and the hope is that this change will be successful and will provide a basic model of something that could be adopted by other associations. It won’t be a quick change, but it’s something I’m really passionate about.

What’s been the most memorable match you’ve played in and why was it so memorable? The Arfon Jones Trophy in 2019. It’s a tournament we have a standing invitation to compete in as part of Hate Crime Awareness Week.

We had the highest scoring game of the tournament (7-2 win), our striker was the tournament top scorer, I was the tournament’s top assister and our keeper was named player of the tournament. On top of all that, we came third overall and took home a trophy.

Bellevue has grown and evolved over the last four years. But being able to turn back the clock and enter the tournament with the guys who helped us start this journey and it be like we’d never had a day away from playing together, that was so special and to see the original Bellevue lining up alongside Bellevue FC.

Who’s been the best player you’ve played with or against? Back in 2019 I played in the Wrexham Community Cup against the Wrexham DSA All Stars which was an amazing experience.

There were some big names and great players involved but the biggest was former Wales captain Andy Melville. He was incredible and read the game so well, timed every challenge perfectly and his passing was out of this world.

Best Bellevue team ever: 1 Stephen ‘Beefy’ Jones; 2 Rolando Bertrand Ruiz; 3 Nathaniel Spencer-Ramsey; 4 Bradley Lawrence; 5 Adam Rush; 6 Bobby Gregory; 7 Tiago Ginja; 8 Delwyn ‘Sheep’ Derrick; 9 Brandon Griffiths; 10 Chris ‘CJ’ Leaney; 11 Jordan Wright.