Romark earned a reputation as something of a hypnotist, and stories have emerged over time of his driving through Ilford blindfolded only to crash in a ‘psychic blindspot’, attempting to hypnotise Muhammad Ali to lose against Richard Dunn (Ali won in the fifth round) and causing an apprentice to float mid-air in Lawrie McMenemy’s office.
McMenemy, writing in the Southern Daily Echo years later, recalled: “When he came in, his eyes immediately struck me. He had peripheral vision, both eyes staring in different directions.”
Romark’s presence in the then-Southampton manager’s office, however, can be traced back to Palace and an FA Cup-based vendetta matching that forced on Derby.
In the mid-70s, Palace manager Malcolm Allison reached-out to Romark in a bid to support his squad with the sort of eccentric idea he would become famous for.
