Brian Horton: Ex-Manchester City boss urges people to get tested after cancer diagnosis

Brian Horton (right) managed Manchester City for a short period in the 1990s, two decades before current City boss Pep Guardiola's (left) arrival at the club

"I feel great, I don't feel ill or like I've got anything wrong."

For Brian Horton, his diagnosis with prostate cancer came as a shock, but he is coping well in the circumstances.

The former Port Vale, Brighton, Luton and Hull winger and boss of Manchester City was fortunately diagnosed early.

Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester's Mike Minay, the 74-year-old said his expected diagnosis came via a chance conversation with Wrexham assistant Steve Parkin - who urged him to go for a check-up.

"Steve stays here sometimes because he lives in Worksop and works at Wrexham. He'd been over to Wilmslow to have a private medical that the League Managers Association (LMA) allows us to go and have," he said.

"About six months ago, he asked me if I had been for one myself and I said I hadn't so I booked it in."

'It's that word - the big C'

Horton began his career with non-league Hednesford Town and went on to join Vale, Brighton and Luton before ending a 20-year playing career with Hull.

It was at this point, during the mid 1980s, that his managerial career began.

Having started his spell on the touchline at Hull, he later managed Oxford, Manchester City and Huddersfield before returning to Brighton and Port Vale, rounding out his career with Macclesfield Town.

Having been diagnosed earlier this year, Horton debated whether to tell his family the news.

"Dr Sally Harris asked me questions about whether I had cancer in the family and I said my grandma, my mum and my brother, who's got cancer as we speak," Horton continued.

"She referred me to Stepping Hill for a full body scan. That's when they found out I'd got prostate cancer.

"When I had been diagnosed I didn't know what to do. It's that word, the big C. My daughter Lucy was just about to have her second little boy and I didn't tell her until she had him because I didn't want to put more pressure on her.

"I told my son but [otherwise] I kept it quiet."

'You've got to put it out'

Luton Town legend Mick Harford received treatment for prostate cancer in 2021

Horton revisited his decision to not go public having attended Luton's debut Premier League fixture at Brighton in August - a meeting of two of his former clubs.

Luton legend Mick Harford, who himself received treatment for prostate cancer, urged Horton to spread the word in the hope it would lead to people getting checked out themselves.

"Mick was at the game and afterwards, as he knew what was happening, he asked whether I was going to go open with it," he added.

"I said I didn't know what to do, I don't know whether to keep it quiet.

"He said to me, because he's some character, 'I think you're totally wrong. You've got to put it out. There are people that hold you in such high esteem - Brighton, Luton, Man City, Port Vale fans - if you put it out it could lead to people being tested and if they've got it, it's caught early.'

"It's done me good to think I've helped other people."

'The message is to go and get tested'

Since receiving the news, Horton has gone on to start treatment, but he is in good spirits and experienced no symptoms prior to his diagnosis.

"I feel good, like there's nothing wrong," he reflected.

"I've had a tablet course. I've had an injection and pellet into the tummy, which reacts to the upper body.

"The next step is overnight for brachytherapy, which I've never heard of.

"It's five days of zapping, a weekend off, another five days of zapping and so on."

Now that he has begun his treatment and that his prognosis is bright, Horton wants to continue to get the word out to people who might not normally be tested.

"It's just about getting the word out to get tested, no matter how old you are. I'm saying to my younger ones they should get tested," he said.

"If you haven't got it, fine, if you have got it then it can spread through your body, that's why they want to catch it early enough.

"If anyone wants to lean on me who's out there and they want to get in touch or find out more about it, then I'm willing to do whatever I can.

"The message is basically to go and get tested."