Brian Little struck gold with Tranmere Rovers gamble - he became Prenton Park record-setter | OneFootball

Ian Goodison became a cult hero at Prenton Park

Brian Little is one of English football's most well-respected managers, having spent time at some of the country's most historic clubs, such as Aston Villa, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Leicester City and Stoke City.

Whilst the highlight of his managerial career is likely to be the EFL Cup triumph he enjoyed at Villa Park in 1996, the former striker's work at clubs lower down the pyramid hasn't gone unnoticed too.

After almost two years away from the dugout in the early 2000s, Little returned to management with Tranmere Rovers in October 2003, with the following two-and-a-half years offering varying levels of success and disappointment to the Prenton Park faithful.

However, the Newcastle-born figure was also responsible for the sourcing of a modern-day icon in the eyes of the 'Super White Army', as well as a future record-setter that would go on to make over 400 appearances for the club within a decade-long period between 2004 and 2014.

Ian Goodison was already familiar with the lower reaches of the EFL and Little by this time, having worked with each other during an extremely chaotic period in Hull City's extremely mixed recent history.

The defender, alongside fellow Jamaican international, Theodore Whitmore, had moved to Boothferry Park in October 1999, just a year-and-a-half after starring for their country at France '98. Goodison made 84 appearances for the Tigers, which included a season of play-off heartbreak under Little in 2000/01, before the duo reunited in February 2004 on the Wirral.

The first of his 407 games for the Whites came in a 1-1 draw against Oldham Athletic at Boundary Park on February 21st 2004. The rest, as they say, would go on to be history.

Ian Goodison went on to cement his legacy as Tranmere Rovers stalwart

Just weeks after moving to Prenton Park, Goodison featured in both FA Cup quarter-final encounters against eventual finalists Millwall, before his first full season with the club saw Tranmere finish third-place in League One - ironically seven points behind his and Little's former employers, before losing to Hartlepool United in the play-off semi-finals.

That would be as good as it got in terms of league positions during the former Jamaica captain's lengthy association with the club. However, he remained an ever-present under an array of managers, although the first of his 13 goals for the club would come in Little's final weeks as manager in a 2-2 draw away to Yeovil Town in March 2006.

The Montego Bay-born man went on to play over 30 league games for the following seasons, and by the time the 2011/12 season reached its climax, Goodison became the first-ever player in Tranmere's lengthy history to feature for the club as a 40-year-old after penning a new contract extension.

Indeed, former boss, Ronnie Moore, referenced his iconic status at the club after he played the entire 120 minutes and subsequent penalty shootout in an EFL Cup second round victory over Bolton Wanderers in August 2012.

"He is a legend. He was the best player on the park," Moore told the BBC. "He's shown me he can do it, as long as we don't have to push him out on a wheelchair on Saturday [at Oldham] and he can recover in time."

This fell less than two months before Goodison broke the aforementioned record, as he played the full 90 minutes once again against Stevenage on November 24th 2012, just three days after he turned 40.

At the end of the season, another contract extension was granted in order to surpass 10 years of service with the club and become the EFL's oldest outfield player at the time. Goodison was rewarded with a testimonial at Prenton Park in May 2015, a year after he made the final of those 407 appearances in a 2-1 defeat to Bradford City.