Cricket icon Sir Ian Botham goes shopping at Doncaster Market and stops off for lunch

The 67-year-old sporting star stopped off at the Fish Market to stock up on supplies before heading to the Clam and Cork seafood restaurant with wife Kathy for a bite to eat.

And ‘Beefy’ is no stranger to Doncaster – he was married here, has lived in the area for a time and was a regular at the city’s much loved Indus restaurant in Silver Street back in the 1980s.

Doncaster Market stallholder The Gentleman Fishmonger revealed details of Sir Ian’s visit in a social media post.

Owner Martyn Pippard said: “So this happened today. Ian Botham, the cricketer, and his lovely wife Katherine came in to buy their weekly shop - you never know who’s in the queue!

“And diners flew from Ireland especially to eat at the Clam and Cork and experience our fantastic fish market.

“Tourist attraction, speciality supplier, suppliers to Lords of the House of Lords, barons, earls, celebrities, Michelin star chefs and the honest and down to earth folk of Doncaster.”

Last year, Martyn also supplied food when American rock band The Killers performed a sell-out concert at the Eco Power Stadium.

The Clam and Cork also posted about the star’s visit, writing: “They also ate with us today. Nothing ‘Beefy’ just good old freshly cooked seafood.”

Sir Ian, classed as one of the world’s greatest all round cricketers, married Kathy in Doncaster in 1976.

After their marriage, they lived until the late 1980s in Epworth and the couple still have family connections in the region.

During its heyday, Sir Ian was a regular at the Indus along with the likes of Sir Billy Connolly and Freddie Starr and it became synonymous as one of his favourite haunts.

The restaurant famously provided all the food for Sir Ian’s legendary charity walks in aid of Leukaemia Research before its closure in 2005.

In 2019, he joined TV host Jeff Stelling at The Reindeer Inn in Sandtoft for part of the presenter’s 260-mile charity walk.

Sir Ian, a former Scunthorpe player and known for his charity walking exploits, surprised the walkers by joining with his dog Pinot and his family, at the midway point.