‘I’ve seen Cliff in concert hundreds of times’

“We are die hard fans. It’s more than a hobby for me.”

Sir Cliff Richard has embarked on his latest tour and takes to the stage of Birmingham’s Symphony Hall on Tuesday night.

One of the people in the audience for the Can’t Stop Me Now Tour will be Lottie Lindley from the Cliff Richard Fan Club of Birmingham, who has seen the star perform hundreds of times.

The 62-year-old, whose favourite song is Saviour’s Day, will be at the concert with 11 of her friends, who have known each other for more than 35 years.

“We all met through going to see Cliff,” she said. “We call ourselves the Cliffettes.

“Some of the Cliffettes have been to see him in Australia recently, and did all eight shows of his tour out there.”

Mrs Lindley first saw Sir Cliff in concert on his I’m Nearly Famous Tour in 1976, when she was 13 years old.

“I’ve been to every single tour Cliff has done, bar one,” she told BBC Radio WM.

“As I’ve gotten older, and had more money, I try to go to every concert I possibly can.”

While she does not know the definitive number of concerts she has attended, she believes it to be more than 200, and has even travelled across Europe to follow her idol.

“No matter where [a concert is], my husband says ‘just go babe’,” she said.

Mrs Lindley, who has moved to Lincolnshire from West Heath, Birmingham, says she has kept the programme and ticket stub for every single gig.

“In 1973, I saw him at the Birmingham Odeon and it was £2.50 – now it’s £100 plus,” she said.

She became fixated with Sir Cliff when he was on the TV show It’s Cliff Richard, which ran from 1970-1974.

“And the rest was history,” she said. “He’s great in concert, he’s great with his fans.

“But it’s not just going to see Cliff, it’s all the friends we’ve met – we have such a good giggle, such a good time.”

She has met the so-called Peter Pan of Pop several times, including in the queue for his concert at the NEC in 1990, where she says he was a “true gent”.

“He’s a great person, really nice, very appreciative of his fans, very courteous,” she said.

When asked why she thought he was still going strong at the age of 85, Mrs Lindley said: “He loves performing, he loves doing concerts, he loves touring.

“He said he wouldn’t retire, because he didn’t want to have a come-back tour.”