BOLTON Wanderers fans of a certain age will recall with some discomfort the dark days of the late 60s when the club was on the slide.

The abolition of the maximum wage had begun to have an impact and, like many of the traditional town teams, Wanderers were struggling to compete with the big-spending city clubs.

They had their moments, though, and they had their characters – even if they were not necessarily appreciated at the time.

Take Charlie Hurley for instance. “Charlie who?” I hear the younger generation ask.

Well, as I mentioned on this page three weeks ago, Hurley was a Republic of Ireland international who won a supporters’ poll as Sunderland’s greatest ever player and is the subject of an excellent biography, written by journalist Mark Metcalf, that carries the sub-title “The Greatest Centre Half the World has Ever Seen”.

Now, while I don’t mind admitting I’ve been taken to task by Bolton-based Sunderland fan, Richard Cleary, who cites his own happy memories of the 60s plus testimonials from Hurley’s contemporaries to passionately support the author’s claim, I still have reservations about Charlie being hailed the “greatest ever”.

And, having spoken to the man himself, I’m pleased to relate that he modestly bows to the superiority of the legendary John Charles and the great Billy Wright.

“Don’t get me wrong,” he explained, “I used to love the Sunderland fans shouting ‘Charlie, Charlie, Charlie’ when I used to go up for corners, which was unheard of in those days. And I’m honoured that they voted me their best player of all time, although I thought it should have been Shack (Len Shackleton).

“It’s a title that I am immensely proud of – even now, so long after my playing days. In fact, I seem to become a better player with every passing year and I suppose I’ll be an even better player when I’ve gone.

“But, in all honesty, I was a very good professional and a good footballer who scored quite a few goals, which was unusual for centre-halves.”

Although I never saw Hurley in his heyday, one thing I can say from our chat and from the book itself, is that Wanderers had an exceptional footballer in their ranks for that two-year stint between 1969 and 1971 before he hung up his boots.

And if the fans might not have fully appreciated the measure of the man, the Bolton directors certainly did because they offered him the manager’s job.

They’d had two years of managerial turmoil after the departure of Bill Ridding. Nat Lofthouse, by his own admission, was not cut out for management, but when Jimmy McIlroy and Jimmy Meadows came and went in quick succession, the town’s favourite sporting son assumed the role of administrative manager and it was he who approached Hurley on the board’s behalf.

“Nat told me the job was mine if I wanted it,” he recalled. “We loved the people in Bolton and I got on great with the fans in two great years there, but my wife wanted to get back down south. I was at a crossroads and I could only make one turn. I’ve often thought about what might have been but I never regretted the decision.”

History shows the man who got the job – former England full-back Jimmy Armfield – got the good times rolling again for Wanderers.

Hurley’s Bolton experience is, however, an interesting chapter in Metcalf’s biography which not only tells the story of a great player but also paints a picture of an age long before the advent of multi-millionaire footballers; of a time when the gulf between the top-flight and second tier was so narrow that playing in the Second Division didn’t damage a player’s international prospects – the point being that Hurley played so much of his football outside the First Division without winning a domestic honour to earn a place alongside the all-time greats.

And if he is typical of the heroes of the day, they also had a greater appreciation of the privilege they had of being professional footballers.

“Football is a fantastic profession,” said the 72-year-old from his Hertfordshire home.

“But I have to say I find it absolutely disgraceful that some players are paid £100,000 a week while the fans are paying through the nose. Some of these players now think they are God’s gift, but they are not compared to some of the players who were around in my day.

“When I signed for Millwall in 1953 I was 17 and earning £4 and 10 shillings a week as an apprentice toolmaker. I hated it. Suddenly I was earning £7 a week – more than my dad was earning – and I didn’t have a job any more, I just played football. I remember thinking ‘There is a god’.”

“Charlie Hurley – The Greatest Centre Half the World has Ever Seen” by Mark Metcalf is published by Sports Books, priced £17.99.