DOUGIE Tobutt continues his occasional series on some of Bolton's sporting greats. Here he looks at the achievements of Tony Carter, who became one of the leading figures in the development of squash in the North West.

SOMETIMES being successful means being in the right place at the right time. And that is how it was for Tony Carter when he came back from Australia to become one of the pioneers of North West squash during theboom years of the 70s.

He was born in West Ham but with his family was evacuated to Bolton at the start of the Second World War. His mother and father along with sisters Patricia and Yvonne eventually returned to West Ham but Tony and his brother Reg decided to stay.

Tony and his wife Edna emigrated to Sydney, Australia, in 1966, and it was there that Tony discovered squash.

After some coaching from Ronald Hawley and world number three Ken Hiscoe, he quickly moved up the grades from six to one. In 1972 his pal, Malcolm Douglas got in touch with Tony and suggested that he should come back to England because squash was going to take off in a big way while the sport had peaked Down Under, and ten-pin bowling was the new buzz.

So the Carters came home and Tony was signed up by Bowden, in Cheshire. The following year he came to Markland Hill before turning professional in 1973. He coached at Bolton Health Studio as well as Markland Hill as the sport took off in a big way.

A large part of Tony's training was running, and he trained with Bolton fitness guru Ken Heathcote. The marathon craze was also under way in the 70s and he ran several marathons as well as 10k and half marathons. He completed two New York marathons, the first one he ran in 2 hrs 58 mins. He set out to beat that in his second, but a week before the race went on the carbo-loading diet, made famous by Ron Hill but it proved to be a disaster.

"I felt so weak, I was glad to see the finishing line," he laughed but Tony continmued at the distance and in 1997, aolong with his friend Chris Ball, ran the London Marathon and raised £2,500 for Visual Aid.

Meanwhile his squash skills continued toflourish. He was ranked number three in Lancashire, his best spell coming when he beat Scottish International Alex Cowie and went within a point of beating world number one Clive Francis, only for his opponent to walk off the court complaining of feeling ill, depriving Tony of his moment of glory.

His funniest sporting incident, however, was when playing a fellow county player. Suddenly his opponent's glass eye popped out, only for him to pick it up, polish it with his hanky, befor putting it back in. Then they had to go to the aid of the marker who had fainted.

Another big achievement came in 1982 when he played against 40 players continuously at Bolton's Silverwell Street to help raise money for The Heart Foundation, a feat that took him eight hours.

As well as a sportsman, Tony was also successful businessman. His first job on his return was with the Canada Life Insurance Company, who also sponsored him for two years. He then went self-employed before going into partnership with Harry Brown, and they opened up an insurance brokers on Bradshawgate.

Tony has also had a long association with Heaton Cricket Club, starting at the age of 14 in the third team before making his way up into the first. Later he went on to coaching the club's juniors as well as becoming club secretary.

Back on the squash scene, after winning the Lancashire Vets over 45s he was selected for England Vets, and he was in the best form of his life. He suffered a bolt out of the blue when he was struck down with a pulmonary embolism. It could have been life-threatening, but doctors were amazed at the speed of his recovery, which they put down to him being so fit. It left him with an eye disorder and he lost partial sight.

He was told that his squash days were over but he surprised everyone when he adapted his game and he was back with the England Vets team that toured South Africa in 1986. He eventually hung up his racket in 1996. The hospital was so impressed with his attitude they asked him if he would give talks to their patients to help their recovery.

Tony retired from his business in 1998, but lasted for only one month. After always being so active he got bored sitting around and needed a new challenge, so he started a personal training course. After qualifying, he soon built up a list of clients at several health clubs, including Markland Hill, and his association with the club has now gone on for over 30 years.

So when will Tony retire? "I tried it and I don't like it," he said.

To keep fit he runs and cycles. "I don't go down the stairs two at a time these days, but I still enjoy what I do."