Who’s the greatest centre half the world has ever seen?
Who’s the greatest centre half the world has ever seen?
Who’s the greatest centre half the world has ever seen?
Charlie Hurley is his name.
Charlie, Charlie, Charlie Hurley.
Charlie, Charlie, Charlie Hurley
Charlie, Charlie, Charlie Hurley, Charlie Hurley is his name.
The news of the passing of King Charlie at the age of 87 came as a great shock, almost like being tackle by the great man himself. Despite those advancing years, Charlie was made of granite, and was immortal in the eyes of those who saw him play. If you don’t know his story, he was born in Cork, moved to England as a small child, and arrived at Roker in 1957 from Millwall, where he was later voted their greatest ever player, despite being only 20 when he left. After a rocky start, he established himself as a real rock in our defence, spending many years in one of football’s most stable defences alongside Monty, Cec Irwin, Len Ashurst, Jimmy McNab, Martin Harvey, and later Colin Todd. The crowd soon fell in love with the big man, and whenever we won a corner they’d chant “Charlie, Charlie!” as he made his way forward to power a header goalwards. There are various recordings of Charlie speaking about the fans reaction to the promotion in 1964, when he captained the side, and those words of appreciation only strengthened the bond between him and us. “That day meant so much to the people of Sunderland...seeing grown men, miners, shipbuilders and the like in tears. No money in the world could replace the memories I have of Sunderland, Roker Park, and all those marvellous supporters.”
In his 401 games (the odd one being as a substitute) he thumped in 26 goals, plus six at the wrong end, was never booked, and was second to Bobby Moore in the Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year in 1964. I had my first sightings of him when he brought Charlie Hurley’s XI to Kingsway in Bishop Auckland for a charity match, where I was in awe of his physical presence, even in a friendly. He wasn’t desperately tall for a centre half, standing at 6’1”, but he was a colossus of a player. At Roker soon after I saw him do battle with Derek Dougan – a case of an irresistible force meeting an immovable object, and they smiled and shook hands at the end of the battle. The bulk of his 40 Irish caps were won while with us, and despite his southern English accent, he remained a proud Irishman, never wishing to change his allegiance to England. He departed for Bolton in 1969, and was given a rapturous reception when he ran onto the field in their colours at Roker in October 1970 – although he remained an unused substitute. After two seasons, he retired to the south east and had a short rest before moving into management.
Five years as manager of Reading followed, and the appreciation was repeated when he brought this side to Roker in the 1973 FA Cup. After resigning in 1977 (memorably at half time), he remained in the south east as a sales manager, but retained his place in our hearts. After our final game at Roker, Charlie was the man who dug up the centre spot, as we got another chance to show our appreciation.
He was present as a club ambassador on our Roy Keane tour of Ireland, when I met him in the queue for the portaloo outside Galway’s ground – he insisted on shaking my hand before he went in rather than after he came out - and was often invited to the SoL, where there was a Charlie Hurley day when we played Hull just after his 80th birthday and our appreciation hadn’t dimmed as the great man took to the field and waved to us all. Always immaculately turned out in a Crombie whatever the weather, he was at Wembley in 1988 and afterwards leant out of a car window to console our fans with the insistence that we’d triumph the following season.
One of his famous statements in later years was “You have to give 100% for these fans, and I want the supporters to know that there’s an old man down south who truly loves them.”
Charlie, we want you to know that there are thousands of people in the North East who will always love you....but you already knew that.
