Charlie Hurley signed for Sunderland in September 1957 from Millwall for PS18,000 plus a promise to play a friendly match at the Den, which in all probability would add PS3000 to the transfer fee (in today's money this would equate to over a PS20 million pound transfer).

His playing career at Sunderland got off to a very dicey start with a seven-nil defeat at Bloomfield Road to a Stanley Mathews-inspired Blackpool, followed by a six-nil defeat the following week at Turf Moor. By the end of his first season, Sunderland were relegated for the very first time to the second division as the 'Bank of England scandal' caught up with them.

Charlie recovered and became the lynchpin that manager Alan Brown rebuilt the team around and eventually brought them gloriously back to the first division in 1963/64.

By this time, it was not just the fans of Millwall and Sunderland who knew what a player Charlie Hurley was; his reputation had spread nationally and internationally (he would eventually earn forty Eire caps).

In 1963, he was awarded the 'North East Footballer of the Year' award. In 1964, he was runner-up to Bobby Moore in the Football Writers Association 'Player of the Year' award. In 1979, in Sunderland AFC's centenary year, he was voted by the fans our 'Player of the Century'. In 2007, he was voted 'Best Player Ever to Play for Millwall' in the Lion Roar's fans poll.

The respect that Hurley is held in at Sunderland traverses generations and is mutual. His emotional attachment to the club and its fans is the stuff of legend, "we got him and he got us," to steal a phrase usually associated with another big Irishman who graced our paddock.

Charlie Hurley went on to play 401 games for Sunderland in every competition, scoring twenty-six goals. Had we been counting back then, his numbers on assists would have been through the roof, as the chant "Charlie Charlie" rolled down from the stands in response to the colossus venturing forwards for corners and free kicks to cause mayhem in the opposition box.

My younger Sunderland supporting friends often ask me, "was he really that good?" - John Charles no less rated him one of the best centre halves he had ever played against.

Geoff Hurst said:

I played a few times against Charlie Hurley. He was a terrific footballing centre half. He was very good in the air, but he was also very good on the ball, and not many centre halves of that era were.

Colin Todd (arguably the best ever all-round player to come through our Youth system) said:

Charlie was a very majestic player. He used to dominate the opposing centre forwards. He could also pass it, he could get the ball down, and he could play centre forward. You mentioned Beckenbauer; he was probably a bit more mobile than Charlie, but Charlie had a very good feel for the ball and he was very strong.

I was beginning to wonder whether the mists of time had given me a somewhat rose-tinted memory of my boyhood hero putting life and limb on the line for the cause when I came across this from respected sports writer Tony Hardisty, reporting on a game at Roker Park against West Ham that I was at.

Geoff Hurst broke rapidly to outpace Colin Todd and to hit a fierce drive from just inside the penalty area, but Charlie Hurley had made a beeline down the middle and dived in to take the full weight of the shot in his face and turn the ball away for a corner.

After receiving treatment, Hurley took all the danger out of the situation by clearing the corner with a powerful header.

I was sad to get the news of Charlie's passing but can say with absolute clarity I feel privileged and enormously grateful to have enjoyed the last four seasons of his career at Sunderland. His picture adorned my bedroom wall for many years beyond his last game for us in a 2-1 victory against Burnley at the end of the 1968/69 season.

Charlie, much later, said of his last game:

I was very very sad that night at Burnley but felt proud of what I had done for Sunderland Football Club. I became something good for the fans. I had a fantastic career.

I have never stopped loving that football club!

The King is dead but we will not forget the Greatest Centre Half the World Has Ever Seen.

Rest in Peace, Charlie Hurley.