“Sunderland fans gave me the best years of my life, to walk out onto the pitch on Saturday and hear that roar will be unbelievable.”
Those were the words of Charlie Hurley as he chatted away with excitement ahead the Black Cats’ crucial Premier League match against Hull City this weekend.
Voted player of the century by Sunderland fans in 1979, you will have to go a long way to find more of a club legend than Hurley.
Dubbed the ‘greatest centre-half the world has ever seen by fans, Hurley has recalled some fond memories and paid tribute to the loyal support he has received.
“50 years after I played they are still talking about me and I don’t know why. I can’t understand why they love me so much, I mean they love me nearly as much as I love me wife,” he laughed.
"It is in my blood and it will always be. I just want Sunderland to be in the Premier League all the time I am around because the fans to me are unbelievable.
“It will get to me (when I walk out) because I love those people. In my heart I was born a Sunderland player and it’s never ever left me - my wife is just as bad as me now!”
‘The King’ as he was described was an imposing defender; however life on Wearside didn’t start well as he made his debut in a 7-0 defeat to Blackpool.
That was then followed by a 6-0 defeat in their next match away at Burnley, a result which Hurley remembers stating after the game “at least we’ve improved.”
From there, Hurley established himself as a tall and commanding defender who was a danger from set-pieces and bagged 26 goals in 401 appearances.
Even to this day, 47 years on since he left Sunderland, the Irishman hasn’t forgotten the unconditional love the Black Cats fans showed him.
“It won’t leave me, the relationship I had with the fans when I was up there for 12 years was fantastic and it never left me and it never leaves them.
“Anyone mentions Sunderland and that’s it, I’m looking and I’m talking. The loyalty from the Sunderland fans over the years has been fantastic and I loved going there.
“I may have physically left the club but mentally I still love Sunderland. Believe me, they are still in my heart - I never left the club.
“To walk out onto that pitch on Saturday will be an amazing moment and what the club has done is highly appreciated.”
