Club historian Rob Mason pays tribute to fifties wing-half Laurie Bolton
The club are saddened to learn of the death of Lyall ‘Laurie’ Bolton, who played three games for Sunderland in the mid-fifties.
Gateshead born on 11 July 1932, Laurie was 86. A wing-half, Bolton played in an era where there were no substitutes at all.
Consequently, despite being on the fringe of the side for several seasons, he only got an occasional opportunity at a time when Sunderland were known as ‘The Bank of England Club’ and had many big names.
In addition to his three league appearances, Bolton also got games in some prestige friendlies, such as one at Norwich City to inaugurate Carrow Road’s floodlights.
He had been on the books for almost six years when at the age of 23 he made his debut four days after the lads had lost in an FA Cup semi-final for the second consecutive year.
It came in a 2-2 home draw with Preston North End on 22 March 1956, a result that dropped Bill Murray’s team from fifth to seventh in the top flight.
Coming in for Stan Anderson, who also sadly passed away recently, Bolton lined up against the great Tom Finney and alongside the likes of Len Shackleton, Billy Elliott and Charlie ‘Cannonball’ Fleming, the latter scoring in all three of the games he appeared in.
Bolton did well enough to get another game a fortnight later at Manchester City, this time as left-half rather than right-half, in a 4-2 defeat.
Seven months later, he was called upon for a final time in a 3-3 draw at home to Portsmouth before moving on to Chelmsford City in July 1957.
The club's thoughts are with Laurie's family and friends at this time.