Wilson is special guest

Last updated : 09 August 2002 By Tony Scholes

Andy Farrell made the half time draw at the pre-season game against Bolton but as the season gets underway for real tomorrow the guest is former left-back Harry Wilson.

Harry started his football career at Turf Moor when he arrived from his native North-East in the late 1960s. He is from Hetton le Hole the town just outside Sunderland that had already given us Harry Potts and Ralph Coates.

He progressed through the junior teams and made his league bow in a Monday night 1-0 win at Chelsea in a First Division game. We had already been relegated and he played the last two games of that season.

He was in the starting line up as we kicked off in Division Two at Cardiff but he played just ten games as the left-back position swapped between himself, Eddie Cliff, Jim Thomson and Geoff Nulty.

At the end of that season we signed Keith Newton and he had played his last first team game but in December 1973 came the call of "Listen here young man" and Harry signed for Brian Clough at Brighton in a £30,000 deal.

He was there for almost four years and played some 130 league games for the Sussex club before venturing back up to Lancashire to play for Preston. After three years there it was back up to the North East and to Darlington and then Hartlepool before his playing career came to an end in May 1985.

He played in America for a short time before taking on the Community role at Sunderland but in 1990 came the call from Frank Casper at Turf Moor and he returned to join the coaching staff as Youth Team Coach. He moved up to the reserves and he stay at Burnley was seven years before he was released by Chris Waddle.

Then it was a year at Bury working for some guy called Stan Ternent and since then Harry has been involved in youth football working for the FA. He remains very much a Claret and can often be seen at both home and away games watching the first team.

Tomorrow though he is the special guest and apart from making the half time draw will be speaking in the Centre Spot before the game.