NUFC - 1950's Half Backs
| Crowe | Charlie | LH | Oct 1943 | £10 | Feb 1957 | 216 | 7 |
Walker born Charlie Crowe is a living legend, a member of United's great Cup winning side of 1951 he served United for
fourteen years. He attended the same trial match as Jackie Milburn and was his equal in character and sportsmanship
Charlie was the midfield destroyer who allowed the flair players to express themselves. He had great stamina, a never-say-die attitude and a bone crunching tackle.
Never assured of his place he was in and out of the side but his greatest honour was in captaining the side during the 1954/55 season.
| Houghton | Frank | WH | Jan 1948 | £6,000 | Jun 1953 | 57 | 10 |
Preston born utility man whose career was severely curtailed by both illness and injury. He played the first three games of the 1950/51 season before being replaced by Crowe. His final game for the club was at centre-forward in the 3-0 defeat at Aston Villa in October. He moved to Exeter in June 1953.
| Robledo | Ted | LH | Jan 1949 | £3,500 | May 1953 | 47 | 0 |
Ostensibly only came to United because they wanted his older brother Ted, but the Chilean worked so hard that he managed to take over the left half position for the 1951/52 season.
He played all the games in the victorious Cup run of 1952
| Harvey | Joe | RH | Oct 1945 | £4,250 | Jan 1954 | 281 | 13 |
Sergeant Major Joe Harvey arrived at the club just after the war. He was made captain in his second game for the club and kept the position until the end of his playing career making him the longest
serving captain in the club's history.
Harvey led United to promotion in 1947/48 and then to two FA Cup Final victories in 1950/51 and 1951/52
An average footballer but a brilliant leader of men; he demanded and got the best from himself and his team mates and was greatly respected and feared.
His time on Tyneside was not without controversy. In 1946/47 he joined Len Shackleton on strike and was caught up in a scandal over illegal distribution of Cup Final tickets in 1952. .
| Casey | Tommy | LH | Aug 1952 | £7,000 | Jun 1958 | £8,500 | 134 | 10 |
Casey was another workaholic midfielder whose tremendous stamina enabled him to give 100% effort throughout the ninety minutes. Similar in style and stature to
another Northern Ireland international - Davy Mac - he was a highly effective midfield destroyer.
He rivalled local favourite Crowe for a place in the side and appeared in the 1955 Cup Final when Charlie was injured the week before.
He also played for his country in the World Cup Finals in 1958.
| Scoular | Jimmy | RH | Jun 1953 | £22,500 | Jan 1961 | £1,300 |
Twenty eight year old Scoular cost a record fee when United bought him from Portsmouth where he had won two Championship medals.
Despite being only 5' 7" he was as tough as teak and earned himself the nickname of the "Iron Man". He took over the captaincy from Harvey but never had Joe's popularity. As a result some of the players fell out with him and cliques began to develop.
He wasn't just a hard man though; he had excellent vision and a fine range of passing. It was his pinpoint crossfield passes that changed the game in the 1955 Cup Final
| Franks | Albert | WH | Dec 1953 | £50 | Mar 1960 | £6,500 | 75 | 4 |
Boldon born Albert was on Sunderland's books for a while as an amateur whilst also training to become a police cadet.
United signed him on at the age of seventeen but soon lost him to the RAF where he served his National.
On returning to United the "fairly big lad" as he described himself decided to turn his back on the idea of fighting crime and become a professional.
Playing at both left and right and also occasionally at inside forward, Franks originally deputised for Casey and Scoular, but had a decent run of games in the 1958/59 season. He scored a couple of goals including a forty yard effort in the famous 5-6 defeat at Chelsea.
| Bell | John | LH | Nov 1952 | £8,250 | May 1957 | £2,500 | 20 | 1 |
One of the many "Jackie" John's; Bell was born in County Durham and grew up as a Sunderland supporter. He made his debut (in November 1957) a few
weeks after his seventeeth birthday and within a minute had scored with his first ever kick in League football.
His first couple of games were out of position at inside forward but Charlie Mitten made him his first choice left-half for the 1958/59 season. He remained in the side until Boxing Day when a cartilage injury put him out for the rest of the season.
He retained his place until the arrival of Joe Harvey who sold him off to Norwich for £10,000. The fee was later reduced with The Canaries complaining that United had not told them he was diabetic.
| Keery | Stan | WH | Nov 1952 | £8,250 | May 1957 | £2,500 | 20 | 1 |
Diminutive but well built Keery cost a sizeable sum when he was bought as a twenty one year old. He had a double life at St James'; starting as an inside forward but converting to a half-back. Never made the breakthrough and was allowed to leave at a considerable loss.
| Wright | Brian | RH | Sep 1956 | May 1963 | £7,500 | 47 | 1 |
Yet another Makem, Brian joined United at the age of seventeen and became captain of the youth team. He had to wait three and a half years to make his debut, appearing in the last two games of the 1959/60 season.
Despite showing a lot of promise his only decent run in the side was during 1961/62 as United tried to battle back to the First. Found himself another victim of the Harvry purge.
| Redhead | William | LH | Aug 1954 | Aug 1959 | 1 |
Geordie who Joined United as a teenager but only got one chance in the first team, a 2-1 defeat at home to Sheffield Wednesday in December 1956.
| Cooper | Joseph | WH | Oct 1956 | £10 | Jul 1962 | £8,725 | 6 |
Small Gateshead born lad who joined at the age of seventeen he was very much a reserve and made only sporadic appearances in the First Division