Many, perhaps most, of today's football fans will know little of Wilf Mannion's sublime skill, legendary status and remarkable life story, though on his home turf in the North-East he remains a hero. Wilf picked up the rudiments of the game kicking a ball around the slagheaps of Teesside, and made his professional debut for Middlesbrough FC in 1936, aged just 17. When war was declared, he enlisted, losing seven years of his footballing career in active service. But post-war, he played the best football of his life as part of what many call England's greatest-ever forward line: Matthews, Mortensen, Lawton, Mannion and Finney. Former Guardian sports correspondent Nick Varley recounts not only Wilf's heroics on the pitch, but also the battles he fought away from it, including his strike against a transfer system that treated players like slaves. His strike failed, and he stayed at Middlesbrough, retiring in 1955, after a brief swansong at Hull City, with 26 England caps, 268 club appearances and 110 goals to his credit. He died in 2000, aged 81.