Sporting Bygones: ‘A poor man’s George Best’, maverick Curran reveals all about his controversial career

Many footballers have crossed the footballing divide in Sheffield over the decades, but few have really excelled after making the switch, Curren included. In his new autobiography out last week, called Regrets of a Football Maverick (Vertical Editions, £16.99), he pulls no punches with a gritty tale of life as “a poor man’s George Best” and how he committed soccer suicide by leaving his boyhood idols Wednesday to don the red and white stripes of United.

A self-confessed womaniser, Kinsley lad Curran even reveals his brush with the Yorkshire ripper, yet his footballing skills were pure genius even though he was no stranger to a touch of flamboyance.

“They broke the mould when they made me,” said Curran.

“I lived and played hard, clashed with authority and always wanted to entertain the public when almost everyone else played safe.

“Call me a poor man’s George Best; nobody could ever match the great man for style on or off the pitch but I was good, no doubt about that. Good enough to be spoken about as a future England player by Brian Clough and Jack Charlton, attract interest from great clubs such as Manchester United and Arsenal and play for Everton when they were at their very best.

“I even had a pop record in the charts and a fan club almost before they were invented.

“Problem was I always made my life twice as hard as it should have been.

“I walked out on possibly the greatest manager who ever lived; chucked in First Division football to play for my local team; became a Hillsborough legend in the famous Boxing Day massacre of Sheffield United only to get our ground closed due to a riot at Oldham Athletic; committed soccer and social ‘suicide’ by signing for the Blades; even did a Carlos Tevez years ahead of his time by refusing to play for one of the greatest teams of my generation at Everton.”

One of eight brothers, Curran fell in love with the Owls after watching them lose to Everton – who he would later go on to win a First Division championship medal with – in the 1966 FA Cup final. “A love affair I will take to the grave,” he added.

Curran now works coaching youngsters at Doncaster Rovers, the club which gave him his first taste of professional football before being lured to Nottingham Forest under Brian Clough, before lighting up the south coast with Southampton.

Wednesday were in the old Third Division then, but when Jack Charlton came calling with the opportunity to sign for his ailing boyhood idols, Curran jumped at the chance.

He was an integral part of the Owls side which got promoted and became a Hillsborough legend, but in his book, Curran reveals the truth behind his controversial cross-city switch.

“I was playing for the football club I idolised and living in a city I loved – even though my domestic life was complicated, I was in no rush to move on.

“I wanted £500 a week and an £11,000 tax free payment to completely pay off my mortgage but Jack, whilst happy to match my figures, refused to make the payment tax free.

“I was furious with Jack and my uncertain future quickly alerted other clubs. But the next approach really blew my head off. A friend of Reg Brealey, chairman of our bitter rivals Sheffield United, phoned to ask whether I’d switch across the city to Bramall Lane. It took me just a split second to reply and the answer was an emphatic ‘no’. But suddenly an offer of £50,000 over two years was made and, for the only time in my career, I became seduced by the money.

“Of all the decisions I have made in my whole life moving from Wednesday to their deadly rivals was without doubt the craziest of the lot. Talk about being the wrong person in the wrong place at the wrong time – there are mistakes and mistakes but joining Sheffield United was a whopper by any standards.

“Getting my own back at Big Jack for not offering the terms I was looking for at Wednesday was a terrible reason to go to Bramall Lane.

“It has never been easy for anyone to move from Wednesday to United or vice versa – the statisticians tell me only 26 players have ever pulled on both red and blue in Sheffield. But, for a fans’ favourite with Wednesday in his blood, it was totally impossible. I’d wasted no chance to rub United’s noses in it whilst at Hillsborough, a fact true Unitedites weren’t going to forget in a hurry. I don’t blame them to be honest. I let both sets of fans down and deserved most of the stick I got.”