Wilf Mannion (16 May 1918-14 April 2000), nicknamed ‘Golden Boy’ during the 1940s because of his mop of blood hair, was a legendary tricky inside-forward of the of stunning ability.  Only five feet five inches tall, he was widely regarded as one of the all-time great forwards for his ball-control, speed, passing and scoring ability. Mannion could cut through defences to score with a sudden, disconcerting change of pace. Mannion played in local leagues before he signed professional for Middlesborough in September 1936.  He remained with them until 1954, scoring 110 goals in 368 appearances.  Matt Busby, at that time a Liverpool player, nicknamed Mannion the Wonder Boy, and the name was embraced by the Press. Like so many of his contemporaries, Mannion’s career was interrupted by the Second World War.  A front-line soldier with the 7th battalion of the Green Howards in France, Sicily and the Middle East, he was deeply traumatised by his experiences in combat. He also suffered jaundice and malaria.  It took no time at all to regain his place in England's team once he was demobilised. Indeed, he played in their first dozen full, postwar internationals. One of his finest displays was in Glasgow, in May 1947, when he scored twice in Great Britain's 6-1 win against the Rest of Europe.Shortly after the resumption of his career, Mannion fell out with the Middesborough’s board of directors .  Dissatisfied with the maximum wage of £10 per week, Mannion wouldn’t sign a new contract for the club and arranged to drop into the 3rd division with Oldham Athletic so that he would have the time to run a business on the side, selling chicken coops.   Middlesborough stood firm. ‘Even if we were given a cheque for £50,000 we would not transfer Mannion,' the Boro manager said. ‘Why should we let the best player in Britain go?'  He was out of the game for six months before the stalemate was finally resolved. This unfortunate state of affairs also impacted on his blossoming England career. Mannion had made a sensational debut on 10 May 1947 when selected for England's first official post-war international scoring a hat-trick in a 7-2 drubbing of Northern Ireland.  He played a total of twenty-six times for his country scoring eleven goals. His most prolific league season for Middlesbrough came in 1952-53, with 19 goals in 41 games. But the following year saw Boro relegated, Mannion getting just nine goals in 37 games. They promptly let him go to Hull City, where in his only season he scored just once in 16 games. Mannion courted controversy: in a series of newspaper articles he made a number of controversial statements, including allegations of illegal payments.  The Football League reacted by banning him for life (later rescinded). Between 1954 and 1962, he played non-league football for Poole Town, King's Lynn, Havershill Rovers and Earlstown.In 1956 he joined non-league Cambridge as manager but he was not cut out for management.