Goalkeeper Jack Scott may be one of a select few to possess a couple of successful sporting 'irons' to his fire, but in terms of multi-tasking, his big mate at Elland Road took some beating.

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Now a spritely 81, the Cumbrian, a regular between the posts at Leeds United in the early 1950s, was undeniably a late starter when it came to professional football, but working alongside one of the greatest-ever players to have crossed the white line certainly eased the transition.

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Namely one William John Charles, CBE – aka "King John" to his adoring Leeds public and a devoted friend of Scott's until his untimely death almost six years ago.

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Scott, now living in retirement in the West Cumbrian town of Maryport, shared digs with the Welsh legend when he headed to United from Workington in May 1950 and saw at close quarters how the career of the teenager with the Olympian physique and silk-like touch scaled great heights in the white of Leeds as he blossomed into sporting manhood in double-quick time.

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The colossus that was Charles ultimately became an icon, in England, his native Wales and Italy – due to his association with 'Old Country' giants Juventus – with Scott soon appreciating how his big buddy was marked down for greatness, although his all-sporting prowess didn't quite stretch to beating him at his favoured pursuit of golf, which Scott went onto play at county level.

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Scott said: "John and I were in digs together in Beeston and he was an amazing man.

"I've always said he's probably the best player I've ever seen. A lot of people don't believe me, but I still say he's the best pound-for-pound footballer I've seen.

"He was probably the best centre forward I've ever seen and centre-half – nobody could better him at centre-half. Maybe George Best was a better inside-right, Pele was probably the world's best midfielder, but John was the best footballer – he could have been an international in every position on the field, in my opinion.

"He even fancied himself as a goalkeeper and the only thing I could beat him at was golf! He was a good cricketer, snooker player and boxer.

"If he was now in his prime, if (Cristiano) Ronaldo's worth £80m, John would equal that.

"John was brilliant in the air. If there was a corner kick, John just told me to stay on the line and said he'd head it down to me. No-one could jump as high as him; he was 6ft 2in and it was a piece of cake playing with him."

A former blacksmith at a Cumberland colliery, Whitehaven-born Scott went on to forge a successful career with United before falling out of favour with then-boss Raich Carter in late 1954, with the stopper on the sidelines as the Yorkshiremen booked their return to Division One in 1955-56 after being the bridesmaids in the promotion stakes for a good few years.

But red-letter days remain vivid to this day for Scott, who returned to Workington after leaving Leeds in the summer of 1956, later carving out a successful golfing niche with Cumbria, which saw him skipper the county and later become president of the Cumbria Golf Union.

Scott made his Whites debut in November 1950 and went on to regularly appear alongside the likes of Charles, fellow Welsh international Harold Williams and popular skipper Tommy Burden, while a strapping young Geordie by the name of Charlton soon started to make his formative steps in the game.

United agonisingly just fell short of promotion during Scott's time at the club, but some unforgettable moments, in league and cup, did ensue.
On his time at Leeds, Scott – who played 114 times for the club and was an ever-present in 1952-3 – said: "I loved Leeds and loved the people.

"Although I was actually 19 before I started playing (football)! Rugby league was a stronghold where I was from, really.

"I was at Workington and Leeds had a scout from the town and he recommended me to Major Buckley in 1950 and that was it.

"I remember my first match against Manchester City and (Bert) Trautmann was their goalkeeper and when I left, Leeds were third or fourth in the second division and they went up the year after I went.

"One of the games I'll always remember was when we played Tottenham in the cup at Elland Road in 1953-4.

"We were winning 3-2 in the last minute and their left-winger came in and our right-back, who was Jimmy Dunn, jockeyed him on the wing and their lad eventually shot from outside the penalty area and sliced it to the corner flag and the referee gave a corner kick – and they scored from it.

"In the replay at White Hart Lane, there had been a hard frost over the weekend and on the Monday when we played, it had been raining overnight. Nowadays, it wouldn't have been played and we lost 1-0.

"Another famous cup game was against Chelsea in my first season at Elland Road. We drew 1-1 and also in the replay at Stamford Bridge before the second replay took place at Villa Park.

"On the Saturday before that match on the Monday, we played Bury reserves and Major Buckley sat beside me on the bus and said: 'If you play well today, I'll have you in against Chelsea!' We beat Bury 5-0 and I said in the bath afterwards to our full-back that I'd a chance of playing against Chelsea as the Major had told me.

"He said: 'He told me I'd be playing as well!' He'd told all 11 of us and none of us were picked! Another year, Leeds were knocked out of the cup and we played a game at Coventry City to initiate their
floodlights. They were terrible, half the pitch was white and the other half was a brownish colour.

"We were defending the white end in the first half and the referee used a white ball and their inside-right clipped a ball through my legs.

The ref then swapped to a brown ball and we were defending the 'brown end' in the second half and another ball went past me and I never saw it and we lost 2-0. I had all the national press phoning me the following day. It was probably my most embarrassing moment!"

He added: "But they were memorable days with Leeds. Big Jack Charlton was coming through back then and I remember him as 17-year-old when he first came. He was called a giraffe and when he first came to Elland Road as a big, lanky lad, he was the last person you'd have thought would make a first-class footballer.

"I was on 12 quid a week when I first went, eight quid in the reserves. I remember my benefit match with a local lad called Jack Marsden, and the rules were you could only get £750, that was the maximum.

"We played a match against an ex-international XI and when I got my cheque off the chairman, who was called Sam Bolton, I looked at it and it was for £494 quid – it was taxed!"

Lifelong friendships were made during Scott's days in Yorkshire with the likes of Charles and Williams and while he has been resident back in his native Cumbria for well over half a century, Leeds remain very much his 'team' with his county affiliations put to one side whenever they tackle Carlisle United.

And it goes without saying, he will be rooting for the Whites in the forthcoming Johnstone's Paint Trophy northern final.

After hanging up his gloves, Scott found his fairway to success on the greens and the fact that he can reflect on a sporting life less ordinary is a source of genuine pride.

Scott, who ran his own driving school business for many years after retiring from football, said: "In terms of golf, I got down to scratch and played for the county and was made captain, so I've really enjoyed my sporting life.

"Football-wise, Leeds is the first result I look out for and I couldn't have been more over the moon when they won at Manchester United.

"I went to the game at Carlisle a few years ago when Leeds were 1-0 up at half-time and lost 3-1. I made the draw at half-time and they announced me over the tannoy and all the Carlisle fans booed me and the Leeds fans cheered me!

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"I made some great friends at Leeds. I used to come down annually (after leaving) as my wife's a Leeds girl and has two sisters here and used to play golf with Harold (Williams) at Morley.

"I remember we got a penalty kick at Blackburn Rovers and Harold took it and stubbed his toe on the ground and the goalkeeper walked out and picked it up.

"When he was always on the first tee and on the top of his backswing, I used to say to him: "Remember that penalty at Blackburn!". I'd made some great friends there."