The Poolie Bunker

Was good to see Don again even if it was just for a short time.
We sold don due to Garry Gibson hawking him about on video if only e-bay had been about then we might have got a better bid.

Just out of curiousity was this the first time that Don Hutchinson had ever been back to the Vic for an opposition team?We were talking about this at the match on Saturday and no one seemed to know............over to the Statto's?

I thought the story was that Don hawked round his own video and the club was gob-smacked when Liverpool were interested and even more gob-smacked that they were willing to pay £175k. Perhaps it's how Don tells it, but I suspect if Gary Gibson had been involved, we'd have got three boxes of car hub caps.

Pity Don didn't get more recognition on Saturday. That £175k probably kept us going for a good few months, though I recall we had to pay off Redheugh Boys' Club. I suppose it was a long time ago. If only a few of you can remember the Rink End, you won't know the Don.

The way I remember the story, is that Gibson did the video bit, around the Premiership teams, and got the interest from Liverpool. He went over to scouseland with Hutchison, and during the negotiations, took the Liverpool official to one side, and told him what Don was wanting in the way of wages. Only to be surprised by the amount that the club representative told him he would be getting, a good deal more than Gibson had been asking for. Then he went back and told the young lad what a great deal he had been able to arrange for him.

I also heard that people said to him, 'in about three years time, don't get caught sticking budwieser labels over you tackle in a nightclub'

Sounds likely with Gibbo doesn't it!

I think one of the bizarre things was that although I have seen him play for Pools it was an out of the blue move when it happened - I remember all the talk of the video, and then shortly after he signed him turning out for Liverpool in the Guinness football 6s. Fair play to the Don to be honest, he went from being a promising player at Pools to a full international with a good number of top level games under his belt - barring Rob McKinnon, the only Pools player to come close to that since is Tommy Miller, and he never actually got capped... when you think of some of the other heralded talents we've looked to sell on since (Halliday, Cullen, even Joe Joe Joe Allon and Adam Boyd) none of them can actually say they've achieved as much....

One of the other memorable things about Don is that Cyril Knowles sacked him at one point if I remember correctly. He didn't turn up for a training session or reserve fixture and Cyril told him he was sacked - even though he had no intention of actually getting rid of him, it was just to give him a kick up the arse so to speak. Seemed to work anyway - nice one Cyril

Thats true and his mam and dad dragged him to the ground to ask Sir Cyril for another chance.

I remember Cyril recounting that tale when he gave a 'meet the fans' talk in a backroom at the Causeway. Top man