The former King of Ayresome Park, 70s Boro star Graeme Souness was back in town recently to kick start a Cardiac MR Appeal at James Cook Hospital. Souness is now a regular Sky pundit and recalled how a cardiac MRI scanner helped save his life when he kicked off a massive fundraising effort to keep the region’s heart unit at the cutting edge of medical technology. He then paused to reflect on some of his memories of football under Jack Charlton before offering his thoughts on our promotion prospects at the end of this season

The football legend returned to Teesside to launch the Loving Hearts Raffle, aiming to raise £100,000 in support of the South Cleveland Heart Fund’s Cardiac MR Appeal.

TV pundit Souness, who also starred as a player for Liverpool, Sampdoria and Rangers before managing several clubs including Newcastle United, underwent major heart by-pass surgery in 1992 when he was only 38 years old.

Graeme Souness was a true gent in answering a few of my questions about the Boro past and present and indeed future.

Q: My early memories of watching Boro regularly were of the Jack Charlton team when the fans would chant your name as the King of Ayresome Park.

GS: We had a really strong team with some extremely talented players and people who had a never say die attitude. David Armstrong who very few people ever possess.

Q: And he seemed to play on for ever.

GS: Yes, he never ever got injured. He had that side to his game where he was cuter than most. Willie Maddren, who if it hadn’t have been for Colin Todd he would have played for England.

And then you talk about Hicky and Millsy who would run people into the ground and had a never say die attitude. We just had a togetherness that was very strong and it is easier to have that when you are winning all the time. We were in the old Second Division but when we got up into the First Division (the Premier equivalent) that was still there and we weren’t winning every week. But we had a belief.

Q: But all these many years later we can all still reel off that 1 to 11.

GS: That team. Yes. That was my first trophy as a senior player, although I think I must have been about 20 then and it was very special. Then I was lucky to go on and win other things but the first one is always quite unique and special.

Q: And how was playing alongside Bobby Murdoch?

GS: Yes it was a learning curve for me. He was a bit of a legend coming down from Scotland. He wasn’t the most mobile when he came down but he had a great footballing brain and he could teach some of the darker arts of midfield football which I was grateful for going forward.

Q: Middlesbrough at the moment are hopefully poised in a promotion pushing position.

GS: Yes, it is going to be tight because the prize for getting up is so enormous. Apart from the footballing side of things it would be fantastic for the town if we could get up. All of a sudden it puts Middlesbrough as a town back on the map not just in the UK but throughout the world because the Premiership is watched throughout the world, more than any other league. So it puts Middlesbrough back on the map as a city which will be great for the economy. Great when people go on holiday. “Where are you from?” “I am from Middlesbrough.” “Oh he plays for Middlesbrough.” It is the little things which you don’t maybe appreciate all the time.

But they have got a great chance. They have shown that they are strong, they have shown that they can score goals, they have shown that the manager knows what he is doing.

They have got a support that will definitely want it. The support has a big part to play. What you don’t want if you are a football player is a bit of nervousness coming from the terraces. It won’t always be plain sailing for the team. They won’t always score 2 goals in the first half and be sitting pretty and everyone’s relaxed. Sometimes it will be a grind and sometimes they might have to nick a goal late on to get a result. So they have a big part to play.

But I think they have a great chance. There are other very good teams out there, Watford and Norwich are making a late run and the momentum appears to be with them but I think Middlesbrough have enough about them to get up.

Q: It is a lot closer than it was in your day. We had it sewn up weeks before the end of the campaign, didn’t we?

GS: Yes but we had a particularly strong team and we proved that by what we did when we got up. The next year we finished near the top.

Q: Seventh and in the title race for much of the season.

GS: So that shows how strong we were so there is no surprise we won the Second Division so easily.

Q: Obviously Jack Charlton was a very good manager to be able to inherit those players and turn them into a title winning team.

GS: Yes from Stan Anderson and Stan signed me and I quickly got him the sack because we lost in the FA Cup tie at Plymouth. That was my first game and he went after that. But I suppose he would have looked and he should have looked in this way that it was his team that got promoted. Jack gave us an extra nudge.

Q: And discipline etc.

GS: And frightened us a bit, frightened us young boys.

The top prize in the Scanner raffle is a Skoda Citigo sponsored by Middlesbrough firm Derek Slack Motors. Other prizes include a home cinema system, hotel and spa breaks, family days out and restaurant meals.

Administration costs for the raffle have been funded by Keys3 Darlington and MV Print. Tickets are being sold at Boots the Chemist stores across the region throughout launch weekend (March 13-15).

Raffle tickets will also be on sale at a series of events and locations leading up to a Gala Charity Dinner at Middlesbrough’s Thistle Hotel on Saturday June 20 when the prize draw will take place.