Bogota bandit - Richard Adamson

A mercurial, raiding left-winger, Charlie Mitten was part of the first great post-war side that became Manchester United. The man the FA once admitted was the greatest outside-left England had ever had stepped out of line as a trailblazer in the player's contract revolution, walking out on club and country in 1950 to play in South America. During one short season with Bogota Santa Fe, Mitten won a place in South American folklore as orchestrator-in-chief of one of the most sensational upsets in football history - a makeshift Combian XI's victory over the newly-crowned world champions, Uruguay. Rejecting an offer from Real Madrid, Mitten returned to Britain only to find he was a football outlaw, frozen out by the FA selectors and by United who refused to take him back. After a spell at Fulham, he went into management at Mansfield and Newcastle, but his attempts to produce a more skilful approach to the game and his warnings of an impending soccer hurricane from South America were largely ignored. Today, Charles Mitten believes British football is still paying the price.