FORMER Town striker Alan Gowling spent 12 years on football's quality street - and three at Leeds Road!
He strutted his stuff alongside legends like Denis Law, Bobby Charlton, George Best, Malcolm Macdonald and Examiner columnist Frank Worthington on the top stage.
Unfortunately, his time at Town, from 1972-75, took him to a level he never wanted to experience.
But he admits the club's descent - they had just been relegated from the old Division I when he arrived and had just dropped into the basement division when he left - was a key factor in his own development.
The former England Under 23 striker, who combined playing football with passing a business studies university degree while at Manchester United, arrived at Town in a club-record £80,000 transfer as the man to spearhead an immediate return to the top section after relegation.
Many said the deal was done two years too late, and had Leeds Road chief Ian Greaves been able to pair Gowling and Worthington - as he later did at Bolton - Town would have had a far better chance of staying up.
Instead, with Worthington and fellow top-line performers Trevor Cherry and goalkeeper David Lawson gone, Town went in the other direction, dropping straight into Division III, and two years later, into Division IV.
The fact that Gowling managed to notch 61 goals in 139 games while playing in such a struggling side is testament to his abilities, and he has no doubt over the value of his stay.
"I was a bit naive when I signed, I suppose," reflected the Stockport-born ex-England amateur international who also represented his country at schoolboy level and over his whole career, scored 139 times in 480 League appearances for five clubs.
"They had just been relegated from the First Division and I didn't really do my homework. It was a difficult time but, in a way, Huddersfield was my football apprenticeship.
"Because I was at university, I never went through the normal football apprenticeship at Old Trafford.
"The senior players were great with me but I probably lacked some of the confidence I would have developed if I had come through the ranks in the usual way.
"That was something I picked up at Huddersfield and by the time I moved to Newcastle I was confident in my own ability to produce the goods alongside a leading player like Malcolm Macdonald."
Gowling joined Newcastle in a £70,000 deal and played in Europe and reached the final of the League Cup with them before Greaves paid £120,000 to take him to Bolton in March 1978.
He helped Wanderers win promotion from Division II and again graced the top-flight stage alongside Worthington, for who provided the perfect foil, just as he had done for Macdonald at St James' Park.
"They were very different types of players," recalled Gowling, who had a spell as chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association.
"Malcolm was full of aggression, pace and power while Frank's game was all about subtlety and finesse.
"In terms of enjoyment, it's impossible to separate my time with Newcastle and Bolton.
"I loved my three seasons in the North-East - a great place to live and smashing people.
"But Wanderers have always been a wonderful football club with a real sense of community."
These days, Gowling, who ended his career with a spell at Preston, after which he concentrated on business interests, is back at Bolton, covering the club as a radio summariser.
"It's the perfect job. It isn't work, it's pleasure," enthused the 55-year-old.
"I'd still be going to matches if I wasn't doing the commentaries.
"The Premiership is exhilarating and exciting. It's the only place to be - and I say that without any disrespect to the Nationwide League.
"Looking at the things now, it's hard to believe that a few years ago the game was losing popularity and people were worried about the future."
