Bill signed when he saw inside Seymour’s satchel
Relegation from the Premier League will mean wage cuts of 50% for the players of Norwich City.
But those currently earning between £25,000 and £30,000-a-week shouldn’t have to worry about paying the gas bill.
Players of earlier eras got nothing like the life-changing money that has been swilling about England in recent years.
Former Canaries winger, Bill Punton, admits a financial sweetener persuaded him to sign for his first English club.
The Scot had started his football journey by spending two years on the books of Portadown in Northern Ireland.
His performances caught the eye of local scouts, and several offers came his way.
He recalled: “I was 19 and had the choice of going to Newcastle United or Arsenal in 1954. “I arranged to meet with the Newcastle chairman, Stan Seymour, in a Belfast hotel. “He made me an offer, but I had to tell him about a telegram I’d received from Arsenal manager, Tom Whittaker.
“It said not to sign for any other club until I spoke to them the following day.
“Stan Seymour told me to remember that a bird in the hand was worth two in the bush.
“He pointed at a satchel he’d brought in, and said I could have the contents of it if I signed.
“Inside the satchel was £1,000. That made up my mind. I thought I was rich.
“The maximum wage was in operation at the time. I got £12 a week during the season and £10 in the summer.
“It didn’t matter who you were. I was being paid the same as Stanley Matthews.”
Bill admits he found it hard to get into the Magpies team, and that was mostly because of a fellow Scot.
He said: “In some ways I wasted five years of my career at St James’ Park.
“Bobby Mitchell was the star outside-left, and that meant I only played about 30 games. “Another Scot, Jimmy Scoular, would show me a list of games at the start of every season, and he’d mark an X beside the ones he thought I would play in.
“They were against teams that had a real clogger at right-back. Bobby wouldn’t fancy those matches and would pull out.
“Jimmy was normally right. You had to commit murder to get sent off back then, and defenders would try to kick you over the stand.” After a season with Southend United, Bill joined Norwich City in the summer of 1959.
The Canaries’ manager went to great lengths – and an 870-mile round trip – to secure his signature.
Bill went on: “Archie Macaulay had wanted to buy Errol Crossan and myself just a few months earlier.
“Errol was the right winger, while I played on the other side of the pitch. “Southend wouldn’t sell us both at the same time, and Errol went first.
“Archie didn’t forget about me, and he drove all the way from Norwich to Aberfeldy, where I was back home for the summer.
“We met in the Palace Hotel and he persuaded me to sign.
“Archie liked a drink and he had a couple that day, but he was the best manager I played for.” Bill was part of the Norwich side that won promotion to the Second Division in 1960, and won the League Cup two years later.
After a seven-year stint with the Canaries, he was sold to Sheffield United.
He said: “That was a move to the top flight. I remember playing Manchester United when they were top of the league and we were third. “I had played with Bobby Charlton during my time in the Army. The great Duncan Edwards was also in our squad.
“We beat Rangers 3-1 in a game at Ibrox.” Bill, now 86, was manager of Great Yarmouth Town for 21 years.
He still lives in Norwich and, during normal times, is a matchday host at Carrow Road.