Terry Hurlock has a text message from Wally Downes, the manager of AFC Wimbledon. It can wait. He is in full flow, just as the ale pumps have been in this bustling London pub in which we meet.

‘It was mental, we actually trained at the same place as Wimbledon in the late Eighties,’ says the former Millwall enforcer, a midfielder among the most intimidating of his generation.

‘We’d be running past them on the next pitch, eyeing them up, Wally, Vinnie (Jones), little Dennis (Wise), I wanted to strangle him. You’d be shouting across, “Crazy Gang? We’re the real f****** Crazy Gang. We’re Millwall, from south (‘saarf’) London. Wimbledon? You country f****** bumpkins”.’

Former Millwall enforcer Terry Hurlock was among the most intimidating of his generation

His former employers take on AFC Wimbledon in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Saturday

Hurlock owned the Prince of Wales in Walthamstow. One afternoon, before playing Wimbledon on the Saturday, Millwall’s players met for a drink. Tony Cascarino and Teddy Sheringham teased Hurlock, demanding to know what he had planned for Jones.

His knuckles clench, white. He leans in, snarling. ‘What would I do? “This is what I’ll do”, so I ran and kicked this f****** door… wallop, hanging off the hinges.’

He buries his fist in his palm. Then laughs. ‘Cost me a few quid to repair that did. I wish I’d done it in someone else’s bleeding pub.’ Wimbledon won. In fact, during four First Division meetings, Millwall drew just twice.

‘We never beat them?’ asks Hurlock, irritated. ‘What a bloody liberty. It was always a battle — kick, b*****k and bite. It went off in the tunnel once, John Fashanu was touching Cascarino’s backside, winding him up. Cas turned around and windmilled him! I loved them boys really, Vinnie was a great fella, too smart to come near me on the pitch though. I was happy when they won the FA Cup (in 1988) and you’d always end up having a beer with them.’

Hurlock pictured barking instructions for Millwall against Nottingham Forest in October 1988

Such as in 1986 when Hurlock’s son was born. Downes, the Crazy Gang ringleader, joined the head-wetting party in the pubs around Brentford’s Griffin Park, Hurlock’s first club.

Hurlock, now a granddad at 60, recalls: ‘I had to buy everyone champagne, I didn’t want any more kids after that! It was a lively affair. We stripped off — me, Wally and my mates. We did our stretches then had a race around the ground!’ Did either of the professional footballers win? ‘Did we hell!’

The pair remain pals, not that Hurlock will have split loyalties when AFC Wimbledon host Millwall in the FA Cup fifth round on Saturday. He had two spells with the Lions, first signing in 1987. He had long known it was the club for him.

‘They used to batter me with Brentford, but loads of my mates were Millwall. I’d meet them after in The Barnaby pub. I’d walk in and it was, “Boo! Boo!”. But they were good as gold. “We’d love you in our side, Tel”. I just loved the feel of the club, the fans, they were the same as me. I thought, “I’d be happy here”.’

Hurlock sat down with Sportsmail’s Craig Hope for an exclusive interview in a London pub

And he was. Nicknamed ‘Terry Warlock’, he led them to the Division Two title before finishing 10th in Division One. Hurlock was Player of the Year and his goal in a 3-2 win over QPR took them top in October.

‘You know the bubble will burst, but them supporters had never seen the likes… top of the league, it was f****** terrific. I loved being part of that.’

The bubble did burst. They were relegated in 1990 and Graeme Souness paid £375,000 to take Hurlock to Rangers. He returned to Millwall four years later and debuted at home to Leicester. By now a dad of three, the family were watching at home, live on a Sunday afternoon.

‘After nine minutes I’ve tackled this geezer (Iwan Roberts). He’s lashed out at me on the floor, so I’ve booted him back. The referee saw it, red card.

‘The missus had only left the front room to put the roasties and gravy on, when she came back the kids were asking, “Where’s Dad?”. She hadn’t a clue!’

Hurlock holds off Luton Town’s Kingsley Black as he made a name for himself as a hardman

It was one of seven red cards from 637 career games and Millwall boss Mick McCarthy later told Hurlock he was being released because he ‘incited the crowd’. Hurlock’s thoughts? ‘What a load of b******s!’

It is, though, easy to see why David Beckham said that he stayed away from Hurlock ‘as much as possible’ when playing against Millwall for Preston.

‘I take that as a compliment – but I was never dirty, I don’t like dirty, I was hard and fair. I had to retire after breaking my leg. It was a pre-season game, it’s an unwritten rule that you go in a bit easier, but this was naughty. If I could go back for one more tackle, it would be that one, no f****** about.’

‘Terry Warlock’ led Millwall to the Division Two title before finishing 10th in Division One

‘I don’t like doing interviews,’ announces Hurlock, ‘but you seem nice enough.’ That is a relief.

It still feels risky producing a picture from his Brentford days — wild, curly hair, grizzly beard, two earrings dangling — and asking if the perm was done in a salon.

‘What?! F*** that. I used to say it was natural. My mate did it, actually. Before I went to Rangers he did it too short, like a girl, I hated it. I couldn’t go to Glasgow like that, they’d throw bricks at me. I said I had gastroenteritis and waited for it to drop an inch!’

West Ham let Hackney-born Hurlock go at 18. He worked as a coalman and window cleaner before joining Brentford at 21.

‘I turned up wearing no socks and a pair of moccasins. They thought I was one of the painters. One of the staff said, “The workers are around the back, mate”.’

Ragged off the pitch, they soon realised Hurlock was a smart act on it, anchoring a midfield alongside Stan Bowles and Chris Kamara.

‘Stan was nearly done but was still out of this world. I always had to graft, run, tackle, shut down, the odd good pass. He was a natural, give it to his feet — wallop, wallop, wallop. It opens your eyes. You know the level you’re at. He needed someone to take the dirty off him, that was my job.’

Hurlock was recently voted Brentford’s fifth greatest player. He enjoys legend status at Millwall and, as the Rangers fan who interrupts to shake Hurlock’s hand before kissing him will testify, he is revered at Ibrox.

Hurlock has been voted Brentford’s fifth greatest player and enjoys legend status at Millwall

‘In my one season we won the league, the League Cup and I scored against Celtic, a belter from 25 yards, and those boys up there never forget.’

Rangers icon Ian Durrant will never forget him. ‘One of my first days training,’ starts Hurlock, ‘Souness is playing, and he’s a different class. They all are — (Terry) Butcher, (Trevor) Steven, (Ally) McCoist. We’re playing keep-ball and I can’t get near it. Souness stops the session, “Hold up. What the f*** have I signed here? You’re allowed to touch the ball. Get involved!”.

‘The ball goes to little Durrant. I fly in, “Whack!”. Souey stops it again, “F****** easy!” I said, “Don’t wind me up then, you told me to get involved!”.’

Hurlock is rattling through stories with the same ferocity as those tackles, but he has a confession. There was one occasion when he wasn’t up for a scrap.

‘We were playing Liverpool (for Millwall) and Steve McMahon did me late on, caught me around the ribs. I got up, “I’ll f****** do you in the players’ lounge”. I got changed all quick, bring it on. Then, my ribs started playing up, I couldn’t f****** move, I was in agony.

‘I’m in the bar, he comes in. I’m thinking, “I’ve got to front it up, but if he hits me I’ll get knocked all over the place”. He walks up and puts his hand out, “It’s only a game, Tel, no hard feelings”. I thought, “Thank f*** for that!”.’

Hurlock is tackled by Cambridge United’s Colin Bailey during another tough midfield battle

Hurlock’s dress is as sharp as his wits — dark overcoat, crisp shirt, waistcoat, flat cap. He would not look out of place alongside his old pal Vinnie in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

He removes the cap — the perm is long gone — and it leads to conversation about three more cherished pieces of headgear.

‘My three England B caps,’ he begins. ‘I’m so incredibly proud of them. We played a tournament in Scandinavia (May, 1989). I was in midfield alongside Gazza, what a pleasure that was.’

Yet there is also regret. ‘I got player of the tournament. I thought I’d done enough to step up. Gazza did, David Platt too. There was talk of me, but I think politics killed it, they didn’t want Millwall around the England squad.’

Hurlock earned three England B caps and played alongside Paul Gascoigne for the Three Lions

He missed the start of Millwall’s pre-season because of England duty and stayed in kit as a joke

Hurlock took Gascoigne under his wing. ‘I was his looky-after man on the pitch. I loved him off it as well, such a good heart.

‘There were three meals a day and my waistline couldn’t cope with that, neither could his. So we tried to miss lunch. We were sitting on my bed, starving. He said, “I can’t handle it. I’m going down”.

‘Half an hour later there’s a knock at my door. I answer and no-one’s there. I look down and there’s a tray with spaghetti bolognese and a knickerbocker glory, just to wind me up, cheeky git!’

Hurlock had missed the start of Millwall’s post-season trip to the Far East because of his call-up. He grins, taking up the tale.

‘I was meeting up with them in Penang. I got there early and headed to the bar. I put all my England gear on, my shirt and shin pads, the lot. They walked in. “All right lads, I play for England now. Fancy a drink?”.’

Hurlock will always have that, just as he will the medals from Rangers and the adulation at Brentford and Millwall, the club he will cheer on on Saturday afternoon.

Beat Wimbledon and he’ll reply to that message from Wally Downes. The forfeit for the loser might just be a lap of Griffin Park.