We send our deepest condolences to Marvin’s family and friends at this difficult time.

A south Londoner by birth, Hinton moved from Charlton to Chelsea in 1963 as the first signing by manager Tommy Docherty after winning promotion back to the top division. Docherty described him as ‘just the man we need’.

By the time the versatile defender, who cost £30,000, had left 13 years later, there were three cup winner’s medals in his collection and 344 appearances to his name.

‘Suave Marv’ was a progressive player ahead of his time. In 2023 he visited our Cobham training centre for a celebration for his 80th birthday that had been delayed due to the pandemic. He delighted in watching the players train and meeting them afterwards, and speculated on just how his approach to the game might have fitted into modern-day football.

Comfortable in possession, tactically adaptable and able to ease strikers off the ball rather than forced to tackle, he would have done just fine.

While Hinton’s style of play had found a big fan in Docherty, making him one of the most-selected squad members, it was less in favour under his successor Dave Sexton, a former boxer who admired aggression.

Nevertheless, the defender remained indispensable in the wider squad and although he started both the 1970 FA Cup final and the replay on the bench (in an era of only one substitute), he was introduced into the action at both Wembley and Old Trafford, and so was there on the pitch when the final whistle was blown to herald the Blues as winners of the FA Cup for the first time in our history.

Five years earlier, Hinton had been a starter in both legs of our League Cup final triumph over Leicester City, the club’s first major knockout trophy success. Though primarily a central defender, at this stage of his Blues career he had been deployed at right-back as the unfortunate Ken Shellito struggled with the injury that would ultimately end his career.

By 1967, though, Docherty's more innovative use of him was gaining recognition. ‘Chelsea strategy is built around tight marking and the deployment of centre half Marvin Hinton as a “free” defender,’ enthused the Mirror’s Ken Jones. ‘Hinton’s role is that of a “sweeper”, moving quickly to cover at each point of attack.’

He played centrally in that year’s FA Cup final against Tottenham but - like many of his team-mates - was dismissive of his performance on a disappointing day.

Hinton’s all-round quality as a footballer lent itself to playing anywhere in the defence. Left-back, centre-back and sweeper were all positions he played, the last of which he rated his best. That was due to his ability to bring the ball down, take it forward and play. It was a cultured style out of step with the era but one that would not look out of place today. Defensively, Hinton was good at reading the game and anticipating where danger lay.

‘I would think it is no good just kicking it, I liked to pull it down and shuffle it, pass it, get it back again and then set them off,’ he recalled.

‘Ronnie [Harris] would do the tackling and I used to pick up the pieces and look and have time. It was a different game altogether from now. It was not easy to play on the heavy grounds but we were successful and it was the first time Chelsea had won cups.’

Hinton was one of six Chelsea players named in Alf Ramsey’s provisional 40-strong squad for the 1966 World Cup but like all apart from Peter Bonetti, he did not make the final 22. He was capped at England Under-23 level.

He was on the infamous list of Blues players sent home for breaking curfew at Blackpool in 1965 but remained a Docherty favourite. Then the more pragmatic Sexton took over, recruiting new defenders John Dempsey, Paddy Mulligan and David Webb. Hinton had actually been offered to Southampton in the deal that brought Webb to the Bridge, and Sexton would only usually turn to him when injuries forced his hand.

The player himself admitted he was some distance from being the fittest or best trainer in the squad, qualities the new manager valued. However, Hinton outlasted Sexton at Stamford Bridge.

Though he was not involved in the 1971 Cup Winners’ Cup final victory over Real Madrid, one of his four Chelsea goals came during that cup campaign, at home to Aris Salonika following a 30-yard run and the swapping of passes with Peter Osgood.

Hinton’s time in the team effectively came to an end when former team-mate Eddie McCreadie took over as manager in 1975 and had the unenviable task of informing Hinton and three more of his old friends, John Hollins, Peter Houseman and Steve Kember, that he was opting for youth over experience at a time of strife for the club both on and off the pitch.

After leaving Chelsea in 1976, Hinton had a spell in non-league football at Barnet before retiring.