The outbreak of World War II in 1939 saw the area sustain heavy bombing due to the nearby Cwmfelin Steelworks and Nurse's father was called up for service during the hostilities, spending several years away from the family.
[2] Several other notable footballers were raised in Alice Street including the Charles brothers: John and Mel, Jackie Roberts and Ernie Jones.
Nurse was active in numerous sports, taking part in long-jump and javelin as well as captaining his school's football and cricket teams.
[2] Having represented Wales at schoolboy level, Nurse attracted attention from several clubs and was offered contracts with several sides, including Arsenal, Bristol Rovers and West Bromwich Albion, but rejected them all as he did not want to leave Swansea.
In 1952, Glyn Evans, a scout for Swansea Town, travelled to Nurse's new family home in Penlan and offered him a place in the club's youth system.
[2][6] He was informed of his debut by a local sports reporter, Les Bailey, who covered Swansea Town matches and lived nearby to him.
His performances in the first-team convinced Swansea to drop Kiley from the side and also cancel a £5000 transfer deal for Cardiff City defender Stan Montgomery.
[2] His unit was eventually moved to Hong Kong but, as Nurse was playing football for the regiment and occasionally for Swansea Town when he was granted leave, he was allowed to stay in the UK.
The move was designed to keep the club's younger players focused by allowing less free time but Nurse grew frustrated as he managed his business interests in the afternoons and decided to retire from playing.
[2] Nurse played a dozen games for the Welsh national team,[11] limited by the players of the side, including John Charles and Mike England.
[12][13] In order to raise the £300,000 required to remove chairman Tony Petty, Nurse secured loans against many of his own properties and did so having not seen the club's financial records beforehand.