 Beattie in 2007 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Thomas Kevin Beattie | ||
| Date of birth | (1953-12-18)18 December 1953 | ||
| Place of birth | Carlisle, England | ||
| Date of death | 16 September 2018(2018-09-16) (aged 64) | ||
| Place of death | Ipswich, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[1] | ||
| Position | Centre-half | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1971–1972 | Ipswich Town | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1972–1981 | Ipswich Town | 228 | (24) |
| 1982 | Colchester United | 4 | (0) |
| 1982 | Middlesbrough | 4 | (0) |
| 1983–1986 | Barnet | ||
| Harwich & Parkeston | |||
| 1983–1984 | Sandvikens IF | ||
| 1987 | Kongsberg IF | ||
| 1988 | Nybergsund IL-Trysil | ||
| Clacton Town | |||
| International career | |||
| 1972 | England Youth | 7 | (1) |
| 1972–1975 | England U23 | 9 | (1) |
| 1975–1977 | England | 9 | (1) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Thomas Kevin Beattie (18 December 1953 – 16 September 2018) was an Englishfootballer. Born into poverty, he played at both professional and international levels, mostly as acentre-half. He spent the majority of his playing career atIpswich Town, the club with which he won both theFA Cup and theUEFA Cup. He was also named the inauguralProfessional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year at the end of the 1972–73 season, and featured in the filmEscape to Victory alongside many of his Ipswich teammates.
Beattie's playing career took him fromrags to riches, but according toThe Daily Telegraph he was "cursed by being both injury and accident prone".[2] His playing career included some controversy, notably when he went missing after being selected forEngland's under-23 team. After retiring from playing he descended into unemployment and alcohol abuse, and contemplated suicide, before finding purpose once more and a new career in later life, as a footballcommentator on television and radio.
Beattie has been called Ipswich Town's best ever player by many pundits and polls. Ipswich (and laterEngland) managerBobby Robson called him the best England player he had seen.
Thomas Kevin Beattie was born inCarlisle on 18 December 1953.[3] His family lived in theBotcherby estate and he was one of nine children: five boys and four girls.[4] He became known by his middle name, as his father was also named Thomas Beattie.[5] Beattie's mother was a cleaner at aLipton tea shop, whilst his father worked for theNational Coal Board, delivering coal.[5] The elder Thomas played amateur football as agoalkeeper and once had a trial withAston Villa, but turned down an offer to join the club as he could earn more working for the Coal Board.[6] After he was forced to give up work due to a back problem,[7] the family suffered financially and were often short of food,[8] leading to the young Beattie taking fruit and vegetables from localallotments.[7] In later life, he recalled, "There was often only food on the table when Dad had backed a winning horse, or else won a game of darts, or dominoes down at his local pub."[8][9]
Beattie supported his local football team,Carlisle United, and idolised players likeHughie McIlmoyle. He recalled being "devastated" when McIlmoyle was too busy to sign an autograph outside the club, resolving never to turn down such requests.[10] Beattie attended St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic junior school, where he began playing football for the school team, initially as a goalkeeper.[6] His family were unable to afford the football boots he needed, but a teacher named Mr Raffety bought a pair for him.[6] Beattie soon became aforward and modelled himself onChelsea'sPeter Osgood.[11]
Although Beattie passed hiseleven-plus exams, his family could not afford thegrammar school uniform, so he moved to St Patrick's Roman Catholic senior school.[11] He began playing for Blackfriars, a local youth team managed by Raffety, and also, from the age of 14, for a pub team, alongside his father.[11] Raffety recommended him to Carlisle United, but the club did not have a youth team.[11][10][12] He left school aged 14, and subsequently worked as a machine fitter and delivery boy in factories, a warehouse, a dry cleaner and then a furniture company.[13]
At the age of 15, Beattie was playing for Blackfriars on Sunday and for a club called St Augustine on Saturdays, when he was spotted by afootball scout and offered a trial withLiverpool.[13] Beattie travelled to Liverpool and impressed managerBill Shankly sufficiently for him to be invited back to sign for the club. Beattie returned to Liverpool on his own, but nobody from the club arrived to meet him atLime Street station. After waiting an hour and assuming they had lost interest, and with nothing but his boots and train ticket, he returned home to Carlisle.[14] Shankly would later describe missing out on signing the youngster as one of his biggest mistakes.[2]
Soon after this, Beattie joinedIpswich Town as anapprentice. Ipswich managerBobby Robson made sure that he was met atEuston station in London, played in a youth match atFulham, and was accompanied all the way to Ipswich'sPortman Road ground by the club's chief scout,Ron Gray.[15] Robson told Gray, "If you miss him, you've lost your job".[16] The poverty Beattie came from was evident when he arrived in Ipswich wearing his father's shoes, so when Ipswich signed him, the club immediately bought him some clothes.[3][16] As a youth he had played as astriker, but Robson converted him into adefender, usually acentre-half; the player said in later life that the move suited him well, as it meant he could see all the play in front of him.[16]
Now earning a wage, Beattie tried to help support his family, sending money home each week.[17] He also stepped in to prevent domestic violence between his parents: "I became extremely upset when I found out that Dad was spending the money that I had been sending home on drink and Mum was going without. Not only that but I also found out that his drinking had got worse and he had started knocking Mum around."[17]
Beattie was given his first-team debut aged 18 againstManchester United in the opening match of the1972–73 season inEngland's top division.[18][19] Ipswich won the game 2–1, and afterwards he asked United'sBobby Charlton for his autograph; Charlton told Beattie that his play reminded him ofDuncan Edwards and that, in years to come, he would be the one signing autographs.[16] Beattie scored his first league goal for the club two weeks later atElland Road in a 3–3 draw withLeeds United.[20] That season he featured 38 times for Ipswich in the league and scored 5 goals;[20] Ipswich ended in fourth place, their best finish since the Championship-winning1961–62 season underAlf Ramsey.[21] Beattie was also part of the1972–73 Texaco Cup-winning team, which defeatedNorwich City 4–2 onaggregate over two legs,[21] and he was named the inaugural winner of theIpswich Town Player of the Year award.[22]
Thefollowing season saw Beattie's first appearance in a European competition, with Ipswich having qualified for theUEFA Cup as a result of their fourth position in the league the previous season.[21] He played in aggregate victories overReal Madrid (1–0),Lazio (6–4) andFC Twente (3–1), before the side lost on penalties toLokomotive Leipzig, Beattie having scored his first European goal in the home leg.[23][24] He appeared in all 42 league games for Ipswich that season (along withMick Mills), made 15 other appearances in cup competitions,[25] and was presented with the inauguralProfessional Footballers' Association's (PFA)Young Player of the Year award.[26] He was also once again voted his club's Player of the Year.[22] Early in the1974–75 season Beattie was involved in mild controversy againstStoke City when his tackle at Portman Road brokeJohn Ritchie's leg. In the return fixture at Stoke'sVictoria Ground, Beattie's teammateAllan Hunter was involved in an incident that left Stoke'sDenis Smith with a broken leg.[27] The crowd erupted in anger, directed at Beattie; Robson noted "There was a cauldron for 20 minutes. Kevin Beattie had to beat 28,000 people out there."[28] Later that season, Beattie was awarded the captaincy for a game, against his home team Carlisle United.[29] Having played 52 games and scored 6 goals during the season for Ipswich,[25] he was elected by his peers as a member of theFirst Division Team of the Year.[30] He had helped his club reach the semi-final of the1974–75 FA Cup and to finish the league season in third position.[31]
Beattie made 36 appearances for Ipswich during the1975–76 season, scoring 4 goals.[25] Ipswich finished sixth and were knocked out of the1975–76 FA Cup in the fourth round.[32] Towards the end of the season, he began to suffer from severe back pain, something he blamed on an injury incurred as a child while helping his father carry sacks of coal.[33] Despite the relative lack of success with his club, he was selected in the First Division Team of the Year for the second year in a row.[34] The1976–77 season started well for Ipswich with victories over Liverpool and Manchester United. Ipswich then achieved a club record-equalling 7–0 win overWest Bromwich Albion: the Albion goalkeeperJohn Osborne said of Beattie's long-range goal that he regarded himself as fortunate he had not touched it as it would have knocked his hand off.[35] Beattie's season was prematurely curtailed by a self-inflicted injury:[36] stoking abonfire at his home, he decided to add petrol; the ensuing flare-up gave him serious burns to his face and neck,[37] leading to him missing six matches.[16] Before the injury, Ipswich were challenging for the league title, but, in Beattie's absence, the side lost four of their last six matches and missed out on winning the championship by five points.[16] He played in 34 games for Ipswich that season, scoring 5 goals, and was selected for the PFA Team of the Year for the third time in a row, along with teammates Mick Mills andBrian Talbot.[34]
Beattie was fit to play by the start of the1977–78 season,[38] but a knee injury sustained in a league match led to him withdrawing from the England squad to faceLuxembourg. Further investigation revealed he had damagedcartilage in his knee, which required an operation.[39] Having had three weeks' recuperation and acortisone injection, he was restored to the Ipswich squad in time to play in the third roundUEFA Cup home leg againstFC Barcelona. Ipswich won the fixture 3–0,[40] and even though he suffered a reaction in his knee, he insisted he was able to play in the away leg. Robson disagreed, and Beattie was left out of the side for the game; Ipswich were knocked out on penalties.[41] Cortisone injections became commonplace for Beattie, who returned to the team in time for theFA Cup fourth-round victory againstHartlepool.[42] Although Ipswich's form in the league was poor, they were safe fromrelegation by the time they faced West Bromwich Albion in the FA Cup semi-final atHighbury, a game for which Beattie was given the all-clear.[42] A 3–1 victory saw Ipswich into the final, yet the next day his knee was once again swollen and his participation inthe final was in jeopardy.[43] According to Beattie, "the boss secretly told me that if I felt fit enough to play then I was in".[44] Robson did not announce the Cup final team until the last minute: it included a formation change to include five midfielders andPaul Mariner as a lone striker – and Beattie in defence.[45]Roger Osborne's late goal for Ipswich was the only score of the game, and they won the trophy.[46] Beattie had three cortisone injections to get through the final.[47] Following the cup final success, he and teammatesRobin Turner andDavid Geddis were awarded thefreedom of Carlisle.[48] Beattie had represented Ipswich 21 times during the course of the season, without scoring a goal.[25]
Shortly into the1978–79 season, Beattie suffered problems with his other knee. Two further operations followed, and he was confined to treatment and physiotherapy,[49] only, in his words, "wheeled out for the really big games".[50] Overall, he made 26 appearances that season, scoring twice.[25] The1979–80 season saw him make just 12 appearances, twice as substitute, and score twice, as his post-match recuperation took weeks, not days.[25][51] He also played a "bit-part" in the1980–81 season, usually as a striker instead of his usual position of centre-half. However, his defensive role in the two-leg victory over theCzechoslovakian teamBohemians, in the second round of the1980–81 UEFA Cup, for which he was awarded man of the match, proved vital to Ipswich's season.[52] Although irregularly selected as a result of his injuries, Beattie played in the fourth round, first leg 4–1 away victory overAS Saint-Étienne, whose team includedMichel Platini andJohnny Rep.[53] Ipswich won the home leg 3–1 without Beattie.[54] He played his last match for Ipswich in April 1981, in an FA Cup semi-final loss toManchester City in which he broke his arm.[55] Ipswich won theUEFA Cup at the end of the season, but Beattie was not presented with a winner's medal as he did not play in the final or even appear on the bench, through injury; 26 years later, a petition was organised by Rob Finch, the writer of Beattie's 2007 biographyThe Greatest Footballer England Never Had, calling on UEFA to right the wrong.[56] Beattie was finally awarded a medal by UEFA presidentMichel Platini at the2008 UEFA Cup Final betweenRangers andZenit Saint Petersburg.[57]
Beattie retired due to injury in December 1981,[58] following five knee operations in four years.[26] Histestimonial game took place in March 1982, against aDynamo Moscow XI.[59][60]
In theoff-season of 1982, Beattie began training with Norwich City under managerKen Brown who offered him a short-term contract.[61] The offer was soon withdrawn because Ipswich were reluctant to release Beattie totheir local rivals.[61] Instead, he joined anotherEast Anglian team,Colchester United, whose player-manager was Allan Hunter, a former team-mate of Beattie.[61] Beattie made six appearances for the club,[62] four of those in the league,[63] but when teammateJohn Lyons committed suicide, Hunter resigned,[64] and Beattie decided to move on. He signed forMiddlesbrough, where he made five appearances duringthat season, scoring once, a penalty, in a 2–0 FA Cup victory overNotts County.[65] His time at the club ended when he suffered a serious groin injury whilst playing against north-east rivalsNewcastle United.[66]
Dropping intonon-League football, Beattie signed forBarry Fry'sBarnet, joining another ex-England international,Steve Whitworth.[67] Injury and, according to Beattie, "a combination of the drink and depression" curtailed his spell at the club.[68] After failing to secure any coaching work, Beattie took up work as a labourer, and joined local teamHarwich & Parkeston to supplement his income.[69] Accepting an offer from Ipswich's former scout Ron Gray, Beattie joined Swedish second-tier sideSandvikens IF under manager and formerSwedish international player,Thomas Nordahl.[70] Soon afterward, Nordahl suddenly resigned and the club let Beattie go. He moved to Norway, signing for fourth division clubKongsberg IF, where he scored more than 60 goals in his first season.[71] He signed for Norwegian second division clubNybergsund IL-Trysil in 1988, making five appearances for them before moving back to England.[72][73] He also played forClacton Town.[18][74] He assistedMike Walker andDuncan Forbes at Norwich City as ascout during Walker's time as manager and performed a similar role forAlan Ball Jr. atPortsmouth.[75] Beattie's first foray into coaching was a part-time position at his hometown club Carlisle United underRoddy Collins in the 2002–03 season.[76][77] Collins was sacked early in the 2003–04 season,[78] and Beattie left the club, subsequently opting to coach school children in the United States.[79] His last coaching position was a short spell with Barry Fry atPeterborough United.[79]
Former Ipswich manager and then-England managerAlf Ramsey selected Beattie to represent theEngland under-23 team during the 1972–73 English domestic season.[80] He made his debut in November 1972 againstWales under-23s atVetch Field in Swansea, England winning 3–0.[81] His final under-23 game also saw his only goal at that level, in a 2–0 victory, once again over Wales, this time at theRacecourse Ground in Wrexham.[81]
Beattie's senior England debut came underDon Revie, a starting role in a 5–0 victory overCyprus atWembley in April 1975, especially notable forMalcolm Macdonald scoring all five goals.[26][55] Beattie managed to put the ball in the net, but the goal was disallowed for a foul on the goalkeeper;[16] ultimately, the only goal he scored for his country was in May 1975, during a 5–1 victory overScotland in the1974–75 British Home Championship.[82]Perry Groves, who played alongside Beattie at Colchester United,[16] describes how Beattie, ostensibly playing at left-back, emerged to meet a cross fromKevin Keegan, beat two Scottish defenders and "looped a great header" into the goal, voted one of the top 50 goals England have scored.[16] His final game for England was in October 1977 againstLuxembourg in a qualification match for the1978 FIFA World Cup.[55] In total, he earned ninecaps between 1975 and 1977, scoring once.[83]
Beattie was renowned for his strength, the nickname "Beast" reflecting that, but also his quality on the ball (with the resultant other nickname of "Diamond").[84] Robson described him as "the quickest defender I ever saw ... with a left foot like a howitzer".[84] Perry Groves noted that Beattie's only shortcoming appeared to be his inability to throw the ball far. When Beattie arrived at Colchester, "into his thirties" and with his knees "all shot", "he was still the quickest player at the club over ten yards by a long way."[16] Groves recalls Robson's summary of Beattie's strengths as a player:
What a player the boy was ... He could climb higher than the crossbar and still head the ball down. He had the sweetest left foot I've ever seen and could hit 60-yard passes, without looking, that eliminated six opposition players from the game. He had the strength of a tank, was lightning quick and he could tackle.[16]
During his years with Ipswich, Beattie formed a central defensive partnership with Allan Hunter. Robson described them as 'Bacon and eggs'.[85] Interviewed in 2018, Hunter talked about their partnership:
we just gelled and if I went and done things to attack the ball he was always behind me – and vice-versa. We didn't need to work at it because it was something that came naturally ... We were just a good partnership ... me and Beat would be sitting on the other side of a room from each other and we would know what the other was thinking because there were times I would, or he would, burst out laughing and the boys would say, what you bloody laughing at? And we would say "mind your own business" ... It helped on the field because we didn't even have to talk because we knew each other's play.[85]
In December 1974, Beattie was involved in an incident that prompted newspaper headlines across the quality andtabloid press.[86] Called up to represent England at under-23 level againstScotland under-23s atPittodrie,[87] Beattie was "put on the right train by his manager Bobby Robson", yet failed to arrive inManchester.[86] That Beattie was "found" playingdominoes with his father in a pub in Carlisle helped substantiate the story, although England manager Don Revie sent Beattie a telegram wishing him a happy birthday, the following day.[86] Groves' account, 30 years later, is that when Beattie's train pulled intoCarlisle station, he saw the name, felt homesick and went to visit his father.[16] Media coverage at the time ascribed Beattie's lapses to pressure; factors cited included his then four-week-old daughter, his rags-to-riches climb and a virus.[86] Subsequent reports that he then missed training for Ipswich, allegedly preferring to stay in bed when passed fit by the club doctor, fuelled the story further.[86] Ipswich suspended him for one match.[86]
Beattie accepted a lit cigarette from a fan and smoked it whilst collecting hisFA Cup winner's medal in 1978.[16] According to Groves, Beattie smoked 20 cigarettes a day for the duration of his playing career; he also missed part of pre-season for Colchester because he "strained too much" while defecating, resulting in a pulled stomach muscle.[16]
Beattie was unemployed on several occasions after finishing his playing career. Groves writes about how the unemployment office where Beattie would sign on was so close to Ipswich's home ground that he would see players arriving in their "flash motors", while he signed autographs.[16] After running apub,[2] he began drinking very heavily and was on one occasion given thelast rites when hispancreas "packed up".[16][88] He considered suicide,[88] but was able to care for his wife who was seriously unwell, and, according to Groves, managed to get "his life back on the right track".[16] Nonetheless, Beattie became impoverished, and despite receiving £50,000 from atestimonial match organised by Ipswich Town, he depended on financial help from the PFA.[3] In later years, Beattie worked for broadcast media;[26] he commented on football forBBC Radio Suffolk until the day before his death.[89] He also co-wrote his autobiography,The Beat, published in 1998.[90] In May 2012, Beattie was convicted ofbenefit fraud and given a 12-week curfew.[91] He had failed to disclose his earnings from radio, for fear of losingIncome Support.[3] He later apologised and described it as a "silly mistake".[92]
Beattie met his future wife Margaret Boldy, known as Maggie, in the late 1960s or early 1970s in a youth club near to his apprentice accommodation, Beattie describing it as "love at first sight".[93] They married in 1974, and soon afterward she appeared inRadio Times in a "Footballers' Wives" feature; at that point the couple were still living in a "modest" club-owned house.[94] Maggie was diagnosed withmultiple sclerosis during the mid-1980s; she was later confined to a wheelchair,[95] with Beattie as her carer in their council-owned bungalow.[90] They had three daughters, Emma, Sarah and Louise.[95]
His playing career injuries gave Beattie difficulties in later life: by the time he was 53 he was "unable to walk more than half a mile", owing to thearthritis in his knees.[2] He refused to bow to his difficulties: "Maggie, bless her, never complains", he said to aDaily Telegraph reporter, "so why should I feel any anger at how life turned out?".[2] On 16 September 2018, Beattie died of a suspected heart attack at the age of 64.[89] He was survived by his wife and daughters.[3] His funeral was held at the crematorium atNacton on 26 October 2018.[96] Former Ipswich and England playerTerry Butcher paid tribute to Beattie, calling him "the complete footballer" and describing his left-footed shot as an "Exocet".[90]George Burley referred to Beattie as "a legend", whileJohn Wark, whose nickname for Beattie was "Monster", described him as the best-ever Ipswich player.[90]
Beattie was once described by Bobby Robson as the best England player he had seen,[91] and that he could have rivalled Duncan Edwards.[84] Beattie was inducted into theIpswich Town Hall of Fame in 2008,[97] was voted numerous times as Ipswich Town's "best ever player",[55] and features as one of Perry Groves' 20 "Football Heroes" in a book published in 2009.[16]
Along with some of his Ipswich teammates,[98] Beattie featured in the 1981 filmEscape to Victory. His skills were shown on the pitch as thebody double forMichael Caine's prisoner-of-war character, and the two became friends.[84] Beattie had a cooler relationship withSylvester Stallone, who also starred in the film: "There weren't too many that got on that well with him and after I beat him in an arm wrestle – first my right arm and then my left – he didn't speak to me again".[84] A campaign for a permanent memorial to Beattie to be placed outside Portman Road, along with the existing statues of Robson and Ramsey, was started soon after his death byIpswich Star andEast Anglian Daily Times editor Brad Jones.[99] The design for the statue was revealed on 19 March 2019 by local sculptorSean Hedges-Quinn.[100] It was confirmed in August 2019 that the funds required to build the statue had been raised.[101] On 18 December 2021, on what would have been Beattie's 68th birthday, his statue was officially unveiled outside Portman Road.[102]
Ipswich Town
Individual
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