George Eastham: Difference between revisions
he is a former footballer, but not formerly english. also, the post-eastham system was not a free market, though definitely a freer one |
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[[Image:Eastham winner leaguecup1972.JPG|thumb|right|230px|George Eastham scoring the winning goal in Stoke's 2–1 win against [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]] in the [[1972 Football League Cup Final]].]] |
[[Image:Eastham winner leaguecup1972.JPG|thumb|right|230px|George Eastham scoring the winning goal in Stoke's 2–1 win against [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]] in the [[1972 Football League Cup Final]].]] |
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Eastham spent the next eight seasons at Stoke City, |
Eastham was purchased by Stoke City manager, [[Tony Waddington]], for a fee of £35,000, prior to the start of the [[1966-67 in English football|1966–67 season]]. Eastham spent the next eight seasons at Stoke City, during which the club maintained their status in the First Division. He won the [[Football League Cup|League Cup]] in [[1971-72 in English football|1971-72]], scoring the winning goal in the [[1972 Football League Cup Final|final]] against [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]], which finished 2–1. At the age of 35 years 161 days, he became the oldest player to receive a winner's medal.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stokecityfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/HallOfFame/0,,10310~401797,00.html|title=George Eastham, OBE|accessdate=2007-12-28|date=[[2007-07-10]]|work=Stoke City F.C.}}</ref> He was also a beaten [[FA Cup]] semi-finalist in successive seasons ([[1970-71 in English football|1970-71]] and [[1971-72 in English football|1971-72]]) — both times in replays and both times by his former club Arsenal. Eastham also represented Stoke at European level, playing in the [[UEFA Cup 1972-73|1972–73]] UEFA Cup; the first time the club had competed at European level in its history. In the first round, Stoke played [[1. FC Kaiserslautern|Kaiserslautern]] of [[Germany]] but lost 5–3 on [[Two-legged match|aggregate]] and were knocked out of the competition in the process.<ref>{{cite book |last=Matthews |first=Tony |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=A-Z of Stoke City |year=1997 |publisher=The Breedon Books Publishing Company Limited |location= |isbn=1 85983 100 1 | pages =234|chapter=UEFA Cup }}</ref> |
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During 1971, Eastham took a break from playing in order to develop his coaching ability. He embarked on a trip to South Africa, playing on loan with [[Ajax Cape Town FC|Cape Town Spurs]] and then having a spell as player-manager of Hellenic, before returning to Stoke in October 1971.<ref name="stoke az eastham">{{cite book |last=Matthews |first=Tony |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=A-Z of Stoke City |year=|publisher=|location= |isbn=| pages =78-79|chapter=Eastham, George Edward, OBE }}</ref> |
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==Managerial career== |
==Managerial career== |
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Revision as of 17:20, 28 December 2007
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | George Edward Eastham | ||
| Position(s) | Inside forward, Midfielder | ||
George Edward Eastham OBE (born September 23, 1936 in Blackpool, Lancashire) is an English former footballer. He is known for playing for Newcastle United, Arsenal and Stoke City, as well as a non-playing member of England's 1966 World Cup-winning squad. However, he is also notable for his involvement in a 1963 court case which proved a landmark in improving players' freedom to move between clubs.
Playing career
Newcastle United
Eastham was part of a footballing family — his father George R. Eastham was an England international who played for Bolton Wanderers and Blackpool, while his uncle Harry Eastham played for Liverpool and Accrington Stanley.
Eastham junior first played for Northern Irish club Ards, where his father was player-manager, and the two played together on the pitch. A skilful midfielder/inside forward, he was signed by Newcastle United in 1956, and made his debut against Luton Town on October 6 1956, in a match which finished 2-2. He spent four seasons with the Magpies and during his time there he won caps for the Football League and the England U23 side. He played 125 games for Newcastle, scoring 34 goals,[1] their best finish during this time being eighth in 1959-60.
However, during his time at Newcastle United Eastham fell out with the club, with Eastham disputing whether the house the club had supplied him was habitable, the unsatisfactory secondary job that the club had arranged (as maximum wage rules at the time forbade clubs from paying the market rate) and their attempts to stop him playing for the England U23 team. [2] With his contract due to expire soon, in 1959, Eastham refused to sign a new one and requested a transfer. However, Newcastle refused to let Eastham go. At the time, clubs operated a system known as retain-and-transfer, which meant that teams could keep a player's registration (thus preventing them from moving) while refusing to pay them if they had requested a transfer.[3] As Eastham later recounted:[4]
Our contract could bind us to a club for life. Most people called it the "slavery contract". We had virtually no rights at all. It was often the case that the guy on the terrace not only earned more than us — though there's nothing wrong with that — he had more freedom of movement than us. People in business or teaching were able to hand in their notice and move on. We weren't. That was wrong.
Unable to leave, Eastham went on strike at the end of the 1959-60 season, moving south to work for an old family friend, Ernie Clay (who later became chairman of Fulham), selling cork in Guildford, Surrey. Finally in October 1960 Newcastle relented and sold Eastham to Arsenal for £47,500. However, Eastham considered the point fighting for, and backed by the Professional Footballers Association (who provided £15,000 to pay for Eastham's legal fees), he took the club to the High Court in 1963.
In the case, Eastham v. Newcastle United, Eastham argued that it was an unfair restraint of trade, and that Newcastle owed him £400 in unpaid wages and £650 in unpaid bonuses. The judge, Justice Wilberforce, ruled partly in Eastham's favour, stating that the retain-and-transfer system was unreasonable, although he ruled that as Eastham had refused to play for Newcastle, that any payment of wages for the disputed period was at Newcastle's discretion.[5] As a result, although Eastham did not gain personally, he succeeded in reforming the British transfer market. The "retain" element of retain-and-transfer was greatly reduced, providing fairer terms for players looking to re-sign for their clubs, and setting up a transfer tribunal for disputes.[3]
Arsenal
Eastham made his Arsenal debut against Bolton Wanderers on December 10 1960, and scored twice as Arsenal won 5-1.[6] Later on that same season, he scored the equaliser against his former club Newcastle United at St James' Park, in a 3-3 draw, during which he was called "Judas" and pelted with apples.[7] Throughout his six seasons at Arsenal, he was a regular for the side; though not a prolific goalscorer, Eastham was one of the most talented players of what was an average Arsenal side at the time; under George Swindin and Billy Wright, Arsenal never finished higher than 7th during his time there.
Eastham's time at Arsenal was often turbulent; as well as the court case against Newcastle United, he fell out with Arsenal after asking for a pay rise following the maximum wage's abolishment in 1961 (but eventually Arsenal relented and met his demands),[8] and he asked for a transfer after being replaced by Joe Baker up front at the start of the 1962-63 season.[9] However, Billy Wright sought a compromise and eventually restored Eastham to the side, behind Baker; Eastham's form returned, he came off the transfer list and in both 1963-64 and 1964-65 he scored ten goals, the most per season during his Arsenal career, which included two in a 4-4 draw in a memorable North London derby match against Tottenham Hotspur at Highbury in October 1963.
It was at Arsenal that Eastham's international career flourished; he joined the England squad for the 1962 FIFA World Cup as an uncapped player, but did not play in the tournament; his England debut finally came on May 8 1963, against Brazil. His final game for England came in a warmup game for the 1966 FIFA World Cup, against Denmark in Copenhagen on July 3 1966, scoring in a 2-0 win.[10] Eastham was also part of the squad for that tournament, but did not play a single minute of England's win in the tournament. He did not receive a medal at the time, though in 2007 FIFA ruled that medals would be awarded retrospectively for non-playing squad members.[11]
Eastham continued to be a regular and served as Arsenal captain between 1963 and 1966,[6] but Arsenal's declining form — finishing 14th in 1965-66 — led to Wright's dismissal in the summer of 1966. By now Eastham was nearly 30, and the new Arsenal management sought to dismantle Wright's side in favour of younger players. He joined Stoke City in August 1966, having scored 41 goals in 223 matches for the Gunners.[6]
Stoke City
Eastham was purchased by Stoke City manager, Tony Waddington, for a fee of £35,000, prior to the start of the 1966–67 season. Eastham spent the next eight seasons at Stoke City, during which the club maintained their status in the First Division. He won the League Cup in 1971-72, scoring the winning goal in the final against Chelsea, which finished 2–1. At the age of 35 years 161 days, he became the oldest player to receive a winner's medal.[12] He was also a beaten FA Cup semi-finalist in successive seasons (1970-71 and 1971-72) — both times in replays and both times by his former club Arsenal. Eastham also represented Stoke at European level, playing in the 1972–73 UEFA Cup; the first time the club had competed at European level in its history. In the first round, Stoke played Kaiserslautern of Germany but lost 5–3 on aggregate and were knocked out of the competition in the process.[13]
During 1971, Eastham took a break from playing in order to develop his coaching ability. He embarked on a trip to South Africa, playing on loan with Cape Town Spurs and then having a spell as player-manager of Hellenic, before returning to Stoke in October 1971.[14]
He made 194 league appearances for Stoke City in total, ten of them as a substitute, scoring four goals. Eastham retired from playing in 1974, having been awarded the OBE for services to football the previous year.
Managerial career
After retiring as a player, Eastham became Tony Waddington's assistant at Stoke, and succeeded Waddington as Stoke manager after the latter resigned in March 1977. He took over a side depleted of their best players (who had all been sold to alleviate financial problems) and in trouble, and their relegation from the First Division was confirmed while he was in charge, finishing 21st out of 22 in 1976-77. Eastham lasted only ten months, leaving the club in January 1978.
Retirement
After leaving the Stoke job, he quit professional football completely, and emigrated to South Africa in 1978. He set up his own sportswear business as well as being a football coach for local black children (being a noted opponent of Apartheid). He is also chairman of the South African Arsenal Supporters' Club.
Honours
- England
- Stoke City
See also
- Bosman ruling, a 1995 case heard at the European Court of Justice which further extended players' rights to move.
References
- ^ "George Eastham". Newcastle United - a statistical journey. Retrieved 2007-12-24.
- ^ Spurling, Jon (2004). Rebels For The Cause: The Alternative History of Arsenal Football Club. Mainstream. p. p.83. ISBN 0-575400-15-3.
{{cite book}}:|page=has extra text (help) - ^ a b McArdle, David (2000). "One Hundred Years of Servitude: Contractual Conflict in English Professional Football before Bosman". Current Legal Issues.
- ^ Quoted in Spurling (2004). Rebels for the Cause. p. p.81.
{{cite book}}:|page=has extra text (help) - ^ Spurling (2004). Rebels for the Cause. p. p.87-88.
{{cite book}}:|page=has extra text (help) - ^ a b c Harris, Jeff & Hogg, Tony (ed.) (1995). Arsenal Who's Who. Independent UK Sports. p. pp.162-163. ISBN 1-899429-03-4.
{{cite book}}:|author=has generic name (help);|page=has extra text (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Spurling (2004). Rebels for the Cause. p. p.85.
{{cite book}}:|page=has extra text (help) - ^ Spurling (2004). Rebels for the Cause. p. p.86.
{{cite book}}:|page=has extra text (help) - ^ Spurling (2004). Rebels for the Cause. p. p.87.
{{cite book}}:|page=has extra text (help) - ^ "George Eastham jnr : Playing career". TheFA.com. Retrieved 2007-12-23.
- ^ "England squad set for 1966 medals". BBC Sport. 2007-11-26. Retrieved 2007-12-23.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "George Eastham, OBE". Stoke City F.C. 2007-07-10. Retrieved 2007-12-28.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Matthews, Tony (1997). "UEFA Cup". A-Z of Stoke City. The Breedon Books Publishing Company Limited. p. 234. ISBN 1 85983 100 1.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Matthews, Tony. "Eastham, George Edward, OBE". A-Z of Stoke City. pp. 78–79.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help)
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- 1936 births
- People from Blackpool
- Old Arnoldians
- Living people
- English footballers
- Football (soccer) midfielders
- Newcastle United F.C. players
- Arsenal F.C. players
- Stoke City F.C. players
- England international footballers
- FIFA World Cup 1962 players
- FIFA World Cup 1966 players
- FIFA World Cup-winning players
- English football managers
- Stoke City F.C. managers
- Officers of the Order of the British Empire