Gerry Wolstenholme's Blog - Posts Tagged "blackpool-fc"

Samuel Edward (Sammy) Nelson 1924 -2019

Sammy Nelson was born in Belfast on 26 May 1924. Having been a Northern Ireland Schoolboy international, he joined Linfield Swifts for the 1943/44 season as an outside right. With their then strong scouting system Blackpool were alerted to his talent and the club signed him as an amateur in September 1946.
He made his Blackpool debut for the Central League (reserve) side against Wolverhampton Wanderers reserves on 21 September 1946 when Blackpool lost 3 1.By October of 1946 his consistently good displays for the reserve side led to the comment that he 'may be the outside right Blackpool have been hunting for a season and a quarter'. This, of course, was unfortunately not to be the case when Blackpool made their next outside right signing.
He became a regular in the Central League side and scored his first goal for the club in a 4-0 defeat of Leeds United reserves on 2 November 1946.
Injury to Alec Munro gave him his League debut against Blackburn Rovers on 26 December 1946 when Blackpool won 1-0. He went on to play 10 successive games in the outside right position, with Munro, when fit again, moving to inside right.
He ‘played well’ as Blackpool defeated Preston North End 4-0 on 15 February 1947 but, after two successive defeats, 3-0 by Manchester United and 1-0 by Bolton Wanderers on 22 February and 1 March respectively, he was left out of the side while Munro returned to outside right. He returned to Central League action the following week and scored twice in Blackpool’s 11-0 thrashing of Leeds United reserves.
But he did return for one final League game in the 1946/47 season, a 3-2 victory at Grimsby Town on 22 March 1947. He had played 11 games in the First Division in the 1946/47 season and he also played 23 Central League games, scoring five goals.
His Blackpool career was seriously affected when the club signed Stanley Matthews for the 1947/48 season and, consequently, his first team appearances were restricted and, as with so many others later, he played in the League side only as understudy to Matthews.
He missed the opening two games of the 1947/48 season but returned to action, at inside right, in a 2-1 victory over Bury reserves on 30 August 1947. Thereafter he was a regular member of the Central League side until earning a recall to League action.
His first League appearance of the season came against Portsmouth on 18 October 1947 when Matthews was on international duty; Blackpool won the game 1-0. A niggling injury to Matthews gave him two further opportunities when he played in a 2-1 victory over Sheffield United and a 4-0 defeat by Middlesbrough on 15 and 22 November respectively. The latter game was his final League game for Blackpool as Matthews returned to the side.
His final game for the club was in a 2-1 defeat by Bury reserves on 3 January 1948. In addition to the three League games, he played 19 Central League games in which he scored two goals in the 1947/48 season.
Late in 1947 he left his job in Preston, where he worked as a draughtsman, and moved to London to continue his career. Not surprisingly he found travelling back to Blackpool for football rather difficult and he therefore requested a transfer.
Luton Town had been spoken of as being interested in signing him. And the Blackpool directors had sympathy with his situation and he was duly transferred to Luton Town on 9 January 1948. He had played 14 League games and 41 Central League games, scoring seven goals, for Blackpool in his season and a half at Bloomfield Road.
He played four League games, scoring one goal, in the 1947/48 season for Luton Town before retiring to concentrate on his career outside the game.
He died on 15 April 2019.

William (Willie) McGrotty 1952-2020

Willie McGrotty was born in Glasgow on 12 August 1952. After junior football as a forward he joined Scottish junior club Yoker Athletic. With a strong Scottish scouting system in place Blackpool spotted his potential and he was signed by the club as an apprentice professional for a fee of £400 on 22 June 1970. Interestingly, he was the first player to have joined Blackpool from Yoker Athletic since Bobby Finan in August 1933.

Scottish selectors never lost sight of him and in December 1970 he was selected by the Scottish Football Association to attend Scottish Youth team trials.

In one of his first senior games in the Blackpool Central League side, he was introduced as a second half substitute for John McNicholas in the game against Bury reserves on 20 January 1971. And he ‘produced some intelligent distributional and positional play’ as Blackpool won 1-0. In addition he was ‘one of the most impressive players on view’ and the longer term view was ‘He could be a big star of the future for Blackpool.’

He had a number of good games before a critic reported that neither he nor Johnny Johnston ‘shone as they had in recent performances’ in the Central League side as Blackpool lost 4-0 to Newcastle United reserves on 27 March 1971. But overall he maintained his improving reputation and he made his League debut as an 80th-minute substitute for Mickey Burns against Burnley on 10 April 1971 when Blackpool lost 1-0.

The following week he was selected for his first League start in the First Division against Nottingham Forest on 17 April 1971 and on the evening prior to the game he commented, ‘I’m delighted. I don’t feel nervous at the moment but I know I will when I get up in the morning.’ In the game he ‘showed some fine touches’ but the same critic considered he had ‘some way to go yet’. Blackpool lost 3-2 although he did score one of Blackpool’s goals. He played his third League game against Everton on 24 April 1971 but he was replaced by Peter Nicholson in the second half as the game was drawn 0-0.

In the summer of 1971 he was selected for the Blackpool squad that were to compete in the Anglo-Italian Cup Competition and he was in the starting line-up for the opening game of the tournament against Hellas Verona on 26 May 1971. An exciting match was drawn 3-3 as he was replaced late on by Johnny Johnston. He also played in the second game of the tournament against AS Roma on 29 May 1971 when Blackpool lost 3-1 [their only defeat] and he was in the squad, but did not play, that subsequently won the trophy with a 2-1 victory over Bologna in Rome on 12 June 1971.

He had played two League games, made one substitute appearance and scored one goal in the 1970/71 season. He also played two Anglo-Italian Cup games and a number of Central League games.

He could not break into the Blackpool League side in the 1971/72 season but he was a regular member of the Central League side, playing in 37 games, in which he scored 13 goals. He continued in the Central League side in the 1972/73 season and he earned the headlines in the opening Central League game of the season with ‘McGrotty takes his chances’ as he scored in the 80th and 88th minutes to give Blackpool a 2-0 victory over Nottingham Forest reserves on 12 August 1972. And on 25 November 1972, ‘McGrotty, Corrigan and Tully provided flashes of enthusiasm, but they were few and far between’ as Blackpool’s Central League side lost 2-0 to the League leaders Coventry City reserves.

After being out of the League side for almost two years he rather unexpectedly earned a recall when he returned to the side as a substitute for Chris Simpkin in a 2-0 defeat by Orient on 10 February 1973. And, with Blackpool in the Anglo-Italian Cup Competition once more, he returned to the first team squad for the game against Como on 21 March 1973 when Blackpool won 3-0 but he was an unused substitute. He made one substitute appearance in the League and played 30 Central League games, scoring seven goals, in the 1972/73 season. By then his Blackpool career record comprised two League games, plus two substitute appearances in the League, in which he scored one goal. He had also made two appearances in the Anglo-Italian Cup competition as well as playing in more than 75 Central League games.

Blackpool were prepared to release him after the 1972/73 season and he went to Australia where he spent some time with Western Suburbs FC before Blackpool transferred him to Safeway United Soccer Club of the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia, for a fee of £1,000 on 22 May 1973. He went on to play 22 games for Safeway United, scoring seven goals.

After Australia were looking for new blood following their appearance in the 1974 World Cup Finals, he was one of eight new players in a squad of 19 selected in January 1975 for the Socceroos, Australia’s national side. The coach Eric Worthington said at the time, ‘The new boys completely understand that they are going along for the ride. It is up to them to force their way into final team calculations.’ He did go on to make one substitute appearance for the Socceroos in a game against Legia Warsaw in Brisbane on 12 February 1975.

He later returned to Scotland where he managed a junior side, Mill United in Hamilton.

He died in Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Glasgow on 3 July 2020. Despite his relatively short stay at Bloomfield Road, he will always be remembered in the annals of Blackpool Football Club history.

Patrick (Pat) Quinn 1936-2020

Pat Quinn was born in Glasgow on 26 April 1936 and played his junior football as an inside forward with Bridgeton Waverley. At a young age he was a prodigious talent and he joined Albion Rovers but he had played just two games for them when Motherwell spotted his potential and signed him in December 1955. Joining Motherwell as manager around the same time was Bobby Ancell, who had previously managed Berwick Rangers (then a non-League club) and Dunfermline Athletic, taking the latter club up to the Scottish First Division for the first time in 18 years. Ancell had a reputation for developing young talent and he put his principles into practice and developed a dynamic set of youngsters at Motherwell who were known as the 'Ancell Babes'. Eight of his young side went on to win Scottish international honours.
By October 1960 Blackpool, then bottom of the top flight of English football, were keeping an eye on Ancell’s Motherwell side and wanted to sign one of the inside forward trio, Ian St John, Pat Quinn or John Hunter. However, Motherwell did not want to part with any of their star men and were said to be ‘hanging on’ at that time. But Blackpool’s persistence paid off and Quinn was signed by Blackpool for a then club record fee of £34,000 on 16 November 1962. His weekly wage was agreed at £33 15s 0d [£33.75] with an extra £10 whenever he played in the first team.
He had played 196 League games for Motherwell in which he scored 83 goals and he won the Motherwell Supports Player of the Year Award at the end of the 1960/61 season. He recalled his debut for Motherwell as a substitute against Preston North End with, ‘It was the time before the regular use of substitutes had arrived, we could only use them in friendlies. They nominated me for the floodlit game with Preston. I was petrified. There I was sitting on the bench in voluminous track suit – It could have housed another couple of subs – when Billy Reid was injured, Mr Ancell gave me the nod and I was on! I was so excited. I was told I must have covered every blade of grass that night. Unfortunately we lost 3-2, but playing against Tommy Doherty and Tom Finney was a great experience.’ While with Motherwell he had also won four Scottish international caps between 1961 and 1962, making his debut in the infamous 9-3 Wembley defeat by England in 1961. He had also played six times for the Scottish League XI, for whom he scored one goal.
He made his League debut for Blackpool the day after he signed against Bolton Wanderers on 17 November 1962 [I was there!] and he immediately endeared himself to the crowd by scoring one of Blackpool’s goals in a 3-1 victory.
It was the season of the big freeze so between his debut and 2 March 1963 the club played only seven League games and Quinn scored his second goal in a 2-1 defeat by Liverpool on 15 December 1962. Then on 6 March 1963 he was involved in a controversial incident in a third round FA Cup replay with Norwich City at Bloomfield Road. The game had been postponed 11 times and then, belatedly, the two clubs had drawn the original fixture two days earlier.
With the score at 0-0 he appeared to have given Blackpool the lead when he had the ball in the net. The referee, Ernie Crawford of Doncaster, immediately awarded a goal but protestations from the Norwich players prompted him and his linesman to have a look at the goal net. [I was there, stood right behind the net and there was no doubt that the ball had gone in ... I am, of course, bias!] However, after a lot of pulling at the net, they somehow managed to find a hole in the side netting and eventually decided that the ball had entered the net through this hole and the ‘goal’ was disallowed. The crowd went wild but he later gave Blackpool the lead when he ‘timed Ray Parry’s excellent cross perfectly to ram the ball home’ it looked as though justice had been done. But Norwich equalised with four minutes remaining and went on to controversially win 3-1 after extra time.
After the match Quinn said of the disallowed effort, ‘The only time the ball touched the netting was after it had come to rest in the far wall of the goal. I saw the goalkeeper Sandy Kennon standing by the near post, swaying outwards as if expecting a centre, so I decided to try a shot. The ball hit the outside edge of the post, struck Kennon’s knee, dropped to the ground in the goalmouth and spun off the mud into the far wall of the net. Only when the referee awarded a goal did Kennon and others start tugging at the net to show a hole in it.’
The League season restarted in earnest after the Cup tie and Quinn played a starring role as Blackpool climbed out of the relegation zone to finish in a respectable 12th position in the table. Towards the end of the season he was hugely influential in the club winning four successive League games scoring 16 goals in the process, defeating Birmingham City 6-3, Blackburn Rovers 4-1, Arsenal 3-2 and Manchester City 3-0. And he finished his first season at the club having played 25 League games, scoring eight goals, and two FA Cup ties, scoring one goal.
He began the 1963/64 season in style with one of Blackpool’s goals in the opening day 2-2 draw with Sheffield United and he went on to appear in the first nine games. However, he was moved to inside left for the final two of those games because a certain Alan Ball finally broke through to the League side so he took the inside right spot. After two games at inside left, Quinn was left out of the side.
What turned out to be his final League game for Blackpool was against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 21 September 1963 when Blackpool lost 2-1 and then he was rested after what was said to be a disappointing run of ‘on off form’. He was philosophical about his exclusion from the first team, stated that he was well aware of his jaded form and announced that he was determined to ‘get back into top gear’ as soon as possible. And he made his first appearance in the Central League side against Bury reserves on 4 October 1963 when Blackpool won 2-1. He was also in the Central League side that drew 2-2 with Burnley reserves on 8 October 1963.
Hibernian noticed that he was out of favour at Bloomfield Road and they came in with an offer of £25,000 for his transfer. Blackpool agreed the sum and he joined Hibernian on 10 October 1963. Up to that point he had played nine League games, scoring one goal, and two Central League games in the 1963/64 season; his total Blackpool appearances were 34 League games, scoring nine goals, two FA Cup ties, scoring one goal, and two Central League games.
In September 1964 there were strong rumours that Hibernian were going to transfer him to Ipswich Town but they proved to be false and he became a key man, on the right wing, in the club’s revival in March 1965. After playing 131 League games and scoring 19 goals, in addition to being Hibernian’s first-ever used substitute against Clyde in November 1966 and also scoring a marvellous goal in a 5-0 demolition of Napoli in the Inter-City Fairs Cup when Hibernian were 4-1 down from the first leg, he was transferred to East Fife, where he eventually took over as player-manager and the club won promotion from the Scottish Second Division. He played 64 games for East Fife in which he scored six goals.
In March 1974 he joined Icelandic club Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar as manager and he led the club to the Icelandic First Division after they had been out of the top flight for 10 years. He later said of his time in Iceland, ‘Our season extended from March 1974 to October 1974. It was a marvellous experience. The Icelanders are a wonderful nation. The hospitality was the finest I have ever experienced. They asked me to stay but I wanted to go back home. I was invited to go back the following year. They offered me excellent conditions but I had to reluctantly turn them down.’
In 1980 he became coach at Partick Thistle and assistant-manager to Bertie Auld. Interestingly all the Partick Thistle players were part-time and Pat Quinn acted in a part-time capacity as coach while pursuing his full-time job as a caretaker with the Sighthill Youth Centre in Glasgow. He later spent some time coaching at Hibernian, Motherwell and Hamilton Academical.
Commenting on his time in football in December 1976 he said, ‘Looking back on these years with Motherwell, they were among the happiest in my playing career. Motherwell and good football were synonymous with the result that we drew crowds everywhere. The understanding in all departments of the side was a sheer delight and I get great pleasure thinking back on the fact that I was a member of the team.’
Of his move to Bloomfield Road he said, ‘It was great to sample First Division football for the first time. I was particularly pleased to find among my club mates at that time John McPhee, who had been a colleague at Motherwell. The Blackpool team included Jimmy Armfield, the present Leeds United manager. He was skipper of the side. Big Tony Waiters, the current Plymouth Argyle boss, was in goal. A fellow Scot in Billy Cranston also played at that time and I can also vividly recall such dandy forwards as Alan Ball, Ray Charnley and Ray Parry. During season 1962/63 I played in 25 First Division matches and scored eight goals. We finished mid-way up the table. I have very happy memories of my stay at Bloomfield Road. I enjoyed it immensely. But Alan Ball was breaking through. We were both very small and it did not look as if the two of us would play in the same side because of our height and build. Ronnie Suart, the then manager, came to me in October 1963 to tell me that Hibs were interested in me and would I be willing to go back home? He also stated that they club were willing to let me and I took the opportunity to join a club which had such a good name in Scotland as Hibs.’
After his season in Iceland he went home. He recalled, ‘I returned to my native Glasgow and in January 1975 Bertie Auld, the Partick Thistle manager, approached me and asked me to join his club as coach to their reserve string. I did so and was delighted when my protégés won the Second Eleven Cup, the national trophy for reserve teams. Last season Thistle’s first team won the First Division championship and the second eleven clinched the Scottish Reserve League championship. Two of my boys have won through to the first team this season in Brian Whittaker and John Marr and I’m delighted. Now I’m coaching the first team and am over the moon. Thistle are a very good club and I’m very happy with them. But I still take an interest in Blackpool and follow their progress avidly. If they go back to the First Division this season – and I sincerely hope they do – nothing will give me greater pleasure. It would be wonderful to see top class football returning to Bloomfield Road next season.’
In later life he was a well-respected and popular member of Bothwell Castle Golf Club for many years. He used to tell members how he would play golf on a Saturday morning at Bothwell before heading off to play in important matches for Motherwell in the afternoon!
Pat Quinn was adored by the fans at all his clubs, especially at Bloomfield Road, and, even though his stay was relatively short, he will be remembered for his silky skills and, of course, by those of us who were there, for his goal that never was! He died on 13 July 2020 and will be sorely missed by family and friends alike.

Eric Brian Peterson 1936 - 2020

Brian Peterson was born in Durban on 29 October 1936 and was an inside forward who was signed by Blackpool on 8 October 1956 from his Berea Park club. He had apparently taken two years to make the decision to leave amateur football in South Africa and a partnership that he had in a sports store. He had started his football career with Berea Park FC but he had moved to Queens Park and made his senior debut at age 17 before returning to his original club. He represented the Natal Province team, playing in a Curry Cup final, and he also toured Australia with a South African representative XI.
After impressive games for the junior teams, Blackpool manager Joe Smith commented in early November 1956, ‘Peterson is a very promising player. He is the brainy type of player who has fine ball control and whose distribution is excellent’ and he added that he expected him soon to be in the Central League side.
After playing a number of games in the ‘A’ team he duly made his Central League debut against Chesterfield reserves on 10 November 1956 as Blackpool won 2-1. He then made his home debut in the Central League side on a cold, miserable afternoon 17 November 1956 against Stoke City reserves when he ‘was always calling for passes in the early minutes’ and ‘when he was given one [he] sent Booth away to shoot out by the far post’ as Blackpool eventually lost 1-0.
His talent was obvious and he was quickly promoted to 12th man for the League side against Chelsea on 1 December 1956 and many shrewd judges considered him another Ernie Taylor in the making. But, after his first taste of the League scene, he returned to play for the ‘A’ team against Everton ‘A’ on 8 December 1956 when Blackpool lost 3-0.
He returned to Central League action against Bolton Wanderers reserves on 22 December 1956 when he ‘made one or two good passes but the mud and slime made no surface for this lightweight’ as Blackpool lost 3-1. He scored his first Central League goal in a 3-2 defeat by Everton reserves on 25 December 1956 and his second Central League goal came when he was ‘sliding the ball past Rainford as the ‘keeper came out’ in a 3-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers reserves on 5 January 1957. He then switched position and made a surprise appearance at outside left against Sheffield Wednesday reserves on 2 March 1957 and he ‘came dangerously near opening his team’s account’ early in the second half but Blackpool lost 3-0 at Hillsborough.
His displays had been watched with interest by Joe Smith and he made his League debut in place of the injured Ernie Taylor against Cardiff City in a 4-3 victory on 9 March 1957. He partnered Stan Matthews on the right flank and it was noted by many a critic that he had not been born when Matthews was making his international debut.
Unfortunately he suffered a cut foot in training during the following week and, along with 10 other players, was declared unfit to play on 16 March 1957. When he recovered he discovered that at the last minute Ernie Taylor had developed a temperature before the game against Chelsea on 13 April 1957 and he was told that he would be in the League team for his second appearance. A Jackie Mudie goal settled the game 1-0 in Blackpool’s favour but Peterson earned the headline PETERSON DOES WELL.
Showing his versatility, for the Good Friday game against Arsenal on 19 April 1957, he switched to inside left to replace David Durie as the game was drawn 1-1. And then he moved to outside right, replacing the unfit Stan Matthews, for the return game against Arsenal on 22 April 1957 when Blackpool lost 4-2. He retained the outside right spot for the final two games of the season, a 2-1 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur on 27 April 1957 and a 1-0 victory over Burnley on 1 May 1957.
After a promising first season he had played in six League games and 12 Central League games, scoring two goals. And the end of season comment was ‘It will be interesting to look forward to the progress which Brian Peterson is expected to make. He arrived here last October almost an unknown South African. He has not stayed unknown for long.’
He returned home in the summer of 1957 to get married but returned to Blackpool for the following season after he had re-signed for the club for the 1957/58 season at terms of £14 per week in the summer and £17 per week in the football season.
He began the 1957/58 season with his first taste of European football when he was at inside left in the side that defeated Sparta Rotterdam 3-2 in a pre-season friendly game in Holland on 14 August 1957. And then after the Tangerines versus Whites practice match on 16 August 1957 the view was he was ‘developing into a footballer of great promise’ as he scored the Whites goal in a 4-1 defeat. But he missed the opening game of the season and then he played his first Central League game of the 1957/58 season against Sheffield United reserves on 26 August 1957 when the game was drawn 1-1.
He quickly earned a League re-call at inside left in place of the injured David Durie for the game against Luton Town on 4 September 1957 when Blackpool lost 2-0. He went on to score his first League goal for the club in the 79th minute in a 3-0 defeat of Sheffield Wednesday on 12 October 1957 when ‘Matthews took a free-kick and swept the ball across the field to the unmarked Peterson. The South African did not dally. Instead he cracked it first time into the left-hand corner of the net. Peterson threw his arms in the air and danced down the pitch. No wonder. It was his first goal in League football since he arrived from South Africa 12 months ago.’
Back in the Central League side on 19 October 1957 he was the provider for two of Ray Charnley’s three goals, hitting the bar for the first when Charnley scored from the rebound and providing the pass for his second as Blackpool defeated Newcastle United reserves 4-3. He replaced the injured Ernie Taylor in the League side against Nottingham Forest on 26 October 1957 when he partnered Stan Matthews who was playing his first game on the City Ground for 25 years! Blackpool won 2-1.
He scored a 54th-minute winner in the 2-1 victory over Chelsea on 2 November 1957 when overall he ‘did some good things’. He played his first game In the FA Cup in the third round against West Ham United on 4 January 1958 and although Blackpool took the lead in two minutes, they lost 5-1.
Then out of the blue Blackpool were hit with a bombshell when, on 27 January 1958 manager Joe Smith reported that Peterson had told him that he wanted to return to South Africa. But for the immediate future no movement took place.
Following an injury to Stan Matthews at Chelsea on 15 March 1958, Peterson replaced him at outside right for the game against Birmingham City on 22 March 1958. Blackpool went into half time at 2-2 and went on to win 4-2.
He continued at outside right in place of Matthews in a 2-1 defeat by Burnley on 29 March 1958 and his best moment came when he was ‘given an ovation when he cunningly outwitted Winton, but his curling centre was coolly anticipated by McDonald, who pulled down the ball by the right hand post’. Then, after injury ruled him out for a couple of games he returned at outside right for the 2-1 defeat by Preston North End on 7 April.
He created the opening goal for Bill Perry in a 2-1 victory over Portsmouth on 13 April 1958 and he was at outside right for the last game of the season against Tottenham Hotspur on 26 April 1958 because Stan Matthews was unavailable. Blackpool lost 2-1 with an all-South African right wing as Peter Hauser joined Peterson and both were involved in Blackpool’s late consolation goal. His 1957/58 season was a successful one as he played in 26 League games, scoring four goals, one FA Cup tie and 11 Central League games, scoring one goal. He also played in two friendly games.
Although he was due to return to South Africa in May 1958, on 18 April 1958 Blackpool offered him terms for the 1958/59 season. A spokesman for the club said, ‘Although Peterson has announced he is going home, there is nothing to prevent us from offering him terms just in case he changes his mind.’ And on 8 May 1958 he did return to his homeland. Many Blackpool supporters, disappointed at his return home, were worried that he would never return to play for the club especially when they heard that he had been reinstated as an amateur with Berea Park in the Durban League.
Fortunately he returned to Blackpool in November 1958 having sold his interest in the sports outfitters and he was re-signed by Blackpool on 1 December 1958 at a weekly wage of £17 out of season and £20 during the season. He was back in training with the team the day after he arrived in Blackpool. He commented, ‘It is wonderful to be back.’ And
he was back in Central League action against Sheffield Wednesday reserves on 13 December 1958 when he ‘distributed one or two neat passes’ as Blackpool lost 3-1.
His long awaited return to League action came against Nottingham Forest on 21 February 1959 when Blackpool won 1-0. And he went on to play 13 League games, scoring one goal, 10 Central League games and one friendly game for Blackpool in his first season back at Bloomfield Road.
In the close season Blackpool fulfilled their obligation to Tranmere Rovers by playing a friendly game at Prenton Park on 27 April 1959 in respect of the transfer of Johnny Green. Green scored Blackpool’s goal in a 2-1 defeat for the Seasiders and the programme noted, ‘Prenton Park fans will be able to assess the tremendous potential of the Maestro’s deputy, Brian Peterson, who returned from South Africa last autumn and now bids fair to create as big a stir in English football as his country-man, Bill Perry, on the opposite wing.’ That potential was recognised when Blackpool revised his terms for 1959/60 and the following season when he was to earn £16 per week out of season and £19 per week during the season.
After three games of the 1959/60 season, two of which were won, he was left out of the side after, in his own words ‘three bad games on the trot’. He duly returned to Central League action against Huddersfield Town reserves on 2 September 1959 and he scored Blackpool’s goal in a 1-1 draw. After missing four League games he returned to action in a 5-3 victory over Leicester City on 14 September and he remained in the side for a run of eight games before a niggling injury saw him sidelined for three games. He returned and showed good form in a 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur on 28 November and he looked set to retain his place for the remainder of the season.
Sadly he broke down on 9 January 1960 after 30 minutes of the FA Cup tie against Mansfield Town but ten-man Blackpool went on to win 3-0. He was diagnosed as having cartilage trouble and he was sidelined for a long time. His season was virtually finished and although he tried a comeback in the Central League side against Manchester United reserves on 5 March 1960, he was unable to play again and after the one game, that Blackpool lost 2-1, he had to have further operations. Nevertheless he played 18 League games, scoring two goals, one FA Cup tie, five Central League games, scoring three goals, and one friendly game for Blackpool in the 1959/60 season.
To aid his comeback, he began the 1960/61 season playing junior football in the ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams where he ‘took things cautiously’. And he began his senior comeback in the Central League side on 1 October 1960 against Preston North End reserves when Blackpool won 1-0. He came through that game unscathed and he returned to the first team on 5 October 1960 for the League Cup tie replay with Leeds United when Blackpool lost 3-1 after extra time. But he aggravated the injury and he was out for the next game.
At the end of October a specialist advised him that he would be out until the following February, possibly until the start of the following season but he did stress that he would play again before the season ended.
It looked likely to be a Happy New Year for him when he visited a specialist in December 1960 and got an encouraging report on the right knee injury that had sidelined him for virtually 12 months. He was expected to be fit to challenge for a first team place early in 1961. And so it was as he made an unexpected comeback in the Central League side on 7 January 1961, a year after his injury, in a 4-0 victory over Chesterfield reserves.
After three successive Central League games, he returned to the League side on 11 February 1961 in 2-2 draw with Chelsea. He was back to full fitness and played every game thereafter until the end of the season and he regularly received good reports such as
at Cardiff City on 24 March 1961 when one critic reported, ‘Brian Peterson and Ray Parry [were] working hard and demonstrating ball control of a high order’ as Blackpool won the game 2-0 to ease their relegation fears. He finished the season having played 16 League games, scoring two goals, one League Cup tie, four Central League games and one friendly game.
He was rewarded for his hard work in recovering from injury by being given revised terms for the 1961/62 season. He was to receive £24 per week plus an extra £5 when he played in the League side. And he began earning that bonus immediately as he started the season at inside right in the League side, playing in the opening game, a 2-1 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur on 19 August 1961. And in the second game of the season against Blackburn Rovers on 21 August he scored one of the goals in Blackpool’s 2-1 victory. He moved to outside right for three games before a minor injury interrupted his season and he missed a couple of games.
He returned to action with a goal in a 4-0 defeat of Chelsea on 30 September and then after a 3-0 defeat at Arsenal (Stan Matthews’ last game for the club and a game that I attended at Highbury) he scored again in a 2-1 defeat of Bolton Wanderers on 14 October. Then after injury sidelined him once more for two games he returned with a goal in a 4-2 defeat of Manchester City on 2 December 1961. He scored again in the following game, a 2-2 draw with West Bromwich Albion on 9 December but after he scored Blackpool’s consolation goal in a 2-1 defeat by Sheffield United on 26 December, he was out of the side once more.
He returned to the League side for a single game, a 1-0 defeat by Arsenal on 24 February 1962 before in a Central League game against Derby County reserves on 17 March 1962 he appeared in the unfamiliar position of right half and he ‘revealed, now and again, the class which is in him as a wing half, but he was in and out, too’. Blackpool lost 2-1.
On 30 March and 3 April he played a couple of games at inside left, a 2-2 draw with Everton, in which he scored one of Blackpool’s goals, and a 2-4 defeat by Sheffield United. Then he played what turned out to be his final League game for Blackpool at inside right against Fulham on 7 April 1962; goals from Ray Charnley and Ray Parry gave Blackpool a 2-1 victory, so he ended on a victorious note.
He did, however, play one further first team game when he played against Norwich City at Carrow Road in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final on 11 April when he scored Blackpool’s goal in a catastrophic 1-4 defeat. He missed the second leg, which Blackpool won 2-0 (it was nail-biting as I was there!).
He ended what was his final season at Bloomfield Road having played 24 League games, scoring seven goals, one FA Cup tie, four League Cup ties, scoring one goal, nine Central League games, scoring three goals, two friendly games, plus making one substitute appearance, scoring one goal.
When the season ended he returned home to South Africa on 28 May 1962, his Blackpool career having encompassed 103 League games, in which he scored 16 goals, three FA Cup ties, five League Cup ties, with one goal, 51 Central League games, with nine goals, and seven friendly games, plus making one appearance as a substitute, scoring one goal.
He was reported as playing well for Durban United with brother Keith in November 1964. And when he left Durban United, he had a short spell with Durban City before retiring from the game. After retirement he worked for 27 years for Foschini, a clothing firm.
He made a welcome return to Bloomfield Road, along with brother Keith, as a guest of the club for the game against Northampton Town on 14 April 2007. And he mingled with supporters and reminisced about the wonderful time that he had had at the club. He had been an integral part of a reasonably successful Blackpool side, having finished in fourth, seventh, eighth, 11th, and 13th position in addition to dramatically fighting to escape relegation in 20th position in 1960/61 in his six seasons at the club.
He died on 21 September 2020 after a short illness. His name will long be remembered as having played a significant part in Blackpool Football Club’s illustrious history.

Eric Brian Peterson 1936 - 2020

Brian Peterson was born in Durban on 29 October 1936 and was an inside forward who was signed by Blackpool on 8 October 1956 from his Berea Park club. He had apparently taken two years to make the decision to leave amateur football in South Africa and a partnership that he had in a sports store. He had started his football career with Berea Park FC but he had moved to Queens Park and made his senior debut at age 17 before returning to his original club. He represented the Natal Province team, playing in a Curry Cup final, and he also toured Australia with a South African representative XI.
After impressive games for the junior teams, Blackpool manager Joe Smith commented in early November 1956, ‘Peterson is a very promising player. He is the brainy type of player who has fine ball control and whose distribution is excellent’ and he added that he expected him soon to be in the Central League side.
After playing a number of games in the ‘A’ team he duly made his Central League debut against Chesterfield reserves on 10 November 1956 as Blackpool won 2-1. He then made his home debut in the Central League side on a cold, miserable afternoon 17 November 1956 against Stoke City reserves when he ‘was always calling for passes in the early minutes’ and ‘when he was given one [he] sent Booth away to shoot out by the far post’ as Blackpool eventually lost 1-0.
His talent was obvious and he was quickly promoted to 12th man for the League side against Chelsea on 1 December 1956 and many shrewd judges considered him another Ernie Taylor in the making. But, after his first taste of the League scene, he returned to play for the ‘A’ team against Everton ‘A’ on 8 December 1956 when Blackpool lost 3-0.
He returned to Central League action against Bolton Wanderers reserves on 22 December 1956 when he ‘made one or two good passes but the mud and slime made no surface for this lightweight’ as Blackpool lost 3-1. He scored his first Central League goal in a 3-2 defeat by Everton reserves on 25 December 1956 and his second Central League goal came when he was ‘sliding the ball past Rainford as the ‘keeper came out’ in a 3-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers reserves on 5 January 1957. He then switched position and made a surprise appearance at outside left against Sheffield Wednesday reserves on 2 March 1957 and he ‘came dangerously near opening his team’s account’ early in the second half but Blackpool lost 3-0 at Hillsborough.
His displays had been watched with interest by Joe Smith and he made his League debut in place of the injured Ernie Taylor against Cardiff City in a 4-3 victory on 9 March 1957. He partnered Stan Matthews on the right flank and it was noted by many a critic that he had not been born when Matthews was making his international debut.
Unfortunately he suffered a cut foot in training during the following week and, along with 10 other players, was declared unfit to play on 16 March 1957. When he recovered he discovered that at the last minute Ernie Taylor had developed a temperature before the game against Chelsea on 13 April 1957 and he was told that he would be in the League team for his second appearance. A Jackie Mudie goal settled the game 1-0 in Blackpool’s favour but Peterson earned the headline PETERSON DOES WELL.
Showing his versatility, for the Good Friday game against Arsenal on 19 April 1957, he switched to inside left to replace David Durie as the game was drawn 1-1. And then he moved to outside right, replacing the unfit Stan Matthews, for the return game against Arsenal on 22 April 1957 when Blackpool lost 4-2. He retained the outside right spot for the final two games of the season, a 2-1 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur on 27 April 1957 and a 1-0 victory over Burnley on 1 May 1957.
After a promising first season he had played in six League games and 12 Central League games, scoring two goals. And the end of season comment was ‘It will be interesting to look forward to the progress which Brian Peterson is expected to make. He arrived here last October almost an unknown South African. He has not stayed unknown for long.’
He returned home in the summer of 1957 to get married but returned to Blackpool for the following season after he had re-signed for the club for the 1957/58 season at terms of £14 per week in the summer and £17 per week in the football season.
He began the 1957/58 season with his first taste of European football when he was at inside left in the side that defeated Sparta Rotterdam 3-2 in a pre-season friendly game in Holland on 14 August 1957. And then after the Tangerines versus Whites practice match on 16 August 1957 the view was he was ‘developing into a footballer of great promise’ as he scored the Whites goal in a 4-1 defeat. But he missed the opening game of the season and then he played his first Central League game of the 1957/58 season against Sheffield United reserves on 26 August 1957 when the game was drawn 1-1.
He quickly earned a League re-call at inside left in place of the injured David Durie for the game against Luton Town on 4 September 1957 when Blackpool lost 2-0. He went on to score his first League goal for the club in the 79th minute in a 3-0 defeat of Sheffield Wednesday on 12 October 1957 when ‘Matthews took a free-kick and swept the ball across the field to the unmarked Peterson. The South African did not dally. Instead he cracked it first time into the left-hand corner of the net. Peterson threw his arms in the air and danced down the pitch. No wonder. It was his first goal in League football since he arrived from South Africa 12 months ago.’
Back in the Central League side on 19 October 1957 he was the provider for two of Ray Charnley’s three goals, hitting the bar for the first when Charnley scored from the rebound and providing the pass for his second as Blackpool defeated Newcastle United reserves 4-3. He replaced the injured Ernie Taylor in the League side against Nottingham Forest on 26 October 1957 when he partnered Stan Matthews who was playing his first game on the City Ground for 25 years! Blackpool won 2-1.
He scored a 54th-minute winner in the 2-1 victory over Chelsea on 2 November 1957 when overall he ‘did some good things’. He played his first game In the FA Cup in the third round against West Ham United on 4 January 1958 and although Blackpool took the lead in two minutes, they lost 5-1.
Then out of the blue Blackpool were hit with a bombshell when, on 27 January 1958 manager Joe Smith reported that Peterson had told him that he wanted to return to South Africa. But for the immediate future no movement took place.
Following an injury to Stan Matthews at Chelsea on 15 March 1958, Peterson replaced him at outside right for the game against Birmingham City on 22 March 1958. Blackpool went into half time at 2-2 and went on to win 4-2.
He continued at outside right in place of Matthews in a 2-1 defeat by Burnley on 29 March 1958 and his best moment came when he was ‘given an ovation when he cunningly outwitted Winton, but his curling centre was coolly anticipated by McDonald, who pulled down the ball by the right hand post’. Then, after injury ruled him out for a couple of games he returned at outside right for the 2-1 defeat by Preston North End on 7 April.
He created the opening goal for Bill Perry in a 2-1 victory over Portsmouth on 13 April 1958 and he was at outside right for the last game of the season against Tottenham Hotspur on 26 April 1958 because Stan Matthews was unavailable. Blackpool lost 2-1 with an all-South African right wing as Peter Hauser joined Peterson and both were involved in Blackpool’s late consolation goal. His 1957/58 season was a successful one as he played in 26 League games, scoring four goals, one FA Cup tie and 11 Central League games, scoring one goal. He also played in two friendly games.
Although he was due to return to South Africa in May 1958, on 18 April 1958 Blackpool offered him terms for the 1958/59 season. A spokesman for the club said, ‘Although Peterson has announced he is going home, there is nothing to prevent us from offering him terms just in case he changes his mind.’ And on 8 May 1958 he did return to his homeland. Many Blackpool supporters, disappointed at his return home, were worried that he would never return to play for the club especially when they heard that he had been reinstated as an amateur with Berea Park in the Durban League.
Fortunately he returned to Blackpool in November 1958 having sold his interest in the sports outfitters and he was re-signed by Blackpool on 1 December 1958 at a weekly wage of £17 out of season and £20 during the season. He was back in training with the team the day after he arrived in Blackpool. He commented, ‘It is wonderful to be back.’ And
he was back in Central League action against Sheffield Wednesday reserves on 13 December 1958 when he ‘distributed one or two neat passes’ as Blackpool lost 3-1.
His long awaited return to League action came against Nottingham Forest on 21 February 1959 when Blackpool won 1-0. And he went on to play 13 League games, scoring one goal, 10 Central League games and one friendly game for Blackpool in his first season back at Bloomfield Road.
In the close season Blackpool fulfilled their obligation to Tranmere Rovers by playing a friendly game at Prenton Park on 27 April 1959 in respect of the transfer of Johnny Green. Green scored Blackpool’s goal in a 2-1 defeat for the Seasiders and the programme noted, ‘Prenton Park fans will be able to assess the tremendous potential of the Maestro’s deputy, Brian Peterson, who returned from South Africa last autumn and now bids fair to create as big a stir in English football as his country-man, Bill Perry, on the opposite wing.’ That potential was recognised when Blackpool revised his terms for 1959/60 and the following season when he was to earn £16 per week out of season and £19 per week during the season.
After three games of the 1959/60 season, two of which were won, he was left out of the side after, in his own words ‘three bad games on the trot’. He duly returned to Central League action against Huddersfield Town reserves on 2 September 1959 and he scored Blackpool’s goal in a 1-1 draw. After missing four League games he returned to action in a 5-3 victory over Leicester City on 14 September and he remained in the side for a run of eight games before a niggling injury saw him sidelined for three games. He returned and showed good form in a 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur on 28 November and he looked set to retain his place for the remainder of the season.
Sadly he broke down on 9 January 1960 after 30 minutes of the FA Cup tie against Mansfield Town but ten-man Blackpool went on to win 3-0. He was diagnosed as having cartilage trouble and he was sidelined for a long time. His season was virtually finished and although he tried a comeback in the Central League side against Manchester United reserves on 5 March 1960, he was unable to play again and after the one game, that Blackpool lost 2-1, he had to have further operations. Nevertheless he played 18 League games, scoring two goals, one FA Cup tie, five Central League games, scoring three goals, and one friendly game for Blackpool in the 1959/60 season.
To aid his comeback, he began the 1960/61 season playing junior football in the ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams where he ‘took things cautiously’. And he began his senior comeback in the Central League side on 1 October 1960 against Preston North End reserves when Blackpool won 1-0. He came through that game unscathed and he returned to the first team on 5 October 1960 for the League Cup tie replay with Leeds United when Blackpool lost 3-1 after extra time. But he aggravated the injury and he was out for the next game.
At the end of October a specialist advised him that he would be out until the following February, possibly until the start of the following season but he did stress that he would play again before the season ended.
It looked likely to be a Happy New Year for him when he visited a specialist in December 1960 and got an encouraging report on the right knee injury that had sidelined him for virtually 12 months. He was expected to be fit to challenge for a first team place early in 1961. And so it was as he made an unexpected comeback in the Central League side on 7 January 1961, a year after his injury, in a 4-0 victory over Chesterfield reserves.
After three successive Central League games, he returned to the League side on 11 February 1961 in 2-2 draw with Chelsea. He was back to full fitness and played every game thereafter until the end of the season and he regularly received good reports such as
at Cardiff City on 24 March 1961 when one critic reported, ‘Brian Peterson and Ray Parry [were] working hard and demonstrating ball control of a high order’ as Blackpool won the game 2-0 to ease their relegation fears. He finished the season having played 16 League games, scoring two goals, one League Cup tie, four Central League games and one friendly game.
He was rewarded for his hard work in recovering from injury by being given revised terms for the 1961/62 season. He was to receive £24 per week plus an extra £5 when he played in the League side. And he began earning that bonus immediately as he started the season at inside right in the League side, playing in the opening game, a 2-1 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur on 19 August 1961. And in the second game of the season against Blackburn Rovers on 21 August he scored one of the goals in Blackpool’s 2-1 victory. He moved to outside right for three games before a minor injury interrupted his season and he missed a couple of games.
He returned to action with a goal in a 4-0 defeat of Chelsea on 30 September and then after a 3-0 defeat at Arsenal (Stan Matthews’ last game for the club and a game that I attended at Highbury) he scored again in a 2-1 defeat of Bolton Wanderers on 14 October. Then after injury sidelined him once more for two games he returned with a goal in a 4-2 defeat of Manchester City on 2 December 1961. He scored again in the following game, a 2-2 draw with West Bromwich Albion on 9 December but after he scored Blackpool’s consolation goal in a 2-1 defeat by Sheffield United on 26 December, he was out of the side once more.
He returned to the League side for a single game, a 1-0 defeat by Arsenal on 24 February 1962 before in a Central League game against Derby County reserves on 17 March 1962 he appeared in the unfamiliar position of right half and he ‘revealed, now and again, the class which is in him as a wing half, but he was in and out, too’. Blackpool lost 2-1.
On 30 March and 3 April he played a couple of games at inside left, a 2-2 draw with Everton, in which he scored one of Blackpool’s goals, and a 2-4 defeat by Sheffield United. Then he played what turned out to be his final League game for Blackpool at inside right against Fulham on 7 April 1962; goals from Ray Charnley and Ray Parry gave Blackpool a 2-1 victory, so he ended on a victorious note.
He did, however, play one further first team game when he played against Norwich City at Carrow Road in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final on 11 April when he scored Blackpool’s goal in a catastrophic 1-4 defeat. He missed the second leg, which Blackpool won 2-0 (it was nail-biting as I was there!).
He ended what was his final season at Bloomfield Road having played 24 League games, scoring seven goals, one FA Cup tie, four League Cup ties, scoring one goal, nine Central League games, scoring three goals, two friendly games, plus making one substitute appearance, scoring one goal.
When the season ended he returned home to South Africa on 28 May 1962, his Blackpool career having encompassed 103 League games, in which he scored 16 goals, three FA Cup ties, five League Cup ties, with one goal, 51 Central League games, with nine goals, and seven friendly games, plus making one appearance as a substitute, scoring one goal.
He was reported as playing well for Durban United with brother Keith in November 1964. And when he left Durban United, he had a short spell with Durban City before retiring from the game. After retirement he worked for 27 years for Foschini, a clothing firm.
He made a welcome return to Bloomfield Road, along with brother Keith, as a guest of the club for the game against Northampton Town on 14 April 2007. And he mingled with supporters and reminisced about the wonderful time that he had had at the club. He had been an integral part of a reasonably successful Blackpool side, having finished in fourth, seventh, eighth, 11th, and 13th position in addition to dramatically fighting to escape relegation in 20th position in 1960/61 in his six seasons at the club.
He died on 21 September 2020 after a short illness. His name will long be remembered as having played a significant part in Blackpool Football Club’s illustrious history.

Anthony Keith (Tony) Waiters 1937-2020

Tony Waiters was born in Southport on 1 February 1937. As a schoolboy he played his football at centre half but in joining the RAF for National Service he became a goalkeeper at which position he won one England amateur international cap in a 3-1 victory over Luxembourg on 24 May 1959 and he was a trialist for the 1956 Great Britain Olympic team; he eventually lost out to Harry Sharratt, who had been with Blackpool in 1952/53.
He had played for a variety of teams such as Bishop Auckland, Southport amateurs, various RAF teams, Middlesbrough second team in the North Eastern League, English Universities and a Midlands amateur side but it was from Macclesfield Town that Blackpool signed him as an amateur in August 1959 after being alerted to his potential by Verdi Godwin, a journeyman professional footballer who lived in Blackpool. He was a graduate of Loughborough College of Physical Education and was said to have been signed by Blackpool with a view to him being a replacement for ‘the aging George Farm’. He also worked as a lifeguard on Southport beach.
After the 1959/60 pre-season practice games, one critic commented, ‘Some young players of great promise will be jockeying for places, and I think the fans will see such “fresh faces” in action as Leslie Lea, Brian Tyrell, Tony Waiters, Ean Cuthbert, Geoff Barnes and Alan Burrows before long.’ He was vying for a position with another young goalkeeper, Gordon West, but it was Waiters who earned the call up for his debut for the Central League side on 22 August 1959. Blackpool lost 1-0 to Bolton Wanderers reserves.
He made a favourable impression in the Central League side and he was signed as a professional on 2 October 1959 when he commented, ‘Already I have found a big difference between the amateur and the professional game. Even in the Central League the game is faster and calls for unrelaxing concentration.’ His weekly wage was £16 in the summer, £17 in the winter plus an extra £3 if and when he played in the League side.
And he earned that £3 bonus for the first time when he made his League debut on 26 December 1959 in 1 0 home win over Blackburn Rovers. He replaced George Farm who thought that his own return to Scotland would be imminent once his deputy had won his spurs in first class football. He retained his place for the following game, a 3-1 victory over Fulham. Farm then returned for what were to be his final two League games for Blackpool before Waiters took over for the remainder of the season.
And when he was selected for the game at Wolverhampton Wanderers on 6 February 1960 after Farm had moved to Queen of the South he said, ‘I witnessed a mixture of delight and apprehension on the coach journey from Birmingham to the Molineux ground, those old butterflies started fluttering in my stomach but in the dressing room I found something which helped to ease the nervous strain. It was a telegram from George Farm wishing me good fortune. I was still somewhat overawed by the size and noise of the crowd.’ Blackpool drew 1 1 and he was ‘applauded off the field, a sporting appreciation from the home crowd for the agility, daring, precise timing and good handling he showed in defying the Wolves attack’. He ended the 1959/60 season having played 17 League games and 24 Central League games.
He had a wage increase for the 1960/61 season when his terms were £17 in the summer and £20 in the winter. And he began the season as the first choice goalkeeper and he played the first 21 games before an unaccountable loss of form by Christmas 1960 cost him his place in the first team as Blackpool made a change and gave Gordon West his first taste of League football. He said of the situation ‘My other job as a part time teacher has certainly helped me to overcome the gloom that followed my loss of form and subsequent loss of a first team place.’
He returned to action in the Central League side and he was injured in the game against Sheffield Wednesday reserves on 22 April 1961 and he had to be stretchered off the field with his legs tied together. Sammy Salt went in goal as Blackpool won 2-1. The 1960/61 season saw him play 23 League games, two League Cup ties and 17 Central League games.
It was an unhappy Tony Waiters at the end of the season as, after having lost that first team spot to West, he uncharacteristically commented in July 1961, ‘The quicker I get to another club the better. I never want to play for Blackpool again.’ Fortunately the Blackpool directors were having none of that and his wage for the 1961/62 season was increased to £25 per week all year round plus an extra £5 when he played in the League side and these terms were to last for two seasons.
He started the 1961/62 season in the Central League side and although he won back his first team place against Bolton Wanderers on 14 October 1961 he still insisted, ‘I would still like to get away from Blackpool.’ He was apparently feeling that there was a difference between the amateur and professional game as he commented, ‘There is not the same sort of social life as you find in the amateur ranks.’ He admitted that he had only continued playing for the club because when the 1961/62 season opened Blackpool had not signed a replacement for him and he said, ’I did not want to see them in a spot so I signed a month’s contract, and since then I have signed a 12 month contract. But I still hope to get away one day. I should like to start again with a fresh club, although perhaps even further disillusionment lies in store for me if that ever comes about.’ In anticipation of leaving the club, he had given up his part time teaching post at Highfield School.
He injured a shoulder on 10 March 1962 after only 10 minutes against Leicester City and he played the second half of the game in the forward line, ‘given a roving commission, presumably for nuisance value if nothing else’. The injury caused him to miss the remainder of the 1961/62 season. Ironically the injury occurred just two weeks after Gordon West had signed for Everton and Blackpool had signed a replacement in Bryan Harvey from Newcastle United. Manager Ronnie Suart said of the injury, which happened when Waiters toppled over Leicester centre forward Ken Keyworth, ‘The fracture should have healed by the time the muscle fibres have healed. But it could take another three weeks, and I don’t expect he will be fit much before Easter.’ He was not fit by Easter and he said three weeks later, ‘The shoulder is giving me a bit of trouble. I can’t lift very well with my left arm or raise it fully yet. Still, it is remarkable what treatment can do for an injury like this. I shall just have to see how the shoulder responds in the next few days.’ He played in 20 League games, two FA Cup ties, three League Cup ties and 12 Central League games in the 1961/62 season.
He received a wage increase for the 1962/63 season when his weekly terms were improved to £30 per week all year round plus an additional £5 when he played in the League side. And he proved to be an ever-present in that season, playing in 42 League games, two FA Cup ties and three League Cup ties. And he got an honourable mention in the third round FA Cup replay against Norwich City on 6 March 1963 when ‘In the first half hour, where there was only one team in it (and that wasn’t Blackpool), only Waiters’ acrobatics and the superb policing of Gratrix stopped Norwich running riot.’ Unfortunately it was all to no avail as Blackpool lost 3-1 after extra-time.
He broke a finger in a 3-0 defeat by Manchester United at Old Trafford on 11 September 1963 and although he was out of the game, he was selected for the Football League against the League of Ireland in Dublin on 2 October 1963. However, he had no doubt about his fitness and he said, ’I’m certain I’ll be fit in time. I’ve been trying my hand out this week and it feels reasonably comfortable, although the finger is still in a splint. I don’t know whether I’ll be completely fit for the League Cup match with Charlton on Wednesday night, but I should certainly be all right for next Saturday’s game at Stoke and for the Monday match against Fulham.’
And of his selection for the Football League he commented, ’I’m on top of the world about it. One always hopes for these things, but when they come they still leave you a bit out of breath. I’m determined, as every player who represents the League or his country is determined, to put up a good show. But, you never know what can happen in a football match.’ Finally on the transformation that had taken place in his career, out of the team and wanting to leave only a couple of years earlier to being the club’s number one choice again, he remarked, ‘At that time, when things were going badly, I don’t think I understood the professional game properly, perhaps because I joined the paid ranks at a comparatively late age. If such a situation ever arose again, and I fervently hope it won’t, I think I would approach it with a very different attitude. You live and learn.’
He was named as reserve for England in the game against FIFA at Wembley for the FA Centenary on 23 October 1963, a game that England won 2-1 [I had a ticket for this game but suddenly an important meeting cropped up so I had to give the ticket to my Dad!]. And he was included in a squad of 22 players called up by England for training in December 1963. He was also selected for the English League side to play the Scottish League at Roker Park on 18 March 1964. The game was drawn 2-2.
After the inter League game there was pressure for him to be given a full England cap and Ronnie Suart, who went to Roker Park, commented, ’I thought on his showing that he did sufficient to justify his inclusion in the full England side against Scotland. I think he proved at last that he is on a par with Gordon Banks of Leicester. He is worth every consideration, and when the team is chosen at the end of the month it must be a very close thing between Tony and Gordon.’ In the end it was Banks who got the nod. For Blackpool he only missed two League games during the 1963/64 season as he played 39 League games, two FA Cup ties and one League Cup tie.
His weekly wage for the 1964/65 season was increased to £35 all year round plus an extra £5 when he played in the League side.
Unusually in a match, he made two penalty saves from Billy Bremner against Leeds United on 7 September 1964, which prompted Ronnie Suart to say ’There’s no better goalkeeper in England today.’ Blackpool won the game 4-0.
He finally made his England debut in a 3-1 victory over the Republic of Ireland in Dublin on 24 May 1964 and then he went on the England tour of North and South America in the 1964 close season and he replaced Gordon Banks for the game against Brazil at Rio de Janeiro on 30 May when Brazil won 5-1.
Continually vying with Banks for the England goalkeeping spot, he played in a 2 2 draw with Belgium at Wembley on 21 October 1964 and followed this with a game against Wales on 18 November when England won 2-1 [I was delighted to have been at both games for, as a goalkeeper myself in those days, Waiters was my boyhood idol]. Representative honours continued to come as he played for the Football League against the Irish League at The Oval, Belfast, on 28 October 1964 when England won 4-0 with a Frank Wignall hat-trick and a goal from Terry Paine and then he played his fifth and what turned out to be his final international against Holland in Amsterdam on 9 December 1964 when the game was drawn 1-1.
For Blackpool he was an ever-present in the 1964/65 season, playing 42 League games, one FA Cup tie and two League Cup ties. And he received a wage increase for the 1965/66 season when his weekly wage was to be £40 all year round plus an extra £10 when he played in the League side.
Despite being the regular first choice he was still unsettled and he had a transfer request refused in December 1965. Staying loyal to the club, he stated that he would not be renewing the request but added, ‘I still feel the same way about moving, I would like to leave Blackpool, but I am not putting in another transfer request. I don’t think there would be any point in doing so at the moment. It’s true that I may speak to Mr Suart again in two or three weeks or whenever I get round to it. But I haven’t decided on my definite course of action.’ His contract was due to finish at the end of the 1965/66 season but Blackpool held a one-year option.
He was left out of the side for the first time since September 1963 after two so-called ’under-par performances’ in two FA Cup ties against Manchester City for the 0 0 draw with Fulham on 29 January 1966 [I was there at Craven Cottage]. He did not renew his transfer request and said, ’I am not going to renew my request just because I have been left out of the side this week. This is not the time to do so. I have been given a few days off and I intend to forget football completely. It’s a strain keeping goal in a side which has been threatened with relegation for the past four years or so — and the strain is beginning to tell. I need a break.’ Manager Ron Suart commented on leaving out Waiters and Johnny Green, ‘As far as Tony is concerned it is a very long time since he was out of the team and I think a rest from football will do him a lot of good. Similarly it will do Johnny no harm to miss a game. Both have lost a little of their edge.’
On the Monday following the Fulham game Suart commented, ’Waiters has been to see me and is quite satisfied that we are resting him for his own good and that it will benefit him after so many consecutive appearances. [He had made 108 consecutive League and Cup appearances.]’ He added, ’Alan [Taylor] deserves another game for his performance on Saturday, where he did quite well.’ After two games Waiters was back in the side, despite that fact that Alan Taylor kept two clean sheets in two 0-0 draws! And he completed the season having played 40 League games, two FA Cup ties and two League Cup ties in the 1965/66 season.
He was selected by Alf Ramsey as one of the original 40 players selected for the 1966 World Cup but when the final 22 were chosen he was left out of the squad. He was, however, asked to remain on standby.
In a pre-season friendly game against Preston North End on 8 August 1966 he earned the headlines with ’Waiters keeps ‘Pool in front – Great saves foil North End Rally’ as Blackpool won 2-1. At the time he was noted as being on the transfer list at his own request.
In what turned out to be his final season at Bloomfield Road, he played 35 League games, one FA Cup tie and five League Cup ties in the 1966/67 season as Blackpool found themselves relegated to Division Two. Then he decided to retire and the club cancelled his registration on 30 June 1967 after he had appeared in 258 League games, 10 FA Cup ties and 18 League Cup ties, a grand total of 286 games.
Taking up coaching, he worked for the Football Association as a Regional Coach, and in January 1969 he joined Liverpool as coach for the club's youth development program. Then in 1970, he answered a cry from Burnley when an injury to their goalkeeper Peter Mellor led to him coming out of retirement. After making another 40 appearances, he finally retired in 1972.
By that time he had made a name for himself as a coach and he was immediately appointed FA North West regional coach and he later became a member of FIFA’s Panel of Instructors as well as being an English Staff Coach.
Thereafter he had a number of appointments, director of coaching at Coventry City in December 1971, a post he held until March 1972 and coach of the England Youth Under-18 team that won the European Championship in Italy in 1973 by defeating East Germany 3-2.
He was appointed manager of Plymouth Argyle in October 1972 and he remained at the club until April 1977. He led them to the League Cup semi-finals in 1973/74 when they lost 3-1 on aggregate to Manchester City and he guided the club to second place and promotion from Division Three (now League One) the following season, when Paul Mariner and Billy Rafferty combined for 43 goals..
He moved to Canada to manage Vancouver Whitecaps later in 1977 and he won the North American Soccer League’s ‘Coach of the Year’ for 1978. And he coached the Whitecaps to the North American Soccer League championship in 1979 when they upset the New York Cosmos en route to victory in Soccer Bowl '79, the NASL championship.
He was appointed coach to the Canadian national side in 1981 and in 1984 he was coach to the Canadian Olympic side that reached the tournament quarter-finals. And in 1985 he was the Canadian National Coach as the team were CONCACAF champions and he was still in the post when Canada reached the 1986 World Cup Finals for the only time in their history. He left the post later in 1986 but returned for a further spell in 1990 and 1991.
He was very highly regarded in North America and as well as his coaching commitments he created his company World of Soccer in the 1980s, producing a complete series of coaching books. He continued to coach children and young adults, helping them pursue their soccer goals and moulding players for the future. He was appointed the first Director of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America's (NSCAA) Goalkeeping Institute, stepping down in 2006. He remained a National Staff Coach of the NSCAA and U.S. Soccer.
He was regarded as a visionary coach and a manager well ahead of his time and he was inducted into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame in 2001 and into the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame in 2019.
As a former Pilgrims' manager he returned to Plymouth to watch the League One match between Argyle and Rochdale on Saturday, February 23, 2019 at Home Park. A lunch was also held in his honour at the Duke of Cornwall Hotel in Plymouth.
He died on 10 November 2020. Former Plymouth player, and one of the club’s Legends, Paul Hart, paid tribute to him with ‘The world is a poorer place this morning with the devastating news that the great Tony Waiters has sadly passed away at the age of 83. Tony has left a legacy that will be remembered by many across the world. His achievements in football are seconded only by his devotion to his lovely family. Our thoughts are with his wife Anne and their two children Scott and Victoria. RIP Tony. I am honoured to have met you.’ And he is fondly remembered on both sides of the Atlantic as an outstanding contributor to the game of football and he will always have his place in the annals of the history of Blackpool Football Club.

Bobby Waddell was born in Kirkcaldy on 5 September 1939. As a centre forward he had played his early football for St Andrews United where he had won a Scottish Juvenile Cup medal and scored over 100 goals for the club. He signed for Dundee in July 1959 and went on to score 46 goals in 85 games for The Dark Blues where he was initially the understudy to the legendary Alan Gilzean. He had also won a Scottish League Championship medal with Dundee in the 1961/62 season when he played his part with vital goals when called upon. However, he had asked for a transfer when Dundee signed Alex Harley from Birmingham City in November 1964 and he had lost his first team spot.
He was signed by Blackpool for a fee of £5,000 (some reports stated £10,000 but the £5,000 fee is from Blackpool official records) from Dundee on 12 March 1965. Manager Ronnie Suart, his assistant Eric Hayward and a director had watched Waddell play in a second XI Cup semi-final and his display encouraged Suart to make a bid for the player – said to be £8,000 (but see above). Waddell had only just previously turned down a move to Preston North End! He duly signed for the Seasiders.
He made his Blackpool debut for the Central League side and he made an impressive start, scoring after nine minutes in a 1 0 win over Manchester United reserves on 13 March 1965.
After that promising start, he made his League debut for the club on 20 March 1965 when he replaced the injured Ray Charnley who was missing his first game of the season. Again he impressed and he scored twice in a 3 0 defeat of West Bromwich Albion. It was reported, ‘He gave a hard working performance, capped with two goals in three minutes, the 37th and 40th, which finally put West Brom on the floor.’
This began a run of five successive League appearances with another goal coming in a 3-0 victory over Fulham on 3 April but injury against Arsenal in a 1-1 draw on 16 April ended his season, in which he played five League games, scoring three goals, and also played two Central League games, scoring one goal.
He was still injured as the 1965/66 season began and he was described as ‘Blackpool’s Mystery Man’ in September 1965 as he had only played seven games since his arrival, five in the first team and two in the Central League side. Recovering from his injury, the 26-year old was back in full time training by September. Blackpool manager Ronnie Suart commented, ’Bobby is feeling pretty fit again and looking forward to getting back into the game and making a mark for himself here in Blackpool.’ He had played centre forward in all his games to that date but Ray Charnley was then back to his best form so he occupied the number nine position but Suart commented, ‘He [Waddell] can play in any forward position.’
It took some time for him to get back in the League side but he returned to action at inside left in a 1 1 draw with Stoke City on 11 December 1965. Blackpool then had no games for two weeks but in a Christmas Day game (the last League game ever played on 25 December) he scored one of Blackpool’s goals in a convincing 4-2 victory over Blackburn Rovers. The other goals came from Charnley, Ball and Turner.
Thereafter he was in and out of the side, but after he had scored five goals in seven Central League games, he earned a recall to the League side for the game against Aston Villa on 26 February 1966 when Blackpool lost 1-0. Unfortunately he had to leave the field with an injury in the following game against Arsenal but he only missed one game before returning for a further three games.
But after a 3-0 defeat by Sheffield Wednesday on 4 April, his lack of goals cost him his place and Jimmy Robson, who ironically was signed on the same day as Waddell, took over. He did return for the final four games of the season but once again he was unable to find the net. He finished the season with one goal in his 15 League and Cup games.
He started the 1966/67 season at inside let in the League side, appearing in the opening game, a 3-0 defeat by Sheffield Wednesday on 20 August 1966. He was moved to inside right for the following game and held his place there for eight games in one of which he scored a ‘surprise equaliser’ against Liverpool on 5 September but Blackpool eventually lost 2-1.
But, despite being bottom of Division One, Blackpool defeated Manchester United 5-1 in the second round of the League Cup on 14 September 1966 and the inspiration for the victory was reported thus: ‘For Blackpool’s four Scots it was a memorable evening. The quartet are [sic] right half Hugh Fisher from Glasgow, right winger Ian Moir from Aberdeen, inside right Booby Waddell from Dundee and John McPhee from Motherwell.’ Waddell scored one of the goals, with Ray Charnley scoring a hat-trick and Leslie Lea scoring the other.
Playing in the Central League side, his time was running out at Blackpool, and he was transferred to Bradford Park Avenue for a fee of £5,500 on 4 November 1966. The fee was paid in three instalments, £4,000 on 4 November 1966, £500 on 3 January 1967 and the balance of £1,000 on 20 January 1967. He had played nine League games, scoring one goal, four Central League games, scoring one goal up to the time of his transfer in that 1955/57 season. Overall his Blackpool career encompassed 30 League and Cup games in which he scored six goals.
He played 20 League games and scored three goals in his one season at Bradford before the club released him and he returned to Scotland, joining East Fife, for who he was reported as playing ‘splendidly’ at right half, a role to which he had taken to ‘like a duck to water’ in August 1968.
He later played for Montrose before moving on to play for and then manage the then-amateur side Tayport.
In April 2012 he attended a 50th anniversary dinner to celebrate Dundee winning the Scottish League. By that time he had earned iconic status as one of Dundee’s ‘Champions of Scotland’.
He died on 25 August 2021.

James (Jimmy) Robson (1939-2021)


Jimmy Robson was born in Pelton, County Durham, on 23 January 1939. He was an inside forward who had been spotted by a Burnley scout playing local football in his native north east and he signed for the club as a 15-year-old. In later life he reflected on the move to Burney remembering that on arriving in Lancashire to the sight of chimneys and mills, he feared he’d made a mistake, and longed for home. But he quickly adapted and after some reserve games, he made his Burnley debut in the First Division on 6 October 1956 as a 17-year-old inside right against Blackpool at Turf Moor in front of 27,678 fans and he scored a late equaliser for his side in a 2-2 draw.
He went on to become an integral part of the First Division Championship winning Burnley side of 1959/60 and played in the club’s following season’s European Cup campaign and scored in the first minute of their tie again Stade de Reims and he also scored in the second leg as Burnley went through 4-3 on aggregate. He also scored in the quarter final when Hamburger SV were defeated 3-1 at Turf Moor but Burnley were eliminated when they lost the return leg 4-1. {I was lucky enough to see the two Burnley home European games at Turf Moor as coaches were run from Blackpool in those days to other Lancashire team’s games and I particularly remember my first sighting of the German striker Uwe Seeler.] He also scored the equaliser in the 1962 FA Cup Final and it was the 100th goal scored in a Wembley Cup Final; Burnley eventually lost 3-1 to Tottenham Hotspur.
Blackpool had originally been reported as being interested in signing him and Burnley’s Ray Pointer as early as January 1964 but no deal took place and manager Ronnie Suart later said that the reports of Blackpool’s interest were purely ‘guess work’. However, Blackpool did get their man when they signed him from Burnley for a fee of £12,000 on 12 March 1965 [Ironically Pointer was also to sign for the Seasiders but that signing did not take place until 1973.] By the time of his move Robson had become a crowd favourite at Turf Moor as he had played 202 League games for the club, scoring 75 goals. He had also won an England Under-23 cap against West Germany on 10 May 1959 at the Ruhrstadion, Bochum, taking his place in a forward line that read, Peter Brabrook, Robson, Peter Dobing, Ray Parry and Albert Scanlon Scanlon. He scored one of England’s goals in a 2-2 draw.
After signing for Blackpool, Ronnie Suart rushed him to London for his debut against Tottenham Hotspur the day after his signing, 13 March 1965, and he made his first appearance for the Seasiders at inside left in place of Graham Rowe. Blackpool were struggling in the lower reaches of the First Division at the time and up to then Robson had spent most of the season in the Burnley reserve side after having scored only six goals in 26 League games the previous season. So it was asking a lot of him to immediately perform at a high level against a rampant Spurs’ side, particularly with Jimmy Greaves in goalscoring form. And so it proved as one report stated, ‘Robson will have to re-adjust himself to the pace of First Division football, for his slowness was exposed too often in this game, particularly when it came to working with the quick-thinking Ball.’ He did, however, ‘send outside right Moir through for Blackpool’s goal’.
He was up and running in his second game against West Bromwich Albion at Bloomfield Road on 20 March for he scored in the 23rd minute. Moir took a free kick ‘and dropped the ball into the goalmouth’ where ‘Potter failed to clear cleanly and the ball dropped at the feet of Robson who promptly slammed it into the net to score his first goal for Blackpool’. Blackpool won the game 3-0 and he went on to play nine League games and score two goals for Blackpool in the 1964/65 season.
He began the 1965/66 season in Blackpool’s Central League side but after the League side had drawn one and lost two games, he was recalled for the game against his former club Burnley on 30 August 1966. He scored Blackpool’s goal but even so the Seasiders lost 3-1. He also scored in a losing cause in the following game when Liverpool won 3-2. Then after four successive defeats, Blackpool defeated Leicester City 4-0 and once again he was on the scoresheet.
Then in December 1965 Blackpool signed Scotsman Bobby Waddell as an additional inside forward and Robson lost his regular starting spot and consequently he played spasmodically for the League side for the remainder of the season.
He scored twice in a 2-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers in a Lancashire Senior Cup tie on 4 April 1966. His first came after 14 minutes when “Parry hit a perfect centre into the middle where inside right Robson rose head and shoulders above Blackburn pivot Mulvaney and flashed the ball into the net” and his second came when “Parry, starved of the ball in the second half, then broke away, laid on a perfect pass for Robson and, despite a brave attempt by Jones, the Blackburn ‘keeper, Robson succeeded in pressing the ball just inside the post for the winner.” Blackpool subsequently lost 3-2 to Barrow in the semi-final of the tournament.
He scored four goals in the Central League side’s 6-1 victory over Everton reserves on 23 April 1966 when he was “fed by a stream of passes through the middle by wingers Horne and Moir and really rocked the Mersey boat as Everton finished a bemused and battered team”. And in addition “Hunter scored the fifth and sixth near the end from openings created by Robson.”
On 27 April 1966 he wrote his name into the annals Blackpool FC history when he became the club’s first substitute to score a goal in a 2-1 defeat by Manchester United. And he ended the 1965/66 season having played 18 League games, making two substitute appearances, scoring seven goals, 15 Central League games, scoring eight goals, two Lancashire Senior Cup ties, scoring two goals, and three friendly games, scoring two goals.
He made his first League appearance of the 1966/67 season at inside left in a 2-0 defeat by Aston Villa on 10 September 1966 and then on 8 October he reappeared at inside right in a 2-1 defeat by Manchester United. Thereafter he missed only one game until the end of the season, playing the last 10 games in the half-back line. His final appearance for Blackpool in the First Division was in a 3-1 victory at Anfield over Liverpool, only Blackpool’s sixth victory of the season as they were relegated to Division Two. He played 30 League games, made two substitute appearances, scoring three goals, one FA Cup tie, four League Cup ties, scoring two goals, and eight Central League games, scoring one goal, in the 1966/67 season.
He had a run of three League games in November 1966 when he scored in a 3-1 victory over Cardiff City and also in a 2-0 defeat of Charlton Athletic, and he had also played two League Cup ties and 15 Central League games, scoring three goals, up to the time of his transfer in the 1967/68 season. In total he had played 60 League games, made four substitute appearances, scoring 14 goals, one FA Cup tie, six League Cup ties, scoring two goals, and 38 Central League games, scoring 12 goals, for Blackpool.
He was transferred to Barnsley for a fee of £6,000 on 19 January 1968 when he was paid £863 as his accrued share of benefit. He went on to play 87 League games and score 15 goals for Barnsley, and he was part of the Division Four promotion-winning side in the 1967/68 season.
He was transferred to Bury in August 1970 and he played 100 League games, made three substitute appearances and scored three goals for the club.
He later coached at Burnley, Huddersfield Town and Rochdale.
He was always a well-respected visitor to Turf Moor and after retirement from the game he worked in public relations at Burnley Football Club.
He died on 14 December 2021 after a period of illness on 14 December 2021 with supporters and all his former clubs saddened at his passing, with a Blackpool FC official stating, ‘We are saddened to learn of the passing of former forward Jimmy Robson at the age of 82. Our sincere condolences go out to his family.’

William (Billy) Cranston (1942 – 2022)

Billy Cranston was born in Kilmarnock on 18 January 1942 and played his junior football as a wing half. He joined Blackpool from Saxone Youth Club, a Kilmarnock junior club, at the start of the 1960/61 season and he was signed as a part-time professional on 26 August 1960. Blackpool manager Ronnie Suart had originally watched him play in a Scottish Amateurs versus Scottish YMCA game in January 1960 and the player had at that time agreed to join Blackpool at the end of the season after he had completed his studies as an engineer. Towards the end of that 1959/60 season he had also played for Saxone Youth Club against a Blackpool junior team in an arranged game at Bloomfield Road on 16 April 1960. The game ended in a 1-1 draw and Blackpool were impressed enough with his performance to go ahead and sign him.
His reign as a part-time player at Bloomfield Road was short-lived as his early performances convinced Suart that he should become a full-time professional and he was duly signed as such at the end of September 1960. Still a few months before the abolition of the maximum wage in football (this happened in January 1961), his weekly wage was set at £10 in the summer, £11 in the winter plus an extra £9 if and when he played in the first team and an extra £1 10s 0d [£1.50] when he played in the reserve side.
He made his first Central League appearance for the reserve side at left half against Huddersfield Town reserves on 24 August when he had an impressive debut as Blackpool won 4-3. He went on to play 33 Central League games, scoring two goals, in the 1960/61 season.
For his second season, his basic terms for the 1961/62 season were increased to a basic £15 per week all year round plus an extra £5 if and when he played in the first team.
Always an extremely competitive player, he got his first booking when he was cautioned against Leeds United reserves on 26 December 1961; Blackpool won the game 3-1. Then with regular left half David Durie injured, he made his First Division League debut against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 20 January 1962. Blackpool won 7-2 [I was lucky enough to be there] and he came through his debut with flying colours in a side that was ‘playing straight-forward no-nonsense football with no outstanding example of genius’. However, David Durie was fit again for the following game and Billy returned to Central League football.
Durie was out again for the visit of Arsenal on 24 February 1962 and Cranston replaced him again but this time Blackpool lost 1-0 in a game I well remember as George Eastham, a Blackpool-born player, missed a penalty for Arsenal and 17-year-old George Armstrong made his Arsenal debut. But it was ‘a drab match’ and no Blackpool player had much chance to shine. He played his third and final League game of that season at Turf Moor on 30 April 1962 (Good Friday) when Durie was absent and Blackpool lost 2-0 to Burnley. He played three League games but was almost a regular in the Central League side for whom he played 37 games in the 1961/62 season.
He did not immediately agree terms at the start of the 1962/63 season but once he did so they were the same basic £15 per week all year round but the bonuses had been increased to £10 when he played in the first team and £3 when he played in the reserve side.
He was a Central League regular at the start of the 1962/63 season but he was re-called to the League side for the game against Sheffield Wednesday on 27 October 1962 when the game was drawn 0-0. He kept his place for the following game against West Bromwich Albion on 3 November 1963 when Blackpool lost 2-0. But when Blackpool moved John McPhee from the forward line to the half-back line the following week, he returned to Central League football. Once again he played three League games in the 1962/63 season but he did make 40 Central League appearances, scoring one goal.
His weekly wage for the 1963/64 season was increased to £20 plus an extra £10 when he played in the first team. This agreement was in place for two seasons. By this time manager Ronnie Suart was so impressed with him that he was tipping him as a future player for representative honours. The only reservation Suart had some niggling doubts about was his distribution, saying that he had ‘an annoying tendency towards short cross-field passes that achieved nothing’, but in October 1963 he did comment, ‘In my opinion Billy’s distribution has already improved and he is developing into a highly useful player. I could be out of order because I don’t know the entire position in Scotland, but I don’t know off-hand of any young Scottish left half who could fit their Under-23 bill better than Billy. He is tremendously keen and enthusiastic about the game.’ Unfortunately, Billy did not win any Scottish representative honours.
He started the 1963/64 season as first choice left half in the League side, playing in the two opening games, a 2-2 draw with Sheffield United and a disappointing 3-1 defeat by West Ham United before Durie, who had been playing as an inside left, returned to the half back line and Billy returned briefly to Central League football.
After Blackpool had lost five games in succession, he was recalled to the League side for visit of unbeaten Manchester United on 16 September when Blackpool surprised the football world by winning 1-0. Thereafter he retained his place for 24 successive League and Cup games as he became an integral part of the Blackpool League side, proving himself to be a hard-tackling and a constructive distributor of the ball half back.
Unfortunately he had to miss the match against Wolverhampton Wanderers at the start of February 1964 due to a recurrence of a knee injury sustained on Boxing Day against Chelsea. He was out of action for three weeks and he went into hospital for an exploratory operation towards the end of February and was expected to be sidelined for a further three to four weeks. To add insult to injury, his replacement Johnny Green, converted from an inside forward, was earning rave notices about his performances at half-back!
By mid-March 1964, after a cartilage operation, he was obliged to have a long aluminium plate inserted in his left leg and when he had it removed he commented, ‘Despite this, I can’t see my having more than a couple of games in the ‘A’ team this season.’ However, he did not play any further senior football that season, his appearances restricted to 22 League games, two FA Cup ties, two League Cup ties and two Central League games.
He missed the opening Central League game of the 1964/65 season but was in the side at an unaccustomed left back position for the second game of the season against Liverpool reserves on 29 August 1964 when Blackpool won 4-2. And he returned to League action at right half in 2-2 draw at Liverpool on 5 September 1964 and went on to play in the following three League games. He made what turned out to be his final League appearance for Blackpool in a 3-0 defeat by Birmingham City on 24 October 1964.
Back in the Central League side he was unhappy about his chances of regular first team football and he requested a transfer. Reluctantly the directors granted his request and, despite Huddersfield Town making a substantial offer for him, he was transferred to Preston North End on 4 December 1964 for a fee of £10,700 that was paid in two instalments, £5,700 on 7 December 1964 and £5,000 on 2 March 1965.
He had appeared in five League games and 13 Central League games up to the time of his transfer in the 1964/65 season and his Blackpool career had encompassed 33 League games, two FA Cup ties, two League Cup ties and 125 Central League games, in which he had scored three goals.
He had established himself as the regular centre half for Preston North End by October 1965 and he commented, ‘I was in and out of the team last season then at the start of this season I got a game at left half. I thought I played well enough to get an extended run but I was dropped. I was sick, man.’ About his first team success he gave credit to fellow half back Howard Kendall by saying ‘Howard makes it easy for someone like me who isn’t terribly fast; he covers a lot of ground.’
He continued to live in Blackpool whilst training and playing at Preston. He didn’t want to move and said ‘That’s part of the reason why I didn’t go to Huddersfield who were also interested in me.’ He went on to play 80 League games, make seven substitute appearances and score one goal for Preston North End, where, despite originally asking for a transfer in September 1967 when the directors refused his request, he was voted player of the season in his final year, 1969/70, at the club. One comment from that season that admirably sums up Billy’s wholehearted commitment was after a 0-0 draw with Queens Park Rangers when it was reported he ‘proved to be a rock-like if somewhat unceremonious pivot’ and as a result, ‘Frank Clarke moved out to the left to avoid Cranston’s clutches’.
Preston transferred him to Oldham Athletic in July 1970 for a fee of £6,000. He played 98 League games and made two substitute appearances, scoring two goals, four FA Cup games and five League Cup games for Oldham, winning a Division Three League championship medal with the club in 1973/74.
After retiring from football he became a maintenance officer at Burnley police station, a position from which he retired on 22 August 2008.
Although his stay at Bloomfield Road was relatively short, he will be remembered for being a big-hearted player who will take his deserved place in the annals of Blackpool Football Club.
He died on 10 January 2022 after a brave fight against illness and he is survived by his wife Katherine, daughter Julie and son Daniel. Condolences from all his clubs and their officials and supporters go to the family.

William Johnston McGowan (Billy or Willie) McEwan 1951-2022

Billy, or often known as Willie when at Blackpool, McEwan was born at Cleland, North Lanarkshire, on 20 June 1951. He had begun his football career with Pumpherson Juniors before, in 1969, he joined Hibernian for whom he played 59 games, made two substitute appearances and scored two goals. Blackpool spotted his potential and signed him in May 1973 as a midfield player.
He made his League debut for Blackpool at number 10, along with another new signing, Wyn Davies, in the opening game of the 1973/74 season against recently relegated West Bromwich Albion on 25 August 1973 when Blackpool lost 3-2.
But his first significant contribution to Blackpool came when his presence at Bloomfield Road persuaded his brother, Stan, to sign for the club as an apprentice. Stan was on Rangers’ books and when he was released by Rangers, the brotherly connection secured Stan’s signature for Blackpool even though such as Liverpool, Arsenal and Sheffield United were keen to sign him.
Billy’s second League game on 1 September 1973 ended in a 0-0 draw with Sheffield Wednesday but was then having been out of the side with an injury he returned to action in the Central League side at inside left in a 2-0 defeat by West Bromwich Albion reserves on 29 September 1973. Still playing up front, he scored his first goal for the club, the only goal of the game, against Burnley reserves on 6 October 1973 when Blackpool won 1-0.
He returned to the first team for the League Cup tie against Birmingham City on 9 October 1973 when the game was drawn 2-2. He also played in the replay on 16 October when Blackpool lost 4-2 and when, in what was ‘an aggressive second half’, he was booked after 49 minutes and Blackpool had Wyn Davies sent off.
He was back in League action in place of Billy Rafferty in a 1-0 defeat by Cardiff City on 13 October 1973. Then in a 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest on 20 October 1973, Keith Dyson replaced him after 70 minutes. It turned out to be Billy’s final League appearance for Blackpool.
He continued to play his part in the Central League side and Blackpool experimented with him and Kevin Moore at the full back positions ‘in order to try and get the crosses over for the three big forwards to use their heading power, but this ploy rarely came off’ in the Central League side’s 2-2 draw with Blackburn Rovers reserves on 19 November 1973. He was out of the side for the following game but the pairing returned against Manchester United reserves on 26 December 1973 when Blackpool lost 2-0.
Moore and Willie McEwan were together at full back once again in a 2-0 victory over Bolton Wanderers reserves on 1 January 1974. And then from full back he scored one of Blackpool’s goals in the Central League side’s 3-0 victory over Stoke City reserves on 12 January 1974. What turned out to be his final Central League game for Blackpool came in a 4-2 defeat by Sheffield Wednesday reserves on 16 February 1974.
Six days after his final appearance for the club he was transferred to Brighton and Hove Albion for a fee of £7,500 on 22 February 1974. He had played four League games, two League Cup ties, one Lancashire Senior Cup tie and 13 Central League games, scoring two goals, for Blackpool up to the time of his transfer.
He went on to have a stellar Football League career after leaving Bloomfield Road, making a further 297 League appearances, beginning with 27 League games, in which he scored three goals, for Brighton.
He was transferred to Chesterfield in a part exchange deal that took Ken Tiler to Brighton and took McEwan and Ronnie Welch to Saltergate in November 1974. And in October 1976 he was chosen to sit on the players’ disciplinary committee at Chesterfield to consider punishment for errant team-mates.
He played 79 League games plus making one substitute appearance, scoring seven goals, seven FA Cup ties, scoring one goal, and four League Cup ties for Chesterfield before he was transferred to Mansfield Town for a fee of £15,000 in January 1977. He went on to play 32 League games and score three goals for Mansfield, where he played a major role in the side that won the Division Three championship in 1977/78.
He moved on when he was transferred to Peterborough United for a fee of £17,000 in November 1977. And he opposed his brother Stan when Blackpool played Peterborough United on 28 April 1979 but it was Max Thompson who was booked for a tackle on Billy as Blackpool won 2-1 with two late goals from Tony Kellow. He played 62 League games, made one substitute appearance and scored three goals for Peterborough.
What turned out to be his final League club was after he was transferred to Rotherham United for a fee of £30,000 in July 1979. And once again he opposed his brother Stan on 15 September 1979 when Blackpool beat Rotherham United 3-2 with Stan scoring the deciding goal in the 76th minute.
He missed the whole of Rotherham’s 1981 Third Division championship season but the club kept him involved by using him as a sponge man and as a scout. He played 86 League games, made nine substitute appearances and scored 10 goals for Rotherham where it was said, ‘he played his best stuff’.
In the summer of 1984 he went on an FA course about the treatment of injuries and he was appointed physiotherapist at Sheffield United later that year.
He was appointed caretaker-manager at Sheffield United in March 1986 and in May he took the role on a permanent basis. He left the club in January 1988 and he briefly joined the scouting staff at Manchester United later in January 1988.
He had been a fans’ favourite at Rotherham United and it was no surprise when he was appointed manager at the club in April 1988 and he remained in the post until January 1991. While at Millmoor he won the Fourth Division title in 1988/89.
He was later a coach at Scarborough, before taking over as manager at Darlington in 1992. And after leaving Darlington he was engaged on the coaching staff at Derby County, where he enjoyed nine years at the club. In addition he had two short spells as caretaker manager at Derby, taking over after Roy McFarland left in 1995 and then again after Colin Todd’s departure in 2001/02. He also managed Derby County’s reserve side.
After leaving Derby in October 2004 he took over at York City as manager, a post which he held until November 2007 and where he won a Conference National Manager of the Month award in April 2007.
He took over as manager at Mansfield Town in July 2008 but his tenure was short-lived and he left in December of that year.
His reputation was such that he was appointed technical director of the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association in March 2010 and in April of that year he became manager of Antigua Barracuda FC. He returned from the Caribbean in March 2011.
He sadly died on 17 February 2022 after struggling with Parkinson’s disease since 2014. He leaves a wife, Marie, and two daughters, Suzanne and Nikki, Each of his clubs’ deepest condolences and thoughts, together with those of all the fans who watched and supported him, are with his family and friends.