George Eastham (RIP)
I was truly saddened to hear of the death of George Eastham, chiefly for two reasons.
Firstly, he belonged to a genre of player that no longer exists: the inside forward. They were technically very skilful, slight and did not score that many goals.
Secondly, aged 18, I was watching from behind the goal at Wembley Stadium in the 1982 League Cup Final between Chelsea and Stoke when Eastham scored a goal – the winner in fact. As I recall it, Peter Bonetti spilled a shot and Eastham pounced for Stoke.
Stoke, managed by Tony Waddington, kept them up for years on small gates until one day wind blew off the roof of the main stand and Waddington was obliged to sell.
Essentially ‘The Wad’ – as he was known – acquired veterans like Gordon Banks, Peter Dobing and George Eastham.
Eastham has another claim to fame.
Newcastle United refused him a transfer to Arsenal and – under the old retainer system – there was little Eastham could do except go on strike. Fulham’s future owner Ernie Clay paid his wages.
Now, with the Bosman ruling, it’s gone full circle and the player – or more likely his agent – can and does run down his contract, which puts the player in the final year in a strong bargaining position. However, Eastham changed the mood and, not long after his strike, Jimmy Hill and the PFA removed the maximum wage altogether.
George Eastham was in Alf Ramsay’s 1966 England squad but never played as Alf preferred the all-action box-to- box midfielder like Alan Ball.
This species is now extinct, but give me a deft inside forward over an all-action midfielder any day of the week …
And now for something completely different …
On Saturday night there was a rare broadcast on free-to-air of live Spanish football – Barcelona v Atleticó – on ITV.
It was a refreshing break from the Premiership coverage with its hype, poor presenters and analysts – and a match that, as often as not, does not entertain.
Diego Simeone has been boss at Atleticó now for 13years and – although his football is not always pleasing on the eye – he gets the job done.
Under him Atleticó have been one of the leading clubs in Europe and have produced the likes of De Gea, Aguetro and Felix. This year they were more of a “buying” cub, acquiring Connor Gallagher, Witzler and le Normand. They still have old stalwarts like the keeper Oblak. Barcelona has only one expensive import in Lewndowski but their academy had produced the excellent Pedri.
Atleticó won this one 2-1 with a late goal.
