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George
Armstrong, Frank McLintock Charlie George, John Radford
ans Bob McNab celebrate Charlie's FA Cup Final winner for
Arsenal v Liverpool 1971.
'I've
been a fan myself and I feel you're giving them something
back. If you score and just run back to thr halfway line
it's absolute bollocks' - Charlie George
Amy
Lawrence on the 1971 Gunner's final hero Charlie
George
From'The
Observer' 6 May 2001
(www.observer.co.uk/sport)
FOOTBALL
SUPPORTERS WILL forgive talented players most
indiscretions so long as they try. So long as they have
pride in a the shirt. For Arsenal fans and Charlie George
this was a given. He was one of t them; he had the
skills, he had the swagger, he had the Arsenal tattooed
on his heart, and he made that dreamlike, quantum leap
off the terrace and on to a the pitch.
George
was wonderfully unique. Although he wasn't the only
elusive maverick floating through football in the early
Seventies, he was the only one who played for the team he
had loved ever since he could remember loving anything.
In the
summer of 1953, with England in the throes of street
parties to honour the Queen's coronation, George the
toddler went out to play dressed up a as Jimmy Logie, the
wizard who crafted Arsenal's attack of the day. Little
did Mr and Mrs George realise that their boy would one
day become the King of Highbury .
A vintage
shot from football's 1971 a collection of gimmicky
photographs depicts George in full regalia - shimmering
robe over his kit, jewelled crown atop his lank hair,
sceptre in one hand and FA Cup in the other. His
expression is something to behold, a cross between, 'What
the 'eck's this all about, I quite like being a king, as
it goes', and 'This is a a right laugh.'
Nothing
fazed him. 'I wasn't really a shy person,' he says,
master of understatement. 'I never felt out of place.
I've always mixed with people a bit older than myself and
as a kid I always played with older people so I never
felt inferior . Once you step over the line you get a
buzz, you know? In a funny way it's a cockiness from
knowing what I could do when I played football and I
always had confidence in my own ability; There wasn't
anything I didn't think I could do with a ball. That was
my philosophy .'
He
breezed into the dressing room oozing the cheek of the
Artful Dodger and the arrogance of Top Cat. Not only I
did he enter into the banter immediately, he started
plenty. 'He was just Charlie off the terraces when he was
walking about in an Arsenal blazer " remembers Frank
McLintock, the skipper of that 1971 Double-winning side.
'If he didn't like somebody he'd let them know, You're a
tosspot and all that, and he never lost his brashness at
all. He was a right outspoken sod, but that's what made
him a special player .'
His
social impact was nothing compared with the shockwaves he
caused at the training ground. Some of the experienced
pros had never seen anything like him. His party piece
was to launch the ball into orbit, eye it indifferently
as it sped down, then kill it stone dead. A doddle. He
had swank, he had subtlety of touch, he had substantial
thighs, assets that fused to give him the power to
unleash those trademark missile shots.
George
sprayed passes around with the ease of Beckenbauer,
knocked volleys over his shoulder and into the roof of
the old Charlie, all the skill in the world and b none of
the sophistication. George's distinctive style made a
statement: I don't care, I don't pose, I just let it all
happen.
Without
even trying the rebel was perpetuating his own myth. But
strip away the layers of bravado and way down in the pit
of George's stomach was evidence of nerves. 'I used to be
physically sick before games,' he a admits. 'Frank said
to me years ago, "I know there's a lot of pressure
on you because you're a local lad.
" I
never actually felt it but I couldn't eat before a game
because I used to burn a lot of acid up in my body. Once
I was out there I was OK. I've never felt in awe of
anybody, never ever in my life. There was nothing that
any footballer could do that I felt I couldn't do.
Whether that was right or wrong it's a good attitude to
have."
His
unwavering belief endeared him to his team-mates. If he
was having an average game compared to the grandiose
heights he could achieve, Bob Wilson used to get hold of
him at half-time, urging him, coaxing him, pushing him to
find the magic. 'He had an amazing ability, even if he'd
played badly, to remember the one great ball he'd hit,'
says Wilson. 'Charlie had the strut at 19.'
__________
George
pictured in 1999
__________
DON HOWE,
WHO coached that Arsenal side, was full of praise for
George. 'They talk today about these players dropping off
- Zola, Cantona, Bergkamp- we were doing that 30 years
ago with Charlie George,' he says, And he was superb.
Yes, he scored great goals, but he was the crucial link
between the back and the front as well.' As for Charlie,
he couldn't care less where he played as long as he
played. 'I could play either up front or midfield. It
didn't matter, I always felt football was easy. If you
gave me the ball I would do the work: I only wanted the
ball, then I would do whatever you wanted me to do with
it.'.
The FA
Cup was the perfect platform for Arsenal's virtuoso. The
roulette wheel of knockout competition stimulated his
creativity and stoked his conviction. Under the spotlight
of the big occasion reputations are created or killed.
With each round in 1971, so George's reputation grew.
Having got back into the scoring groove tn-~, } fourth
round against Portsmouth, he netted winners in the next
two stages. And a couple of them were the kind of gems
only George could unearth.
Maine
Road was not the most appetising-draw for Arsenal,
especially on a surface like a swimming pool, 'I don't
know whether Malcolm Allison had flooded it at the time,
I think they had a couple of players injured,' George
recalls, 'but when it rains in Manchester... it rains.'
The game was played under the flood lights on a ghastly
night. McLintock felt it was time to play mind games with
the joker in Arsenal's pack, just in case he wasn't
feeling inspired. 'I hope you play well tonight,
Charlie,' warned the captain. 'I was talking to Malcolm
Allison and he doesn't rate you at all. He reckons you
can only last about 30 minutes, he thinks you'll die a
death - typical cockney .'
Charlie
turned the air in the dressing room blue, then promptly
went out and upstaged City's stars Franny Lee, Colin Bell
and Mike Summerbee, with a stellar performance that
included two goals. McLintock, of course, hadn't spoken
to City's coach before the game and he took-great delight
in telling Allison and George afterwards.
The
semi-final pitted Arsenal against Stoke, the team whose
5-0 demolition job had rocked the them in the league
earlier in the season. Nightmare start. Two-nil down at
half-time and on the way to another drubbing. What's
more, both goals were gifts, one from Peter Storey and
the other from George with a wayward backpass. It was an
afternoon ruled by nerves and Arsenal were losing n
theirs.
In the
dressing room at half-time crockery was smashed, tempers
soared, and Arsenal emerged refocused. Peter Storey
demonstrated all his deft talent with a fierce,
long-range drive to make it 2-1, then all his deadly
nerve with an injury-time penalty.
The
Double dream remained alive.The replay was a one-sided
affair. No nerves this time. And George soon got over his
Hillsborough clanger: 'The first t touch I got was a
6O-yard backpass to the goalkeeper. I was very conscious
of what s fhad happened in the previous game and I did it
just to prove to myself that everything was going to be
all right. You get over something. You made a mistake but
you've got to get on with it; you're not going to change
the course of history because whatever's happened
happened. We won the game 2-0, quite comfortably in the
end.' .
George
always was something of an enigma. How else do you begin
to explain his movements after the league title winning
night at White Hart Lane? The quintessential Arsenal man,
born in Islington and bred on the North Bank, having just
played in the most liberating derby any Gooner could ever
witness... what did he do after their 1-0 win, when the
team coach drew up at Southgate?
He hopped
on the Tube and went home. The lads hit the boozer, his
old man and fiancee were out looking for him to help
their favourite boy paint the town red and white. And
Charlie went home. He just felt like it, so he did.
Enigmatic? I'll say. Little wonder moody pubescents
allover London wished they could be like Charlie George.
And frivolous nymphettes wished they could be with
Charlie George. And bashful housewives wished they could
mother Charlie George: And that's before even mentioning
what Charlie meant to the Arsenal faithful.
He was
one of them, and he was living out all of their
fantasies. In tbe midst of the madness in the visitors'
dressing room at White Hart Lane God knows how anyone
heard the telephone ring. 'Bill Shankly here, put that
man Bertie Mee on the line,' commanded football's
mastermind. ' A tremendous performance Bertie,
magnificent. You may even give us a game on Saturday .'
Mee, we
can safely assume, was in the mood to take on anyone. And
Charlie , was in the mood to go home to his mum and dad's
flat. Were you saving yourself I for something Charlie?
'I don't know what for,' he says, with a teasing laugh.
Shankly wasn't the only one to indulge in mental
trickery.
'We got
him I back at the final: Bob Wilson recalls. ' As we'd
been at Wembley twice before, we knew that because of the
drill with the Royal party they keep you waiting in the
tunnel with the cameras on you for far too long. You can
wet yourself there, some players really lose it. We
refrained from going out. The F A official knocked on the
door. "Sorry, we're not ready," said Bertie.
"Just doing my team talk." The second knock and
Frank made out he had a problem with a stud. The
Liverpool lads were out there for ages and Shanks knew
exactly what we were up to. We saw him fuming when we
came out.'
GEORGE,
HAVING VOMITED his jitters out in the dressing- room
lavatory, was as imperious as ever. His first match at
Wembley was beamed to 400 million around the world. 'I
wasn't nervous.I just wanted to go and get started so we
could get the game over, win the Cup and go and have a
drink,' he says. Liverpooi got their noses in front
through Steve Heighway in extra time. Then play Brian
Moore: 'Radford, back c over his head. Kelly is right in
there, playing much more as a striker in this extra
time... AND IT'S THERE! GEORGE GRAHAM! It's George Graham
who got the touch and makes it 1-1!'
George Graham claims Arsenal's opener
In fact
it was George Graham who sold the greatest dummy of all
time, kidding everyone in the stadium that he'd got the
final touch. 'It didn't matter, we'd scored,' grins
Charlie. 'Pushing forward and trying to score in extra
time is very difficult. It was so hot, like a cauldron.
The heat was so intense it was unbelievable. The day
absolutely drains you. The 90-minute period I've played
as well as anyone,but in extra time1 was tired. I swapped
over and moved up front, I think Geordie [Armstrong]
dropped back. I was a little bit knackered but I could
always find the strength to hit one from 20-30 yards. It
was never a problem. It was easy for me to hit a ball, no
matter how far.' Brian Moore: 'Graham. Radford. Charlie
George. Radford. Oh, Charlie George, who can hit 'em...
OH WHAT A GREAT GOAL CHARLIE GEORGE! WELL WHAT A FABULOUS
GOAL BY GEORGE! CLEMENCE HAD NO CHANCE WITH THAT!'
It was
stunning. And what followed was equally staggering:
Charlie was floored by his own knockout blow. It remains
one of the game's enduring images, imprinted on the minds
offootball fans regardless of club. There is Charlie, a
symbol of everything that is precocious about football
and life, lying flat out with his arms outstretched on
the Wembley turf. The best thing about it is the look on
his face. It's as if he's saying, 'Well what did you all
expect? It just happened, didn't it?' Charlie is as
casual about it as ever. 'I've been a supporter myself. I
always feel you're giving them something back. If you
score and just run back to the halfway line it's absolute
bollocks. There's no feeling. I always felt the rap. port
with the crowd. I enjoyed it - if you don't there's no
point in playing.'
That
night Charlie didn't slope off home - he went mad.
Critics say George never fulfilled his true potential. He
could have ended up playing for Barcelona. He ended up
playing for Dundee United. He shrugs. '1 could have been
a better player I suppose, people seem to have said that
about me. I'm quite happy about my life, I don't complain
about anything, just sort of get on with it.' So George
drifted about, from one shenanigan to the next. One of
his fingers is missing, which he claims is the result of
a lawnmower accident. It's debatable whether even the
lawnmower believes him. He always was a rogue. Now he's
back where he started, a face going about his business in
Islington, watching the Arsenal on Saturdays. Wherever he
goes he's still patted on the back for that goal. If you
had a pound for every time it's been mentioned to you, eh
Charlie?
Early
70's model of George is struck in the pose
of his famous FA Cup goal
'People
recognise you scored the goal which enabled the club to
win the Double,' he says. 'No matter where I go now - I
watch Arsenal approximately 80 per cent of games home and
away I'm recognised and I enjoy it. 'I've been a
supporter and then I played and now I'm a supporter
again. I only watch Arsenal.'
A version
of this article first appeared in 'Proud to say that
Name' by Amy Lawrence published by Mainstream.
See the story of the 1971 Cup Final programme, at December
2001 News
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