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Jeff Astle (West
Bromwich Albion)
Jeff Astle, one of
the great legends of the 70-71 era has died, aged 59.
Jeff was a part of the England 1970 World Cup squad that
set my imagination alight as a child, placed Dunstable on
the map, and gave me coutless belly laughs in his days as
the singer that ended the 'Fantasy Football' show. But it
as 'The King' of West Bromwich Albion that he will be
best remembered.
Jeff had signed to
West Brom in Setember 1964 from Notts County , where he
had played 103 League games scoring 31 goals. He was a
22,500 pound bargain. His legendary status grew out of
being an ever-present member of the West Brom teams that
reached four domestic finals in the Sixties and early
Seventies.
His was the only
goal in the victory FA Cup in versus Everton in1968, and
he scored in the first leg of the League Cup in 1966,
which West Brom went on to win. In the two further League
Cup Final appearences, West Brom lost a famous match to
QPR in 1967 and Jeff was a scorer again in the 2-1 defeat
to Man City in 1970. West Bromwich Albion have failed to
win or reach a final of any competition since.
A few months after
his second League Cup final goal and defeat, Jeff was a
player in one of the most famous World Cup matches ever,
though sadly his contribution is remembered for the goal
he didn't get ! World Cup holders England played the
Champions to be, Brazil. The score was 1-0 to Brazil and
Astle was so unlucky not to get an equaliser with only 10
minutes or so to go. He crucially missed an open goal. He
played the next game versus Czechoslovakia, too, but this
was the last of his England five caps.
In the 70-71 season
itself, Jeff played in all but one league match, but his
13 League goals was second placed to the 28 scored by the
rising star, Tony Brown. His career was coming to a
premature end. At West Brom he played 292 League games
getting 137 goals - in all competitions he played 361
games with 174 goals for the club. He joined Barry Fry at
Dunstable, long before he needed to bow out of League
football, but he never returned to the top flight.
Jeff went on to
become a window cleaner, but he was to return to the
field of entertainment once again. The comedian and West
Brom fan, Frank Skinner drafted Jeff into his regular
football show with David Baddiel, called 'Fantasy
Football'. Jeff would appear in the final sequence,
dressed in a manner that suited a cheesy song, which he
would then sing to astonished laughter and applause,
whilst the closing titles scrolled up the screen.
I hate to think
that this is the only way an under-thirty year old will
know Jeff, but what the heck. He was a great entertainer.
He was a top-class footballer, and a hero to a generation
in the Milands and beyond. There is already talk of a
permanent memorial at the Hawthorns, West Brom's ground,
this tribute would be a fitting one for the last player
to score an FA Cup winner for the club. Farewell to The
'King'.
There's more
details from the following tributes:
BBC SPORT FOOTBALL Baggies mourn
The King
BBC Sport
Online's Neil Hall reviews the career of former West
Brom and England striker Jeff Astle, who has died
aged 59.
It is one of football's sad
ironies that Jeff Astle, widely regarded as a natural
goalscorer, may end up being best remembered for a
chance he missed.
With England trailing 1-0
against Brazil at the 1970 World Cup, Astle missed
his country's best chance for an equaliser as they
slipped to defeat.
But this miss was nothing if
not uncharacteristic.
For his club side West
Bromwich Albion, Astle will be remembered as
"The King" due to his formidable
goalscoring record.
Astle joined the Baggies
from Notts County in 1964 for just £25,000.
He went on to score 174
goals in 361 senior appearances for the club.
The most memorable
of which came in Albion's 1968 FA Cup final win over
Everton.
With the game in
extra-time, Astle unleashed a ferocious left foot
shot from 20-yards to hand the underdogs a 1-0
victory.
The goal not only
secured his status as a West Brom great, but also
guaranteed him a place in FA Cup folklore as he
became the first player to have scored in every round
of the competition in one season.
Two years later,
the striker bagged himself another milestone when he
became the first player to have scored in both League
and FA Cup finals.
Although this time
the Baggies were defeated by Manchester City.
There was more to
his game than just goalscoring though, as Astle is
ranked as one of the greatest header's of a ball
there has ever been.
The year 1970 was
probably the pinnacle of his career, and it was a
significant achievement to be in England's squad for
the World Cup that year.
Although England
were not able to retain their title, the squad for
that tournament is considered by many pundits to be
better than that which emerged victorious in 1966.
In total, Astle
played five times for England without scoring a goal.
Unfortunately,
after 1970 Astle's career was dogged by injury and
problems with his knees meant he was forced to end
his stint at the Hawthorns in 1974.
Coming from an era
when a footballer's yearly income would not match the
weekly wage of today's stars, Astle was forced to
pursue an alternative career.
He successfully ran
a window cleaning business, before coming back into
the public eye in the 1990's with a tongue-in-cheek
singing slot on the Fantasy Football television
programme.
And just to set the
record straight on that 1970 World Cup miss, it was
to prove meaningless.
England went out in
the quarter-finals after losing 3-2 to West Germany,
while Brazil went on to win the title for a record
third time.
Some
tributes appear at BBC SPORT Baggies pay tribute to
Astle includes
...
West Brom chief
executive John Wile (Peterborough United), a former
team-mate of Astle, said: "He was a fantastic
player and a great guy. He will be sorely missed.
"It was a laugh a minute in the dressing room.
He always made light of the situation and was always
ready to join in any mickey-taking that was going
around.
"The nice thing about Jeff was that he was a
very humble fellow.
"After he finished playing, he didn't think
football owed him a living. He got on with things and
made a new life."
Wile said that Astle would go down in history as one
of West Brom's greatest players.
"He was a master of his art. He was also pretty
useful on the ground and had a superb strike rate.
"I have never seen anyone head the ball like it.
He was magnificent.
"I don't think it is cheap to say he was a
legend at West Brom.
Former England captain Alan Mullery, who played alongside Astle
at the 1970 World Cup, said: "Sir Alf Ramsey
said the squad in 1970 was better than the team that
won the World Cup in 1966, so it just shows you how
good a player Jeff was.
"He was a legend at West Brom and they loved
him."
Also see
BBC SPORT FOOTBALL Former
England star Astle dies
BBC SPORT FOOTBALL Former
England star Astle dies 2
An excellent profile by Bryn Jones, which includes a
picture from the 1970-71 'World of Soccer Stars' Book is
at BOING The Unofficial West
Bromwich Albion Web Site
Dave Bowler has another great tribute at West Bromwich Albion Football
Club - Profile
Brian Glenville write at Guardian Unlimited Football News
Obituary Jeff Astle
Whilst we're at it see Guardian Unlimited Observer
Sport Frank Skinner My team
David McVay writes at The Times
See more January 2002
news at the following ...
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