Kevin Beattie
Thomas Kevin Beattie was an English footballer. Born into poverty, he played at both professional and international levels, mostly as a centre-half. He spent the majority of his playing career at Ipswich Town, the club with which he won both the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup. He was also named the inaugural Professional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year at the end of the 1972–73 season, and featured in the film Escape to Victory alongside many of his Ipswich teammates.
Beattie's playing career took him from rags to riches, but according to The Daily Telegraph he was "cursed by being both injury and accident prone". His playing career included some controversy, notably when he went missing after being selected for England's under-23 team. After retiring from playing he descended into unemployment and alcohol abuse, and contemplated suicide, before finding purpose once more and a new career in later life, as a football commentator on television and radio.
Beattie has been called Ipswich Town's best ever player by many pundits and polls. Ipswich manager Bobby Robson called him the best England player he had seen.
Early life
Thomas Kevin Beattie was born in Carlisle on 18 December 1953. His family lived in the Botcherby estate and he was one of nine children: five boys and four girls. He became known by his middle name, as his father was also named Thomas Beattie. Beattie's mother was a cleaner at a Lipton tea shop, whilst his father worked for the National Coal Board, delivering coal. The elder Thomas played amateur football as a goalkeeper and once had a trial with Aston Villa, but turned down an offer to join the club as he could earn more working for the Coal Board. After he was forced to give up work due to a back problem, the family suffered financially and were often short of food, leading to the young Beattie taking fruit and vegetables from local allotments. In later life, he recalled, "There was often only food on the table when Dad had backed a winning horse, or else won a game of darts, or dominoes down at his local pub."Beattie supported his local football team, Carlisle United, and idolised players like Hughie McIlmoyle. He recalled being "devastated" when McIlmoyle was too busy to sign an autograph outside the club, resolving never to turn down such requests. Beattie attended St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic junior school, where he began playing football for the school team, initially as a goalkeeper. His family were unable to afford the football boots he needed, but a teacher named Mr Raffety bought a pair for him. Beattie soon became a forward and modelled himself on Chelsea's Peter Osgood.
Although Beattie passed his eleven-plus exams, his family could not afford the grammar school uniform, so he moved to St Patrick's Roman Catholic senior school. He began playing for Blackfriars, a local youth team managed by Raffety, and also, from the age of 14, for a pub team, alongside his father. Raffety recommended him to Carlisle United, but the club did not have a youth team. He left school aged 14, and subsequently worked as a machine fitter and delivery boy in factories, a warehouse, a dry cleaner and then a furniture company.
Club career
Ipswich Town
Youth
At the age of 15, Beattie was playing for Blackfriars on Sunday and for a club called St Augustine on Saturdays, when he was spotted by a football scout and offered a trial with Liverpool. Beattie travelled to Liverpool and impressed manager Bill Shankly sufficiently for him to be invited back to sign for the club. Beattie returned to Liverpool on his own, but nobody from the club arrived to meet him at Lime Street station. After waiting an hour and assuming they had lost interest, and with nothing but his boots and train ticket, he returned home to Carlisle. Shankly would later describe missing out on signing the youngster as one of his biggest mistakes.Soon after this, Beattie joined Ipswich Town as an apprentice. Ipswich manager Bobby Robson made sure that he was met at Euston station in London, played in a youth match at Fulham, and was accompanied all the way to Ipswich's Portman Road ground by the club's chief scout, Ron Gray. Robson told Gray, "If you miss him, you've lost your job". The poverty Beattie came from was evident when he arrived in Ipswich wearing his father's shoes, so when Ipswich signed him, the club immediately bought him some clothes. As a youth he had played as a striker, but Robson converted him into a defender, usually a centre-half; the player said in later life that the move suited him well, as it meant he could see all the play in front of him.
Now earning a wage, Beattie tried to help support his family, sending money home each week. He also stepped in to prevent domestic violence between his parents: "I became extremely upset when I found out that Dad was spending the money that I had been sending home on drink and Mum was going without. Not only that but I also found out that his drinking had got worse and he had started knocking Mum around."
Senior
Beattie was given his first-team debut aged 18 against Manchester United in the opening match of the 1972–73 season in England's top division. Ipswich won the game 2–1, and afterwards he asked United's Bobby Charlton for his autograph; Charlton told Beattie that his play reminded him of Duncan Edwards and that, in years to come, he would be the one signing autographs. Beattie scored his first league goal for the club two weeks later at Elland Road in a 3–3 draw with Leeds United. That season he featured 38 times for Ipswich in the league and scored 5 goals; Ipswich ended in fourth place, their best finish since the Championship-winning 1961–62 season under Alf Ramsey. Beattie was also part of the 1972–73 Texaco Cup-winning team, which defeated Norwich City 4–2 on aggregate over two legs, and he was named the inaugural winner of the Ipswich Town Player of the Year award.The following season saw Beattie's first appearance in a European competition, with Ipswich having qualified for the UEFA Cup as a result of their fourth position in the league the previous season. He played in aggregate victories over Real Madrid, Lazio and FC Twente, before the side lost on penalties to Lokomotive Leipzig, Beattie having scored his first European goal in the home leg. He appeared in all 42 league games for Ipswich that season, made 15 other appearances in cup competitions, and was presented with the inaugural Professional Footballers' Association's Young Player of the Year award. He was also once again voted his club's Player of the Year. Early in the 1974–75 season Beattie was involved in mild controversy against Stoke City when his tackle at Portman Road broke John Ritchie's leg. In the return fixture at Stoke's Victoria Ground, Beattie's teammate Allan Hunter was involved in an incident that left Stoke's Denis Smith with a broken leg. The crowd erupted in anger, directed at Beattie; Robson noted "There was a cauldron for 20 minutes. Kevin Beattie had to beat 28,000 people out there." Later that season, Beattie was awarded the captaincy for a game, against his home team Carlisle United. Having played 52 games and scored 6 goals during the season for Ipswich, he was elected by his peers as a member of the First Division Team of the Year. He had helped his club reach the semi-final of the 1974–75 FA Cup and to finish the league season in third position.
Beattie made 36 appearances for Ipswich during the 1975–76 season, scoring 4 goals. Ipswich finished sixth and were knocked out of the 1975–76 FA Cup in the fourth round. Towards the end of the season, he began to suffer from severe back pain, something he blamed on an injury incurred as a child while helping his father carry sacks of coal. Despite the relative lack of success with his club, he was selected in the First Division Team of the Year for the second year in a row. The 1976–77 season started well for Ipswich with victories over Liverpool and Manchester United. Ipswich then achieved a club record-equalling 7–0 win over West Bromwich Albion: the Albion goalkeeper John Osborne said of Beattie's long-range goal that he regarded himself as fortunate he had not touched it as it would have knocked his hand off. Beattie's season was prematurely curtailed by a self-inflicted injury: stoking a bonfire at his home, he decided to add petrol; the ensuing flare-up gave him serious burns to his face and neck, leading to him missing six matches. Before the injury, Ipswich were challenging for the league title, but, in Beattie's absence, the side lost four of their last six matches and missed out on winning the championship by five points. He played in 34 games for Ipswich that season, scoring 5 goals, and was selected for the PFA Team of the Year for the third time in a row, along with teammates Mick Mills and Brian Talbot.
Beattie was fit to play by the start of the 1977–78 season, but a knee injury sustained in a league match led to him withdrawing from the England squad to face Luxembourg. Further investigation revealed he had damaged cartilage in his knee, which required an operation. Having had three weeks' recuperation and a cortisone injection, he was restored to the Ipswich squad in time to play in the third round UEFA Cup home leg against FC Barcelona. Ipswich won the fixture 3–0, and even though he suffered a reaction in his knee, he insisted he was able to play in the away leg. Robson disagreed, and Beattie was left out of the side for the game; Ipswich were knocked out on penalties. Cortisone injections became commonplace for Beattie, who returned to the team in time for the FA Cup fourth-round victory against Hartlepool. Although Ipswich's form in the league was poor, they were safe from relegation by the time they faced West Bromwich Albion in the FA Cup semi-final at Highbury, a game for which Beattie was given the all-clear. A 3–1 victory saw Ipswich into the final, yet the next day his knee was once again swollen and his participation in the final was in jeopardy. According to Beattie, "the boss secretly told me that if I felt fit enough to play then I was in". Robson did not announce the Cup final team until the last minute: it included a formation change to include five midfielders and Paul Mariner as a lone striker – and Beattie in defence. Roger Osborne's late goal for Ipswich was the only score of the game, and they won the trophy. Beattie had three cortisone injections to get through the final. Following the cup final success, he and teammates Robin Turner and David Geddis were awarded the freedom of Carlisle. Beattie had represented Ipswich 21 times during the course of the season, without scoring a goal.
Shortly into the 1978–79 season, Beattie suffered problems with his other knee. Two further operations followed, and he was confined to treatment and physiotherapy, only, in his words, "wheeled out for the really big games". Overall, he made 26 appearances that season, scoring twice. The 1979–80 season saw him make just 12 appearances, twice as substitute, and score twice, as his post-match recuperation took weeks, not days. He also played a "bit-part" in the 1980–81 season, usually as a striker instead of his usual position of centre-half. However, his defensive role in the two-leg victory over the Czechoslovakian team Bohemians, in the second round of the 1980–81 UEFA Cup, for which he was awarded man of the match, proved vital to Ipswich's season. Although irregularly selected as a result of his injuries, Beattie played in the fourth round, first leg 4–1 away victory over AS Saint-Étienne, whose team included Michel Platini and Johnny Rep. Ipswich won the home leg 3–1 without Beattie. He played his last match for Ipswich in April 1981, in an FA Cup semi-final loss to Manchester City in which he broke his arm. Ipswich won the UEFA Cup at the end of the season, but Beattie was not presented with a winner's medal as he did not play in the final or even appear on the bench, through injury; 26 years later, a petition was organised by Rob Finch, the writer of Beattie's 2007 biography The Greatest Footballer England Never Had, calling on UEFA to right the wrong. Beattie was finally awarded a medal by UEFA president Michel Platini at the 2008 UEFA Cup Final between Rangers and Zenit Saint Petersburg.
Beattie retired due to injury in December 1981, following five knee operations in four years. His testimonial game took place in March 1982, against a Dynamo Moscow XI.