My Father and other Working Class Football Heroes

Guest Writer Beano Niblock with a review of a sports book by Gary Imlach.

If you are expecting a run of the mill account of how a young footballing protégé made good, accrued countless millions from both the sport and subsequent franchises, acquired a WAG and became a much sought after pundit post career, you will be sorely disappointed. Gary Imlach instead gives us a poignant — but not sentimental or fawning — account of his father’s short career as a professional football throughout the fifties and sixties.
The author was born in the middle of that career so much of the information wasn’t a first hand one but rather the result of conversations he had with his dad in later life. To many the story may feel a little bland ... in many ways uneventful but what it does particularly well is show the disparity between the footballers of an age not too long ago and the current multi millionaires who lead a lavish life style.

The son, Gary is a well know journalist, broadcaster and author probably best known as the face behind Channel 4’s coverage of both the Tour De France and American Football. Quite recently he was replaced at the latter by Danny Baker. His book won the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award in 2005 and it is easy to see why. It is a welcome departure from the usual, tedious fare in this genre ...with the odd notable exception of course.

I think older football fans may extract more satisfaction than younger ones—with their recall of those hobnailed booted “stars” - but there is lots to savour for fans right across the board.

Stewart Imlach was born in Lossiemouth, Scotland in 1932 and played at amateur level before attracting the attention of clubs south of the border. He signed for Nottingham Forest in the mid fifties and remained at the City Ground for a total of 6 seasons. During this time—which was the most productive of his career—he appeared in the 1959 Cup Final against Luton Town, where he set up the first goal for Elton John’s uncle. The year before he was selected to represent Scotland at the World Cup Finals in Sweden. Indeed he was the first Nottingham Forest play to be selected for Scotland. The 4 caps he received in total were all against foreign opposition which, at that time didn’t mean he had any international caps—they were only awarded to players who played against other Home nations.

This was in an age when the National wage was around £13 per week and the average for a footballer was somewhat less--£10 in most cases. Indicative of this was that many players, even with top clubs had part time jobs and did homers in their spare time. Stewart Imlach was a joiner by trade and carried this on when he could ... his son came across a Forest year book from that time where the players were asked what they thought they would do after football. Imlach senior — Joiner, Bob McKinlay, the captain—back to being a tractor mechanic.

In a career that seen him accumulate over 400 league appearances, Imlach went on to play for Bury, Derby, Luton, Coventry and Crystal Palace. His career was finished with a knee injury and for a number of years he coached at a number of clubs, the most rewarding being at Everton where he was involved with the team that won the First Division title in 1970: the team with the wonderful midfield of Harvey-Kendall-Ball.

Gary goes to great lengths to illustrate the ordinariness of not just his father but of the sport at that particular time. It was a true representation of all the old working class values. How many players of today would travel to and from training, or on a match day to the stadium on public transport ... a bus? Not for them the luxury coaches, with their Gucci soap bags clutched under their arms — or a set of designer headphones pulsing to the sound of Perry Como or Johnny Ray.

Without being twee or mawkish Imlach lauds the spirit of the game of yesteryear whilst showing his growing disinterest in the modern game. He declares that there is little or no resemblance in football as we know it now and that of his father and his contemporaries.

An interesting aside that clearly demonstrates this is the story where his father, along with the majority of the Nottingham Forest team in 1959, all wore sets of false teeth!! After the victory over Luton in that year’s Cup Final the players hadn’t time to go back to the changing rooms to re-insert said dentures before receiving the Cup from the Queen. The victory pose at the top of the steps wouldn’t have been one for the squeamish or faint hearted. In a gentle fashion Gary Imlach paints a portrait of fifties and early sixties football that not too many of us can relate to.

What we can understand however is how much of an understanding he himself gained in researching and writing the book. He came to know his father in a different light
and discovered the values that he and his colleagues from that generation held. They felt blessed, lucky and very fortunate to be paid — albeit it a little paltry — for something they primarily seen as a hobby.

In retrospect Gary seen his Dad as a cross between Roy of the Rovers and Alf Tupper, the welder who worked 12 hour shifts before thumbing a lift to the Empire Stadium in London to run in the Commonwealth 5,000 metres final in a pair of borrowed gutties. This is an interesting observation given that many boys at that time lived in the parallel world of sport and comics. Some of our heroes were of the comic book variety and were almost indistinguishable from the living ones of the period. Think Wilson of the Wizard, Roy Race himself or the outrageous Gorgeous Gus.

At best he seen Stewart — variously described as a diminutive, lightning fast left winger — as a journeyman who was fortunate to reach the heights he did. He loved his father for those same values and was proud that he played in an era when football was truly representative of the working classes. Stewart Imlach died in 2001 aged 69. In 2009 a street in his home town Lossiemouth was renamed in honour of the former international.

Gary Imlach, 2005, My Father and other Working Class Football Heroes. Yellow Jersey: London. ISBN: 978-0224072670