Former catcher George Eastham passed away on December 20th at the age of 88. John Spurling Looking back on his career…
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Expensive newbie George Eastham, pitching against Bolton Wanderers on his Arsenal debut, scored twice in the Gunners’ 5–1 win at Highbury in December 1960. Costing a hefty £47,500, the former Newcastle United forward impressed the crowd of 30,818. With a fine touch and excellent positional sense, but in typical early 60s Arsenal fashion, George Swindin’s side lost 5-2 against Burnley, with Eastham in the next game. By his own admission, he played ‘a bit bad’.
A sensitive and highly skilled forward in an era when football tactics were more practical, Eastham was often in mortal danger of being decapitated by football’s axe-men, including Leeds United’s Bobby Collins. Eastham’s struggle for consistency came against the backdrop of a disappointing mid-table finish as Swindin and Billy Wright failed to find the elusive winning formula. This was a barren spell for the club. Eastham was also part of England’s 1966 World Cup winning squad, but did not make a single appearance during the tournament. Alf Ramsey was never certain of Eastham’s words and at parts of the game labeled him ‘almost a man’.
Nonetheless, for most of his Arsenal career, Eastham was one of the country’s most talked about and controversial footballers following his widely publicized move to the N5. By the time he arrived at Highbury, he was already a freedom fighter for players’ rights and, with the support of the PFA, pursued High Court action that, in the words of PFA chairman Jimmy Hill, ‘changed the whole landscape of football’. Understated but confident, Eastham was a man of strong convictions.
I was fortunate enough to interview Eastham twice. For the first time in 2000, he embodied the situation faced by football players in the early 60s: “The retention and transfer system did not allow footballers to freely change employers at the end of their contracts. In theory we could stay if the club wants and if we argue about it we could end up rotting in the reserves. In such circumstances the club may refuse to pay you. In effect, our contract could tie us to the club for life. Most people called it a ‘slave contract’. We had virtually no rights at all. It often happened that the man on the terrace not only made more money than us (though there’s nothing wrong with that), but also had more freedom of movement than we did. We couldn’t just submit our notice and move on. “That is wrong.”
Eastham began the process of tearing down this old edifice by demanding a transfer from Newcastle in 1959. “They messed me up with the clubhouse, which was frankly uninhabitable,” he recalled. Like many other players of his era who were tied to a maximum wage of £20, Eastham also had another job to supplement his wages. That job took him to working men’s clubs in the Northeast, selling plate glass to punters. “It wasn’t good for my family life,” he said. So, with his contract soon to expire in 1959, Eastham informed the club that he wanted out. Over the next two years, Eastham was placed under virtual house arrest by Newcastle, with the club withholding his wages, and he eventually decided to go into self-imposed exile in London and make a living by selling cork.
Arsenal broke the deadlock by offering £47,500 for his services. Newcastle were reluctant to give in, but they could not afford to turn down the offer, especially as their asset values were falling rapidly. The full transfer was one of the first to be carried out by a tabloid. The left-leaning Daily Mirror criticized the FA for being reluctant to scrap its ‘slavery contract’. How to run a sportIt made headlines in early 1961.
The PFA, of which Eastham was now its most high-profile member, threatened a ‘football strike’ unless Newcastle and the FA backed down and released Eastham. Despite threats and the support of other unions and newspapers, the FA was ultimately forced into a humiliating decline, and East Ham’s long-awaited move to Arsenal went through. Eastham may have won the battle, but there was always a chance we would return to the dark ages until the courts officially abolished the system.
“I knew I had to take legal action against Newcastle to prevent the situation from turning around,” he said. Around the same time, Jimmy Hill led a campaign to abolish the maximum wage in football. Now footballers can either enjoy or suffer the vagaries of the market. Eastham had nothing to do with the campaign to abolish the maximum wage, but he showed signs of a new breed of footballer. He admitted: “Depending on which side you stand, I have been a martyr, an arrogant man, a traitor…”
Initially, skepticism towards Eastham was evident in pockets of Arsenal fans. A year after Tottenham won the double and maximum wages were officially abolished, East Ham rejected Arsenal’s offer of £30 a week. A letter to the Islington Gazette suggested that his form ‘difficult to justify such an inflated salary’. As the Gunners’ most talented and creative player, Eastham believed he was simply fighting for his rights. His view is, ‘A team of 11 is a team of 11. And that was at odds with Chairman Denis Hill-Wood’s egalitarian views.
With the contract issue still unresolved, Eastham headed to the High Court. The PFA invested £15,000 of their own money to support him in the Eastham v Newcastle United case. With the winds of change blowing across Britain (in the words of Prime Minister Harold Macmillan), Beatlemania just beginning, and working-class heroes like Richard Burton and Michael Caine appearing on the big screen, George Eastham and the PFA have officially ended football’s feudal system. Consigned to the dustbin of history.
Newcastle United have been criticized. no way) impose unlawful restraints of trade on George Eastham; rain) unlawfully prevent Eastham from joining another club after his contract expires. Eastham showed little nervousness as he prepared for his court appearance. “I was lucky to inherit serenity from my father,” he said.
“I’ve never been nervous even when something big has happened.”
In the dock, Newcastle chairman Alderman McKeag and his fellow directors frequently contradicted each other and were mercilessly beaten by Eastham’s legal team led by Gerald Gardiner QC. Eastham, by contrast, was cool, calm and collected. On one occasion he responded to McKeag’s verbal threat by saying: ‘We’re going to kick you out of football forever, Eastham.’ Gasps were heard from the public gallery. The opinion of Judge Wilberforce and the jury was clear. Newcastle United have been found guilty of restraining order. By not allowing Eastham to leave the club at the end of his contract, they denied him rights afforded to employees in other jobs. This will be abolished with immediate effect, with the club’s option to extend the players’ employment on an annual basis. Wilberforce claimed: “Footballers might now think that they finally have the rights of the 20th century.”
“A weight was lifted off my shoulders,” Eastham admitted. Initially dropped by new Gunners manager Billy Wright, Eastham were converted to inside-right, allowing Joe Baker to operate more freely up front, with the classy Baker/Eastham side with ‘Highbury Express’ Alan Skirtton providing the bullets. The partnership flourished. His contract issues were resolved and his goal in a thrilling 4-4 draw with Tottenham in October 1963 was a particularly good result for the Highbury regular. Eastham left Arsenal following a move to Stoke City after the 1966 World Cup, and after a period in America returned to the Victoria Ground for a second contract, during which time he scored the winning goal in the 1972 League Cup final against Chelsea. Yes. Eastham, 36, grizzled and sporting handsome sideburns, is still as lean and fit as ever. After a short spell managing Stoke City, he moved to South Africa and, as a staunch opponent of apartheid, began coaching young black players. For his services to football he was later awarded an OBE.
Outspoken and sensitive in interviews, he refuses to criticize those who blocked his move to Arsenal a few years ago. “They were a product of a different era,” he shrugs. “I never wanted that kind of fuss about the court case and me being labeled a ‘freedom fighter’. “I was just a guy who wanted to do his own thing.”
The week I interviewed East Ham, Manchester United captain Roy Keane received a £50,000-a-week contract. “That’s a lot of money!” He said, puffing out his cheeks. Today’s multi-millionaire players, who rarely see their contracts expire, take freedom of movement for granted. Thanks to his brave stand in the High Court, football’s most unlikely rebel, the ice-cold George Eastham, secured his rights in the sport’s black and white era. Rest assured, George.
George Eastham: September 23, 1936 – December 20, 2024.
