Len Shackleton
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Leonard Francis Shackleton | ||
Date of birth | 3 May 1922 | ||
Place of birth | Bradford, England | ||
Date of death | 28 November 2000 | (aged 78)||
Place of death | Grange-over-Sands, England | ||
Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[1] | ||
Position(s) |
Outside forward | ||
Youth career | |||
1936–1938 |
Bradford Park Avenue | ||
1936–1938 | → Kippax United (loan) | ||
1938–1939 | Arsenal | ||
1938–1939 | → Enfield (loan) | ||
1939 | London Paper Mills | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1940–1946 |
Bradford Park Avenue | 7 | (4) |
1946–1948 | Newcastle United | 57 | (26) |
1948–1957 | Sunderland | 320 | (97) |
Total | 384 | (127) | |
International career | |||
1935–1936 | England Schoolboys | 3 | (2) |
1948–1954 | England | 5 | (1) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Leonard Francis Shackleton (3 May 1922 – 28 November 2000) was an English
Able to play at
Born in
Club career
Leonard Francis Shackleton was born in Bradford, England on 3 May 1922 to Leonard and Irene Shackleton; his father was a self-employed painter and decorator and his mother was a housewife.[3] He was the elder brother to Irene and John; John went on to sign for Sunderland, though never played a first team game and quit the game to become a chiropodist and tennis coach.[4] Shackleton attended Carlton High Grammar school, and became the first Bradford schoolboy to represent England schoolboys when he scored two goals in a 6–2 victory over Wales schoolboys; also in the team that day was future Sunderland teammate Dickie Davis.[1]
Early career
Despite his family being keen
Bradford Park Avenue
Shackleton returned to his hometown upon hearing of the outbreak of
Newcastle United
In October 1946, Shackleton was sold to Second Division side Newcastle United for a £13,000 fee.[16] He was sold as a direct replacement for Albert Stubbins, who had been sold from Newcastle to Liverpool for the same fee.[17] He scored six goals on his debut in Newcastle's 13–0 defeat of Newport County at St James' Park on 5 October, with three of his goals coming within the space of just 155 seconds.[18] However his return to Park Avenue in his fourth game for Newcastle was not a happy one, as he had a penalty saved by former teammate Chick Farr in a 2–1 defeat to Bradford PA.[19] The "Magpies" boasted a devastating forward line of Jackie Milburn, Roy Bentley, Charlie Wayman, Shackleton, and Tommy Pearson, and totalled 95 league goals in the 1946–47 season, though their tally of 62 goals conceded and 13 defeats left the club having to settle for fifth place.[20] They did though reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup, where they were beaten 4–0 by Charlton Athletic.[21] After the semi-final game he and club captain Joe Harvey went on strike over housing issues; the club's board eventually relented and granted Shackleton the house they had initially promised him, though to save face told the press that Harvey and Shackleton had been in the wrong and had apologised.[22] He further came into conflict with the club at Christmas 1947, when he and goalkeeper Jack Fairbrother refused to join the squad on a scouting party on opponents Charlton Athletic, who they faced later that season in the third round of the FA Cup.[23] Unhappy with the club, he handed in a transfer request, which was granted.[24]
"...those people upstairs, and whatnot – I never hit it off with... the fans are so brilliant at Newcastle that I feel guilty when I call them (names). But I'm not calling the fans, I'm calling the club... I've no bias against Newcastle – I don't care who beats them!"
Sunderland
In February 1948, Shackleton was sold to
Shackleton never won any honours with Sunderland, the closest he came to doing so being a third-place finish in
International career
Shackleton won his first full cap for England in a 0–0 draw with Denmark on 26 September 1948.[37] He was dropped and replaced by Stan Pearson for England's next game, before making a surprise return in a 1–0 win over Wales at Villa Park on 10 November 1948.[37] His third cap came again against Wales, in a 4–1 victory in Cardiff on 15 October 1949.[37] He then had to wait five years for his fourth cap, in which time the England selectors had tried 17 different players at inside-forward, with limited success.[38] Selectors had always viewed the rebellious Shackleton with distrust, and one selector who was challenged over Shackleton's continued absence in the England team told a journalist that "we play at Wembley, not the London Palladium."[39] He made his return again against Wales, in a 3–2 victory at Wembley Stadium.[39] He put in his finest performance however in his final England appearance, scoring with a chipped goal in a 3–1 win over the then World Champions West Germany on 1 December 1954.[40] He later wrote that the goal was "my most memorable scoring effort in a lifetime of soccer... I felt a keen sense of satisfaction – not because the goal made our victory over Germany certain, but because I had decided exactly how to go about scoring it long before the chance presented itself. Anticipation and fulfilment."[41]
Style of play
Journalist Malcolm Hartley, wrote of Shackleton: "Apart from the adhesive ball control and breathtaking body swerve, Shack could hit a ball. His slender legs could crack the ball like a
A showman who liked to entertain the crowd, he was able to cut the ball with sufficient spin that it would roll towards an opponent only to stop and then return to him as though on a string.[43] He was also adept at back heeling penalty kicks into the goal.[44] He would rarely track back and defend however, and antics were sometimes criticised as "unsportsman-like".[43] On one occasion, 2–1 up against Arsenal with 5 minutes to go, he dribbled the ball into The Gunners' penalty area before putting his foot on it, pretending to comb his hair while looking at his watch. Other examples include mocking opposition full-backs by playing one-twos with the corner flag, literally sitting on the ball to torment defenders who could not dispossess him, and teasing a beaten goalkeeper by putting his foot on the ball on the goal line.[2] Sunderland teammate Trevor Ford wrote in his autobiography that: "where did it [Shackleton's antics] get us? Precisely nowhere. The result was that when he did make a move, the opposing defence was in position and the attack broke down. Time and again when I thought Shack was going to slip a goalscoring pass to me he would veer off".[45] However Billy Bingham defended Shackleton by noting that Ford had poor positional skills.[30]
Cricket career
While playing for Sunderland, Shackleton played
Journalism career and later life
Shackleton became a sports journalist after retiring as a footballer. He had been an outspoken critic of the football establishment during his playing career, particularly so of the maximum wage rule.[47] He used his nickname, The Clown Prince of Soccer, for his 1956 autobiography. One chapter of that book was "The Average Director's Knowledge of Football". It consisted of a single blank page.[48] The book proved to be immensely popular, and ran into five editions within three months.[49]
Shackleton, who had also been a barber during his playing career, had three sons with his wife Marjorie. He moved to Grange-over-Sands in Cumbria on retirement and wrote Return of the Clown Prince with his son Roger. He had a heart attack in August 2000 and died on 28 November that year, aged 78.[50]
Only after his death he became known to many and younger people, esp. to foreigners, because his fame was spread around europe by the legendary "anarcho-folk-punk-band" Chumbawamba in their "Song To Len Shackleton" (released 2002 on their "Readymades" CD)
Statistics
Club statistics
Source:[51]
Club | Season | Division | League | FA Cup | Total | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
Bradford Park Avenue
|
1945–46 | – | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 1 |
1946–47 | Second Division | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 4 | |
Total | 7 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 15 | 5 | ||
Newcastle United | 1946–47 | Second Division | 32 | 19 | 6 | 3 | 38 | 22 |
1947–48 | Second Division | 25 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 7 | |
Total | 57 | 26 | 7 | 3 | 64 | 29 | ||
Sunderland | 1947–48 | First Division | 14 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 4 |
1948–49 | First Division | 39 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 41 | 8 | |
1949–50 | First Division | 40 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 42 | 16 | |
1950–51 | First Division | 30 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 34 | 6 | |
1951–52 | First Division | 41 | 22 | 2 | 0 | 43 | 22 | |
1952–53 | First Division | 31 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 34 | 6 | |
1953–54 | First Division | 38 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 14 | |
1954–55 | First Division | 32 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 38 | 9 | |
1955–56 | First Division | 28 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 34 | 7 | |
1956–57 | First Division | 26 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 8 | |
1957–58 | First Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
Total | 320 | 97 | 28 | 3 | 348 | 100 | ||
Career Total | 384 | 127 | 43 | 7 | 427 | 134 |
International statistics
England national team | ||
---|---|---|
Year | Apps | Goals |
1948 | 2 | 0 |
1949 | 1 | 0 |
1954 | 2 | 1 |
Total[52] | 5 | 1 |
References
- Specific
- ^ a b Malam 2004, p. 19
- ^ a b "BBC SPORT | FOOTBALL | Len Shackleton: Clown Prince". BBC News. 29 November 2000. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
- ^ Malam 2004, p. 13
- ^ Malam 2004, p. 14
- ^ a b Malam 2004, p. 21
- ^ Malam 2004, p. 22
- ^ Malam 2004, p. 27
- ^ Malam 2004, p. 28
- ^ Malam 2004, p. 31
- ^ a b Malam 2004, p. 35
- ^ Malam 2004, p. 36
- ^ Slater, Gary (4 December 2000). "UniBond League: Park Avenue to honour Shackleton with memorial". The Telegraph. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
- ^ Malam 2004, p. 49
- ^ Malam 2004, p. 50
- ^ Malam 2004, p. 51
- ^ Malam 2004, p. 52
- ^ Malam 2004, p. 60
- ^ The Times, 7 October 1946, Association Football Newcastle's 13 Goals
- ^ Malam 2004, p. 63
- ^ Malam 2004, p. 64
- ^ Malam 2004, p. 66
- ^ Malam 2004, p. 67
- ^ Malam 2004, p. 68
- ^ Malam 2004, p. 72
- ^ Malam 2004, p. 79
- ^ Malam 2004, p. 73
- ^ Malam 2004, p. 81
- ^ Malam 2004, p. 83
- ^ Malam 2004, p. 84
- ^ a b Malam 2004, p. 87
- ^ Malam 2004, p. 88
- ^ Malam 2004, p. 90
- ^ Malam 2004, p. 91
- ^ a b Malam 2004, p. 92
- ^ Malam 2004, p. 103
- ^ Malam 2004, p. 104
- ^ a b c d Malam 2004, p. 106
- ^ Malam 2004, p. 116
- ^ a b Malam 2004, p. 119
- ^ Malam 2004, p. 121
- ^ Malam 2004, p. 122
- ISBN 1-899538-15-1.
- ^ a b Malam 2004, p. 45
- ^ The 50 greatest North strikers The Chronicle, 26 June 2011
- ^ Malam 2004, p. 85
- ^ "Player profile: Len Shackleton". CricketArchive. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
- ^ Malam 2004, p. 78
- ^ Malam 2004, p. 134
- ^ Malam 2004, p. 135
- ^ "Len Shackleton". The Guardian. 29 November 2000. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
- ^ Len Shackleton at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
- ^ "Len Shackleton". national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
- General
- Malam, Colin (2004). Clown Prince of Soccer? The Len Shackleton Story. Highdown. ISBN 1-904317-74X.