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Post by Gods on Jul 13, 2020 20:32:22 GMT
Apart from scoring the winning goal in the 1972 League Cup Final v Chelsea, still our only major Honour, and playing 200 odd games for the Potters he was an influential player in the wider context of the world game.
I only recall his last couple of seasons for Stoke City but reading up on him he was famous for 2 other reasons.
1.Winning a court case on 'Freedom of Contract' which made it much easier for players to change clubs. Prior to this players were pretty much the 'property' of the clubs to whom they signed. This enabled his move from Newcastle to Arsenal and then to Stoke City
2.He was a member of the 1966 England World Cup winning squad but as an Arsenal player. However he did sign for Stoke City in 1966. Anyone long enough in the tooth to recall this, was it in the summer right after the World Cup? There must have been a buzz around the Victoria Ground from signing a World Cup winner.
Finally thinking about it 3 of that England World Cup squad ended up playing 100+ matches for Stoke City. Geoff Hurst, George Eastham and of course the late, great, one and only Gordon Banks.
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Post by jeycov on Jul 13, 2020 20:35:45 GMT
Alan Ball was here too
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Post by sheikhmomo on Jul 13, 2020 20:37:30 GMT
In slightly less convivial circumstances!
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Post by jeycov on Jul 13, 2020 20:38:36 GMT
In slightly less convivial circumstances! Of course but one of the 22 players / squad members
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Post by mrcoke on Jul 13, 2020 20:43:24 GMT
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Post by smallthorner on Jul 13, 2020 20:47:55 GMT
Apart from scoring the winning goal in the 1972 League Cup Final v Chelsea, still our only major Honour, and playing 200 odd games for the Potters he was an influential player in the wider context of the world game. I only recall last couple of seasons for Stoke City but reading up on him he was famous for 2 other reasons. 1.Winning a court case on 'Freedom of Contract' which made it much easier for players to change clubs. Prior to this players were pretty much the 'property' of the clubs to whom they signed. This enable his move from Newcastle to Arsenal and finally to Stoke City 2.He was a member of the 1966 England World Cup winning squad but as an Arsenal player. However he did sign for Stoke City in 1966. Anyone long enough in the tooth to recall this, was it in the summer right after the World Cup? There must have been abuzz around the Victoria Ground signing a World Cup winner. Finally thinking about it 3 of that England World Cup squad ended up playing 100+ matches for Stoke City. Geoff Hurst, George Eastham and of course the late great one and only Gordon Banks. Yes. I used to brag about this to who would listen back in the day. But, sadly, being a member of the world cup winning squad didn't seem to have the kudos it does today. Stoke had a plethora of mercurial inside-forwards in those days (perhaps no10's today).. Vernon, McIlroy, Eastham, Violett, Dobing. Followed by the likes of Hudson. Waddo actually played Eastham out on the left in his later career..to great effect. Sublime left foot.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 13, 2020 20:48:15 GMT
Lived two doors down from my parents when I was in my teens. Ferndown Drive South. Clayton.
GD
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Post by Deleted on Jul 13, 2020 21:38:01 GMT
Apart from scoring the winning goal in the 1972 League Cup Final v Chelsea, still our only major Honour, and playing 200 odd games for the Potters he was an influential player in the wider context of the world game. I only recall last couple of seasons for Stoke City but reading up on him he was famous for 2 other reasons. 1.Winning a court case on 'Freedom of Contract' which made it much easier for players to change clubs. Prior to this players were pretty much the 'property' of the clubs to whom they signed. This enabled his move from Newcastle to Arsenal and finally to Stoke City 2.He was a member of the 1966 England World Cup winning squad but as an Arsenal player. However he did sign for Stoke City in 1966. Anyone long enough in the tooth to recall this, was it in the summer right after the World Cup? There must have been a buzz around the Victoria Ground from signing a World Cup winner. Finally thinking about it 3 of that England World Cup squad ended up playing 100+ matches for Stoke City. Geoff Hurst, George Eastham and of course the late, great, one and only Gordon Banks. That was back in the day when Arsenal was alright.
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Post by richardparker on Jul 13, 2020 21:52:25 GMT
Managed Stoke right after Waddo and the infamous Butler Street Stand roof debacle. Unable to halt our demise and wnet down to Division 2 under his leadership. He spent time coaching in South Africa before and after this, which at the time was controversial as Apartheid was still a thing and arguments were rife about whether sport was intertwined with politics or separate from it. He actually opposed Apartheid and focused his coaching on the development of black young people there.
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Post by smallthorner on Jul 13, 2020 21:57:57 GMT
Apart from scoring the winning goal in the 1972 League Cup Final v Chelsea, still our only major Honour, and playing 200 odd games for the Potters he was an influential player in the wider context of the world game. I only recall last couple of seasons for Stoke City but reading up on him he was famous for 2 other reasons. 1.Winning a court case on 'Freedom of Contract' which made it much easier for players to change clubs. Prior to this players were pretty much the 'property' of the clubs to whom they signed. This enabled his move from Newcastle to Arsenal and finally to Stoke City 2.He was a member of the 1966 England World Cup winning squad but as an Arsenal player. However he did sign for Stoke City in 1966. Anyone long enough in the tooth to recall this, was it in the summer right after the World Cup? There must have been a buzz around the Victoria Ground from signing a World Cup winner. Finally thinking about it 3 of that England World Cup squad ended up playing 100+ matches for Stoke City. Geoff Hurst, George Eastham and of course the late, great, one and only Gordon Banks. That was back in the day when Arsenal was alright. Not in 1971-72 they weren't. 😊
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Post by Gods on Jul 13, 2020 22:12:20 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 13, 2020 22:13:53 GMT
Apart from scoring the winning goal in the 1972 League Cup Final v Chelsea, still our only major Honour, and playing 200 odd games for the Potters he was an influential player in the wider context of the world game. I only recall his last couple of seasons for Stoke City but reading up on him he was famous for 2 other reasons. 1.Winning a court case on 'Freedom of Contract' which made it much easier for players to change clubs. Prior to this players were pretty much the 'property' of the clubs to whom they signed. This enabled his move from Newcastle to Arsenal and then to Stoke City 2.He was a member of the 1966 England World Cup winning squad but as an Arsenal player. However he did sign for Stoke City in 1966. Anyone long enough in the tooth to recall this, was it in the summer right after the World Cup? There must have been a buzz around the Victoria Ground from signing a World Cup winner. Finally thinking about it 3 of that England World Cup squad ended up playing 100+ matches for Stoke City. Geoff Hurst, George Eastham and of course the late, great, one and only Gordon Banks. Yes he signed before the 66/67 season started
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Post by Gods on Jul 13, 2020 22:18:12 GMT
Apart from scoring the winning goal in the 1972 League Cup Final v Chelsea, still our only major Honour, and playing 200 odd games for the Potters he was an influential player in the wider context of the world game. I only recall his last couple of seasons for Stoke City but reading up on him he was famous for 2 other reasons. 1.Winning a court case on 'Freedom of Contract' which made it much easier for players to change clubs. Prior to this players were pretty much the 'property' of the clubs to whom they signed. This enabled his move from Newcastle to Arsenal and then to Stoke City 2.He was a member of the 1966 England World Cup winning squad but as an Arsenal player. However he did sign for Stoke City in 1966. Anyone long enough in the tooth to recall this, was it in the summer right after the World Cup? There must have been a buzz around the Victoria Ground from signing a World Cup winner. Finally thinking about it 3 of that England World Cup squad ended up playing 100+ matches for Stoke City. Geoff Hurst, George Eastham and of course the late, great, one and only Gordon Banks. Yes he signed before the 66/67 season started Thanks. 6 weeks earlier and we would have had a 66 World Cup hero then, although admittedly I don't think he actually featured in the matches.
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Post by kustokie on Jul 13, 2020 22:49:11 GMT
Apart from scoring the winning goal in the 1972 League Cup Final v Chelsea, still our only major Honour, and playing 200 odd games for the Potters he was an influential player in the wider context of the world game. I only recall his last couple of seasons for Stoke City but reading up on him he was famous for 2 other reasons. 1.Winning a court case on 'Freedom of Contract' which made it much easier for players to change clubs. Prior to this players were pretty much the 'property' of the clubs to whom they signed. This enabled his move from Newcastle to Arsenal and then to Stoke City 2.He was a member of the 1966 England World Cup winning squad but as an Arsenal player. However he did sign for Stoke City in 1966. Anyone long enough in the tooth to recall this, was it in the summer right after the World Cup? There must have been a buzz around the Victoria Ground from signing a World Cup winner. Finally thinking about it 3 of that England World Cup squad ended up playing 100+ matches for Stoke City. Geoff Hurst, George Eastham and of course the late, great, one and only Gordon Banks. I saw my first match at the old Vic in 1966 and was a regular until 1974 when I went away to uni. As I far as a recall he was always on the team sheet. He was frail looking (probably about 9 stone) but very nimble, and rarely got injured because he jumped over his opponents to avoid a tackle. Sliding tackles from behind were perfectly acceptable in those days: one sub was allowed and only for injuries. You learned pretty damn quick how to avoid getting hurt. No physios, either. Just some bloke with a bucket of cold water and a sponge. If you had already used the sub, any injured player was stuck on the wing as a distraction. In LC semi-final at Old Trafford, the west ham goalie had to come off and Bobby Moore took his place. Stoke peppered him the whole match but he managed to keep us at bay for most of the match. This five substitute thing is total bollox. Edit: Eastham had no chance of starting in Sir Alf’s 4-3-3 System because he had to compete with Bobby Charlton, who most people consider in the top five greatest players of all time.
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Post by mrcoke on Jul 13, 2020 23:37:16 GMT
Apart from scoring the winning goal in the 1972 League Cup Final v Chelsea, still our only major Honour, and playing 200 odd games for the Potters he was an influential player in the wider context of the world game. I only recall his last couple of seasons for Stoke City but reading up on him he was famous for 2 other reasons. 1.Winning a court case on 'Freedom of Contract' which made it much easier for players to change clubs. Prior to this players were pretty much the 'property' of the clubs to whom they signed. This enabled his move from Newcastle to Arsenal and then to Stoke City 2.He was a member of the 1966 England World Cup winning squad but as an Arsenal player. However he did sign for Stoke City in 1966. Anyone long enough in the tooth to recall this, was it in the summer right after the World Cup? There must have been a buzz around the Victoria Ground from signing a World Cup winner. Finally thinking about it 3 of that England World Cup squad ended up playing 100+ matches for Stoke City. Geoff Hurst, George Eastham and of course the late, great, one and only Gordon Banks. I saw my first match at the old Vic in 1966 and was a regular until 1974 when went away to uni. As I far as a recall he was always on the team sheet. He was frail looking (probably about 9 stone) but very nimble, and rarely got injured because he jumped over his opponents to avoid a tackle. Sliding tackles from behind were perfectly acceptable in those days: one sub was allowed and only for injuries. You learned pretty damn quick how to avoid getting hurt. No physios, either. Just some bloke with a bucket of cold water and a sponge. If you had already used the sub, any injured player was stuck on the wing as a distraction. In LC semi-final at Old Trafford, the west ham goalie had to come off and Bobby Moore took his place. Stoke peppered him the whole match but he managed to keep us at bay for most of the match. This five substitute thing is total bollox. Edit: Eastham had no chance of starting in Sir Alf’s 4-3-3 System because he had to compete with Bobby Charlton, who most people consider in the top five greatest player of all time. This is an extract of George's ability and talent from the link I posted earlier: Frank McLintock said this of George Eastham. “His apparent physical frailty was an illusion as he had stamina in abundance. I’ve said before that the best players are bright-minded and George was a perfect example of a player with Teddy Sheringham-esque shrewdness and a very cunning intelligence. A great judge of a pass, he had nice, delicate control and was a good athlete – despite his funny, loping shuffle when he ran at full tilt”.
This is what fellow World Cup squad member Alan Ball said about George when they were paired in midfield for Ballies England debut “Eastham played with me in the middle of the park and it was like taking a lesson from a professor. I played my part alright but I learned more about passing and movement at international level than I had ever imagined before. Pat Quinn at Blackpool had taught me about passing and making angles, but George took me to another platform as we beat the Germans 1-0 with a goal from Terry Paine. Just watching George was an education in itself. He talked to me throughout the game and I watched his body shape and the way he approached the ball or the way he stood as the ball came to him. He was never square; always half cock so he could get his passes off. It was something I gratefully picked up from him and that became a feature of my game. He was terrific that day and I have often wondered since why he never won more than his nineteen caps”.First time substitutes became established permanently was 1965 when one was allowed, initially to replace an injured player. Two substitutes (out of 3 named) was started in 1992 when the Premier league started. (That was of course when football started according to much of the media!?) I remember the way George could "ghost past" players. He would take the ball up to them and just dip a shoulder to put the defender on the wrong foot and then slip past him. Best of all was one occasion I saw him carry the ball up to two defenders who were shoulder to shoulder almost, not much more than a half a metre apart, and he simply turned sideways and "slid" between them emerging the other side of them with the ball. The only time he was really stopped was when thugs would set about him to kick him off the pitch. The link above, describes an occasion Leeds Bobby Collins did that. Collins was one of the biggest thugs football has experienced. Revie said he was his best ever signing.
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Post by deliasmith on Jul 13, 2020 23:40:32 GMT
His first home game for us was against a very good Spurs side. He beat them single-handed, the best performance I've ever seen from any Stoke player. We won that match with ease. On the Saturday we played a poor Fulham side at the Vic and lost ... 'twas ever thus.
I think he was so good when he arrived because he was very fit, having trained all summer for the World Cup but never played a game, and because it was Spurs and he was ex-Arsenal. As to how Stoke got him, in those days the gap between big and not-so-big was much narrower than now, and we had a very good transfer dealer in charge, probably nobody better in the league at that time, certainly never surpassed in our history. We won promotion in 1963 with a first XI of eight internationals, seven of them home internationals. Maybe Manchester United and Spurs could say the same, nobody else; of course, our guys were past their peak, but they could do a bit and manage a game. Paradoxically, though, it was a young guy, a non- and never would be international who kept us up that first season.
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Post by cerebralstokie on Jul 14, 2020 8:41:39 GMT
I'm delighted someone has started a thread on George Eastham. He has been underrated in my opinion. He was a very intelligent player and I remember a number of game changing moments he had a part in including a pre Christmas demolition of Cloughie's Derby (4-0) which had the Rams training on Christmas Day as a result. Also a late substitution in the Quarter Final of the League Cup at home to Man.U. when we were 1-0 down.
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Post by spitthedog on Jul 14, 2020 9:00:09 GMT
Great thread He was a wonderful, exceptionally skilled player. There a few clips on YouTube e.g. Man Utd away in the cup, the cross for Greenhoff’s goal Is sublime.
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Post by somersetstokie on Jul 14, 2020 9:16:23 GMT
George always struck me as being a polite mild mannered man, but he became linked to two player campaigns in the game for improved terms for players. There were actually two issues that were simultaneously under review. The player contracts that were controlled rigidly by the parent clubs, and the matter of restrictions on player wages.
In the early 60's, George was challenging the archaic retain-and-transfer system through the legal system.
Eastham wanted to leave Newcastle United, who refused to let him go. Even after the contractual issue had been resolved, the PFA bullishly urged him to continue the case, which he did even after Newcastle sold him to Arsenal. The case spluttered on until 1963 when the High Court ruled in his favour, saying the League regulations and FA rules amounted to restraint of trade.
Around the same time Jimmy Hill was leading a fairly miltant campaign to abolish the maximum wage, and Eastham's court action did much to help the "cause" as club owners realised how vulnerable their position was if the players resorted to industrial action. In 1961, under the leadership of Fulham player and future TV personality Jimmy Hill, the PFA called out its members. The aim was to force The Football League and the clubs to abolish the maximum wage – a salary cap in today’s parlance - which meant players could be paid no more than £20 a week during the season. In the summer they received £17. The threat at the time to some very high profile games was a serious situation for some clubs. However the "wealthier" clubs saw an opportunity, as the ability to pay higher wages where necessary meant that they could then attract the top players more easily! (Haven't things always been the same?). The result was that it is now 59 years since Football League clubs abolished the £20 maximum wage cap.
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Post by spitthedog on Jul 14, 2020 11:26:14 GMT
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Post by spitthedog on Jul 14, 2020 11:30:42 GMT
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Post by trentstokie on Jul 14, 2020 21:10:43 GMT
My Dad always said he was by far the best passer of a ball he has ever seen at Stoke
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Post by donaldingleton on Jul 15, 2020 7:06:55 GMT
I remember going into the ‘Stoke pub’ on the Horseferry Road (somebody will remember the name of it, no doubt!) after the League Cup win at Wembley, and there was a Stokie in there who constantly referred to him as George EASTMAN!
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Post by Gods on Jul 15, 2020 7:16:24 GMT
That's a fantastic picture!
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Post by skelman on Jul 15, 2020 12:14:54 GMT
George Eastham made 240 appearances for Stoke in his 8 seasons with us 1966 - 1974.
I think many people don't realise or forget that Geoff Hurst was also a Stoke player for 3 seasons, playing 108 league games and scoring 30 goals 1972 - 1975.
Gentleman George retired having played 18 First Division games in the 72/73 season and twice in 73/74. Hursty arrived in August '72 and played 38 First Division games in the 72/73 season and then 35 times in the following 73/74 season. With 42 games in a league season the two will have appeared together for Stoke a number of times.
George played twice for England. The first time on 8th Dec 1965 England won 0 - 2 in a friendly against Spain at the Bernabeu. The second on 3rd July 1966 he appeared together with Geoff Hurst, playing in a friendly against Denmark in a game that England won 0 - 2 in Copenhagen. George scored in that game.
And both men were part of the famous England World Cup winning squad in 1966.
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Post by somersetstokie on Jul 15, 2020 12:41:56 GMT
George was an excellent footballer and something of an artist. It is perhaps forgotten now but at all levels of the game at the end of the 60's, football was still a tough contact game and could be very physical, particularly in the top Division. This was the heyday of the hard men of senior football when you had players around like Ron "Chopper" Harris at Chelsea, Norman Hunter at Leeds and Tommy Smith at Liverpool. Many of the best players of the time were routinely being kicked out of the game, and times were difficult for players like Eastham and Conroy. However things had got to be so bad at the start of the 71/72 season that the FA and the top referees announced a clamp down on foul play and the so called practice of "clogging". There was a dramatic increase in the number of fouls committed and punished with free kicks and bookings, and for a while there was a much better protection given for the true creative players of that time such as Rodney Marsh. Eastham was not regularly featuring in the first team at the start of that season, but the new "hardline" implemented by the match day officials meant that the situation became ideal for players like him, whose creative play could now flourish. Tony Waddington recalled George to the first team and in season 1971-72 he had one of his most influential periods for Stoke, culminating in his goal scoring appearance in the League Cup Final.
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