- Jackie Milburn
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For other people named Jack and Jackie Milburn, see Jackie Milburn (disambiguation).
Jackie Milburn Personal information Full name John Edward Thompson Milburn Date of birth 11 May 1924 Place of birth Ashington, England Date of death 9 October 1988 (aged 64) Place of death Ashington, England Playing position Centre Forward Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 1943–1957 Newcastle United 353 (177) 1957–1960 Linfield 54 (68) National team 1948–1955 England 13 (10) Teams managed 1957–1960 Linfield 1960–1962 Yiewsley 1963–1964 Ipswich Town * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).John Edward Thompson 'Jackie' Milburn, (11 May 1924 – 9 October 1988), also known to fans as Wor Jackie and 'the first World Wor' in reference to his global fame, was a football player for Newcastle United and England. ("Wor" in the Geordie dialect means "our"), and remains United's 2nd highest Top Goal Scorer of all time with a total of 200 goals.[1]
Contents
Biography
Milburn grew up in the coal mining town of Ashington, Northumberland, 15 miles north of Newcastle, Milburn's employment as a fitter (repairing heavy machinery) had reserved occupation status during World War II, which meant that he remained in Ashington. He was the son of Alexander Milburn, the uncle of the four professional footballing Milburn brothers John ('Jack') Milburn b 1908 (Leeds United and Bradford City), George Milburn b 1910 (Leeds United and Chesterfield), James ('Jimmy') Milburn b 1919 (Leeds United and Bradford City), and Stanley ('Stan') Milburn b 1926 (Chesterfield, Leicester City and Rochdale), who were brothers of Jack and Bobby Charlton's mother Elizabeth 'Cissie' Milburn b 1912. .[2]
Career
In 1943, Milburn, although a boyhood Sunderland fan[3], signed for Newcastle United after writing to the club in response to the club's advert for trialists in the North Mail Newspaper. He arrived at St James' Park with a pair of borrowed football boots wrapped in brown paper, and his lunch – a pie and a bottle of pop. Milburn made a huge impression and was invited back to a final trial match – the Stripes v the Blues. Milburn's Stripes found themselves 3–0 down at half time, but then being switched to centre forward in the second half, Milburn scored six times as his side turned around the deficit to win 9–3. Club supremo Stan Seymour quickly signed Milburn up, although the 2nd World War meant that he still worked in the mines whilst also turning out for Newcastle United in Wartime League games from 1943–1946.
At first, Milburn played as a winger, but switched to Centre forward after Charlie Wayman left the club to join Southampton in October 1947 and was given the club's legendary number 9 shirt. Milburn later said in the 1981 publication, 'Jackie Milburn's Newcastle United scrapbook', "I was fortunate enough to wear Hughie Gallacher's shirt and virtually every Saturday he'd be waiting for me outside the main entrance, always at the same time in the same place, ten yards from the door. "Hi, Jackie, you're doing fine," he'd say, "but l've got a little tip for you..." Then he would mention something he had spotted in my play the previous game. Throughout my playing days I always listened intently to any advice the big names had to give.""[4]
Milburn was the central figure in Newcastle's FA Cup campaigns of the 1950s, which saw the club win the Cup three times in five years; 1951 (scoring twice in the final), 1952 and 1955 (scoring the then quickest goal in FA Cup final history after 45 seconds). Milburn also made 13 appearances for England, scoring 10 goals. Milburn left the Magpies in June, 1957 to join the Belfast club Linfield as player/coach at Windsor Park, where he won 9 trophies (including an Irish League title and Irish Cup win), and finished as leading league goalscorer in two consecutive seasons.
After retiring as a player, he went on to briefly manage Ipswich Town, before returning to Tyneside to become a sports journalist for the News of the World newspaper. In 1967 he was given a belated testimonial match by Newcastle. Milburn had worried that ten years after leaving the club, people would have forgotten, but he needn't have worried, as almost 50,000 turned out at St. James' Park for the match which featured a host of stars including his cousins, the famous World Cup winning brothers, Bobby Charlton and Jack Charlton, and the great Hungarian player Ferenc Puskás.
Milburn quickly became a hero on parts of Tyneside once League Football returned after World War II in 1946. He played 395 games for Newcastle, and is the club's second highest league and cup goalscorer with 200 goals; six goals behind Alan Shearer. Shearer's European goals take his total to 206, there were no European games in Milburn's day, so he still remains the club's top goal scorer with 200 league and domestic cup goals, and 38 wartime match goals during World War 2, seeing his total record score 238 goals in 492 games.
Legacy
Away from football, Milburn was a shy, quiet and modest man, well liked and respected by all who met him. There exists a story whereby Milburn met Cardinal Basil Hume, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and a huge Newcastle United supporter. Both unassuming men, they were in awe of each other. After a conversation, the talk moved on and one suggested an autograph would be a good idea. The other agreed. Both men stood back and expected to be the recipient of the autograph, without realising the other man wanted their autograph in return.
As part of their 'bonus', the United players were given cigarettes by the club. Those who didn't smoke gave theirs to smokers. Milburn always had a ready supply. Milburn died at the age of 64 on 9 October 1988 of lung cancer, at his home in Ashington. His funeral was held at St. Nicholas' Cathedral in Newcastle and saw over 30,000 people turn out to pay their respects.
In 1988 Newcastle United opened their new West Stand at St James' Park and named it after Milburn. In addition to the Milburn Stand at St. James' Park, two statues of the footballer were commissioned. One stands on Station Road, the main street in his birthplace Ashington, the funds for which were raised by the Civic Head, Cllr. Michael George Ferrigon during his term of Office. The other, in Newcastle, was originally situated on Northumberland Street but now stands at Milburn Junction, where Blenheim Street meets Corporation Street and Bath Lane,(a road now renamed St James Boulevard), just a minute's walk away from St. James' Park.
Milburn was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2006 in recognition of his contribution to English Football.
Career statistics
Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals England League FA Cup League Cup Europe Total 1943–46 Newcastle United Wartime League 95 38 2 2 97 40 1946–47 Second Division 24 7 3 1 31 8 1947–48 39 20 1 40 20 1948–49 First Division 34 19 1 35 19 1949–50 30 18 2 3 32 21 1950–51 31 17 8 8 39 25 1951–52 32 25 7 3 39 28 1952–53 16 5 16 5 1953–54 39 16 5 2 44 18 1954–55 38 19 10 2 48 21 1955–56 38 19 4 2 42 21 1956–57 32 12 1 33 12 1957–60 Linfield Irish League 54 68 54 68 Total England 502 284 44 23 Career total 559 317 Honours
As a player
- FA Cup winner: 1951, 1952, 1955
- Irish League championship 1958/59, 1959/60
- Irish Cup winner 1959/60
- Ulster Footballer of the Year winner: 1957/58
References
- ^ "Jackie Milburn". Premium TV. http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Legends/0,,10278~1241692,00.html.
- ^ "Wor Jackie saw era of player power coming". icNewcastle.co.uk. http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/newcastleunited/news/tm_objectid=16599141%26method=full%26siteid=50081-name_page.html.
- ^ Evening Chronicle, January 18, 2006, "Wor Jackie saw era of player power coming", available at http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/newcastleunited/news/tm_objectid=16599141%26method=full%26siteid=50081-name_page.html
- ^ "Hughie Gallacher". Spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/NEWCgallacher.htm. Retrieved 2010-02-18.
External links
- Jackie Milburn career stats at Soccerbase
- Jackie Milburn management career stats at Soccerbase
- Sculpture of Jackie Milburn by John W Mills
England squad – 1950 FIFA World Cup 
Ipswich Town F.C. – managers Committee (1878–1936) · O'Brien (1936–37) · Duncan (1937–55) · Ramsey (1955–63) · Milburn (1963–64) · Forsyth (1964) · McGarry (1964–68) · Lea (1968) · Robson (1969–82) · Ferguson (1982–87) · Duncan (1987–90) · Lyall (1990–94) · McGiven (1993–94) · Burley (1994–2002) · Mowbray (2002) · Royle (2002–06) · Magilton (2006–09) · Keane (2009–11) · McParland (2011) · Jewell (2011–)
Categories:- Linfield F.C. managers
- 1924 births
- People from Ashington
- 1988 deaths
- English footballers
- England international footballers
- 1950 FIFA World Cup players
- Newcastle United F.C. players
- Linfield F.C. players
- Huddersfield Town F.C. wartime guest players
- English football managers
- Ipswich Town F.C. managers
- The Football League players
- Irish Football League players
- English Football Hall of Fame inductees
- Ulster Footballers of the Year
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