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    Danny Blanchflower Empty Danny Blanchflower

    Post by BazSpur Fri May 01 2009, 22:37

    Danny Blanchflower






    Footballer |
    1926 - 1993







    Gifted Irish footballer and journalist who captained Spurs




    An
    outstanding midfielder, renowned for both his time at Spurs and
    captaincy of Northern Ireland, Danny Blanchflower died on 9 December,
    1993. His celebrated captaincy at Spurs during his 10 years at
    White Hart Lane and, in particular, his remarkable talent for passing
    cemented his reputation as a true great in the footballing world. He
    was awarded the title of English Footballer of the Year on two separate
    occasions, a feat which only a handful of players ever accomplished. Besides
    his career on the pitch, he was also an acclaimed journalist in later
    life, working for the Sunday Express and also commentating in America. Robert
    Dennis Blanchflower was born on 10 February, 1926, in Belfast, Northern
    Ireland. The son of a footballer who had played as a centre-forward in
    a women’s team, he was educated at Ravenscroft Public Elementary School
    and later won a scholarship to attend the Belfast College of
    Technology.
    However, he dropped out to become
    an apprentice electrician and, in 1943, lied about his age to join the
    RAF. A trainee navigator, he was subsequently sent on a training course
    at St Andrew's University and even posted to Canada, but, by 1946, was
    back in Belfast where he began to develop his skills as a footballer.
    His
    professional career on the pitch began with Belfast side Glentoran
    during the late 1940s, eventually signing for Barnsley in 1949 for a
    fee of £6,000. He spent two years with the South Yorkshire club before
    Aston Villa bought him for £15,000 in 1951. Altogether, he would play
    155 times for Villa and captained the side on numerous occasions.
    In
    1954 Mr Blanchflower joined Tottenham Hotspur, undoubtably the
    highlight of his illustrious career. Spurs were so impressed with his
    ability that they paid the then enormous sum of £30,000 to secure him.
    During his decade with the club, he made 337 league appearances.
    1961
    saw him lift the FA Cup as captain and lead Spurs to win the league,
    making his team the first of the 20th century to win the double.
    A
    second FA Cup victory followed a year later, although narrowly missing
    out on the double, and, in 1963, Mr Blanchflower captained his side to
    take the European Cup Winners’ Cup.
    Meanwhile,
    he earned an impressive 56 caps for Northern Ireland between 1949 and
    1963, the first Irishman to ever achieve such a feat, and even led his
    country to the quarter-finals of the 1958 World Cup in Sweden.
    He
    retired as a player in the summer of 1964, going on to manage Northern
    Ireland and, later, Chelsea for whom he won just five games out of 32.
    The club subsequently plummeted down the league table and Mr
    Blanchflower resigned less than a year after his appointment. He went
    on to begin a career in journalism, gaining a reputation for his work
    at the Sunday Express where he remained for 24 years.
    In later life he developed Alzheimer ’s disease and died in a London nursing home on 9 December, 1993, at the age of 67.
    Today
    Mr Blanchflower is still remembered as one of the most talented players
    to ever grace the pitch - an Irish legend who was made a member of the
    English Football Hall of Fame in 2003.
    He
    became the first person to ever turn down television’s ‘This Is Your
    Life’ by simply walking away from its host Eamonn Andrews live on air
    and declaring, “Nobody is going to press gang me into anything.”
    He
    briefly commentated for US television network ‘CBS’ during the 1960s,
    later recounting how his frankness about the National Professional
    Soccer League teams distressed executives.
    “The
    game is about glory,” he once said. “It is about doing things in style
    and with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not
    waiting for them to die of boredom.”









    I am now 61 but, however much longer I am spared to watch the Beautiful Game, I don't expect to see his like again.
    Nick Adams —
    02.01.2009







    I have supported spurs since the mid fifties. Danny Blanchflower was a
    rock. He always came across as a true gentleman, a real ambassador for
    the game. His skill and accuracy on the pitch was second to none. I was
    fortunate enough to watch the European cup winners cup final in
    Rotterdam. The atmoshere there was something I have not experienced
    before or since, truly wonderful. The only thing I can say is, it was a
    sad day For Tottenham Hotspur and indeed for football when Danny passed
    away.
    Thanks for the memories Danny.

    JohnM
    John Mason —
    03.01.2009

















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