Seven footballers born between 1935 and 2005 chart the game’s shifts across generations. They total more than 3,000 club games and over 100 caps, with one logging 1,000 as a manager.
According to NY Times, this is part one, focused on the 1950s to 1970s, with part two due tomorrow, Friday, December 26.
The oldest, Billy McCullough, 90, grew up in wartime Northern Ireland and played part-time for Portadown before Arsenal invited him to turn professional after a 1958 exhibition at Windsor Park. He recalls a £20 weekly maximum until the PFA ended it in 1961, public transport to Highbury and a Friday sherry.
Ian Storey-Moore took a Nottingham Forest apprenticeship at 16 that meant cleaning terraces and boots, then broke into the first team at 18. Robbie Earle, released by Stoke at 16, accepted a Port Vale YTS place he felt was heavy on menial work.
Steve Coppell initially prioritised exams and university over Tranmere’s advances, scored a trial hat-trick, then was stunned by a £60,000 move to Manchester United in early 1975.
George Boateng recalled shared TVs, communal bathrooms and fetching water in Nkawkaw, Ghana, while feeling fortunate to have food and shelter. Ashley Young’s childhood in Stevenage revolved around football, and the youngest, Ashley Phillips, moved from Curzon Ashton to Blackburn’s academy at 12 and now plays for Tottenham and England Under-21s.
The 1960s brought television, England’s 1966 triumph and the rise of George Best, shaping many of these memories.
