Danny Blanchflower
Encyclopedia
Robert Dennis "Danny" Blanchflower (10 February 1926 – 9 December 1993) was a former Northern Ireland
international footballer and football manager
, and journalist
who captained Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
during its double-winning season of 1961. He was ranked as the greatest player in Spurs history by The Times
in 2009. He is remembered as one of the great tacticians in the history of the game, renowned for his passing, and as an outstanding right-half.
. His mother had played as a centre-forward on a women's football team. He was educated at Ravenscroft public elementary school and was awarded a scholarship to Belfast College of Technology. His younger brother, Jackie
, played for Manchester United.
He left early to become an apprentice electrician at Gallaher's
cigarette factory in Belfast. He also joined the Air Raid Precautions
(ARP) and in 1943 lied about his age in order to join the RAF. As a trainee navigator he was sent on a course to St Andrews University (where he acquired a lifelong love of golf) and in the spring of 1945 was posted to Canada for further training. By 1946, aged 20, he was back in Belfast, back at Gallaher's, and building a reputation as an outstanding footballer.
when he was signed by Belfast side Glentoran
. In 1949, Barnsley
paid £6,000 to transfer him to England, and two years later Aston Villa
bought him for £15,000. He played 148 times for Villa in the League, captaining the side on many occasions. He grew disenchanted with the club and the way training was conducted, becoming one of the first to propose that players should train with a ball as opposed to merely undertaking physical exercise.
In 1954 he was bought by Tottenham Hotspur
for the huge fee of £30,000, and during his ten years at White Hart Lane
he made 337 League appearances, and 382 total appearances (scoring 21 goals).
The highlight of his time at Spurs came with the 1960–61 season
. With Blanchflower as captain Spurs won their first 11 games, still a record for the top flight of English football and eventually won the league by 8 points. They then beat Leicester City
in the final of the FA Cup to become the first team in the 20th century to win the League and Cup double
, not achieved since Aston Villa
in 1897.
In 1962 he again captained the Spurs team to victory in the FA Cup (scoring a penalty in the final against Burnley), only narrowly missing out on a second double when they finished a close third in the league behind Ipswich Town
and Burnley
, and in 1963 he captained his side to victory over Atlético Madrid in the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup. During his time with Spurs he also had a short spell with Toronto City
, alongside fellow Football League players Stanley Matthews
and Johnny Haynes
.
Between 1949 and 1963, he earned 56 caps for Northern Ireland
, often playing alongside his brother Jackie
, and in 1958 captained his country when they reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup. On 4 December 1957 he captained the Northern Ireland team against in Belfast
, in a bad tempered game that came to be known as the "Battle of Belfast"; Blanchflower attempted to keep the peace as the game turned nasty.
for a brief spell in 1978, and was then appointed as Chelsea
boss. However, he won only three of his 15 games in charge and he left them in September 1979.
, simply walking away from host Eamonn Andrews
live on air. "I consider this programme to be an invasion of privacy", he explained. "Nobody is going to press gang me into anything."
Blanchflower commentated on a match for ITV
as early as 3 January 1956 - the final of the Southern Junior Floodlit Cup between West Ham
and Chelsea
. He was the colour commentator for the CBS
television network broadcasts of National Professional Soccer League
matches in the United States in 1967. His candour about the fledgling league's shortcomings distressed network executives, as he recounted in a 10 June 1968 Sports Illustrated
article he authored. In the 1968-69 season he was the regular commentator for Yorkshire Television
.
Anton Weinberg's 1985 Channel 4 documentary film The Keller Instinct featured an appearance by Blanchflower, who spoke approvingly of his late friend musicologist Hans Keller
's advocacy of inventive, tactically creative football.
He died at his home in London on 9 December 1993, having suffered from Alzheimer's disease
.
Northern Ireland national football team
The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. Before 1921 all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association...
international footballer and football manager
Coach (sport)
In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...
, and journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
who captained Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
during its double-winning season of 1961. He was ranked as the greatest player in Spurs history by The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
in 2009. He is remembered as one of the great tacticians in the history of the game, renowned for his passing, and as an outstanding right-half.
Early years
Blanchflower was born on 10 February 1926 in the Bloomfield district of BelfastBelfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
. His mother had played as a centre-forward on a women's football team. He was educated at Ravenscroft public elementary school and was awarded a scholarship to Belfast College of Technology. His younger brother, Jackie
Jackie Blanchflower
John "Jackie" Blanchflower was a Northern Irish football player. He graduated from Manchester United's youth system and played for the club on 117 occasions, before his career was cut short due to injuries sustained in the Munich air disaster...
, played for Manchester United.
He left early to become an apprentice electrician at Gallaher's
Gallaher Group
Gallaher Group is a major United Kingdom-based multinational tobacco company. It was traded on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, prior to its April 2007 acquisition by Japan Tobacco.-History:...
cigarette factory in Belfast. He also joined the Air Raid Precautions
Air Raid Precautions
Air Raid Precautions was an organisation in the United Kingdom set up as an aid in the prelude to the Second World War dedicated to the protection of civilians from the danger of air-raids. It was created in 1924 as a response to the fears about the growing threat from the development of bomber...
(ARP) and in 1943 lied about his age in order to join the RAF. As a trainee navigator he was sent on a course to St Andrews University (where he acquired a lifelong love of golf) and in the spring of 1945 was posted to Canada for further training. By 1946, aged 20, he was back in Belfast, back at Gallaher's, and building a reputation as an outstanding footballer.
Playing career
He began his professional football career at the end of the Second World WarWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
when he was signed by Belfast side Glentoran
Glentoran F.C.
Glentoran F.C. is a semi-professional, football club in Northern Ireland. The club was founded in 1882 and plays its home games at the Oval in east Belfast. Club colours are green, red, and black.Glentoran's biggest rivals are Linfield...
. In 1949, Barnsley
Barnsley F.C.
Barnsley Football Club are a professional English football club based in the town of Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Nicknamed the Tykes, they were founded in 1887 under the name Barnsley St. Peter's...
paid £6,000 to transfer him to England, and two years later Aston Villa
Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...
bought him for £15,000. He played 148 times for Villa in the League, captaining the side on many occasions. He grew disenchanted with the club and the way training was conducted, becoming one of the first to propose that players should train with a ball as opposed to merely undertaking physical exercise.
In 1954 he was bought by Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
for the huge fee of £30,000, and during his ten years at White Hart Lane
White Hart Lane
White Hart Lane is an all-seater football stadium in Tottenham, London, England. Built in 1899, it is the home of Tottenham Hotspur and, after numerous renovations, the stadium has a capacity of 36,230....
he made 337 League appearances, and 382 total appearances (scoring 21 goals).
The highlight of his time at Spurs came with the 1960–61 season
1960-61 in English football
The 1960–61 season was the 81st season of competitive football in England.-Overview:This season was a historic one for domestic football in England, as Tottenham Hotspur F.C. became the first club in the twentieth century to "do the Double" by winning both the League and the FA Cup competitions...
. With Blanchflower as captain Spurs won their first 11 games, still a record for the top flight of English football and eventually won the league by 8 points. They then beat Leicester City
Leicester City F.C.
Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...
in the final of the FA Cup to become the first team in the 20th century to win the League and Cup double
The Double
The Double is a term in association football which refers to winning a country's top tier division and its primary cup competition in the same season...
, not achieved since Aston Villa
Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...
in 1897.
In 1962 he again captained the Spurs team to victory in the FA Cup (scoring a penalty in the final against Burnley), only narrowly missing out on a second double when they finished a close third in the league behind Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town F.C.
Ipswich Town Football Club are an English professional football team based in Ipswich, Suffolk. As of 2011, they play in the Football League Championship, having last appeared in the Premier League in 2001–02....
and Burnley
Burnley F.C.
Burnley Football Club are a professional English Football League club based in Burnley, Lancashire. Nicknamed the Clarets, due to the dominant colour of their home shirts, they were founder members of the Football League in 1888...
, and in 1963 he captained his side to victory over Atlético Madrid in the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup. During his time with Spurs he also had a short spell with Toronto City
Toronto City
Toronto City is a former Canadian football team based in Toronto. Between 1961 and 1967, teams using this name competed in both the Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League and the United Soccer Association.-ECPSL:...
, alongside fellow Football League players Stanley Matthews
Stanley Matthews
Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE was an English footballer. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the English game, he is the only player to have been knighted while still playing, as well as being the first winner of both the European Footballer of the Year and the Football Writers'...
and Johnny Haynes
Johnny Haynes
John Norman "Johnny" Haynes was an English footballer, best known for his 18 years at Fulham. He played a club-record 658 games and scored 158 goals for the club between 1952 and 1970...
.
Between 1949 and 1963, he earned 56 caps for Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland national football team
The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. Before 1921 all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association...
, often playing alongside his brother Jackie
Jackie Blanchflower
John "Jackie" Blanchflower was a Northern Irish football player. He graduated from Manchester United's youth system and played for the club on 117 occasions, before his career was cut short due to injuries sustained in the Munich air disaster...
, and in 1958 captained his country when they reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup. On 4 December 1957 he captained the Northern Ireland team against in Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, in a bad tempered game that came to be known as the "Battle of Belfast"; Blanchflower attempted to keep the peace as the game turned nasty.
International goals
Scores and results list Northern Ireland's goal tally first.| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 June 1960 | Wrexham Wrexham Wrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England... , Wales Wales Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²... |
2-3 | 1960 British Home Championship 1960 British Home Championship The 1960 British Home Championship football tournament was played by the British Home Nations throughout the 1959–60 season and was shared between three of the competing teams at the expense of Ireland... |
|
| 2 | 11 September 1960 | Glasgow Glasgow Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands... , Scotland Scotland Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the... |
2-5 | 1961 British Home Championship 1961 British Home Championship The 1961 British Home Championship international football tournament saw a series of high scoring games, with 40 goals scored in just six matches - a ratio of 6.66 goals per game. England took the British title after a final match at Wembley in which they put nine goals past Scotland, who returned... |
Career as manager
He became manager of Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
for a brief spell in 1978, and was then appointed as Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
boss. However, he won only three of his 15 games in charge and he left them in September 1979.
Off the field
He was one of only a handful of players to have been awarded the title of English Footballer of the Year on two occasions, winning in both 1958 and 1961. On 6 February 1961, he also became the first person to turn down the invitation to appear on This Is Your LifeThis Is Your Life
This Is Your Life is an American television documentary series broadcast on NBC, originally hosted by its producer, Ralph Edwards from 1952 to 1961. In the show, the host surprises a guest, and proceeds to take them through their life in front of an audience including friends and family.Edwards...
, simply walking away from host Eamonn Andrews
Eamonn Andrews
Eamonn Andrews, CBE , was an Irish television presenter based in the United Kingdom.-Life and career:...
live on air. "I consider this programme to be an invasion of privacy", he explained. "Nobody is going to press gang me into anything."
Blanchflower commentated on a match for ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
as early as 3 January 1956 - the final of the Southern Junior Floodlit Cup between West Ham
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
and Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
. He was the colour commentator for the CBS
CBS Sports
CBS Sports is a division of CBS Broadcasting which airs sporting events on the American television network. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on West 52nd Street in midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on West 57th Street.CBS...
television network broadcasts of National Professional Soccer League
National Professional Soccer League (1967)
The National Professional Soccer League was a North American professional soccer league that existed for only the 1967 season before merging with the United Soccer Association to form the North American Soccer League. It had ten charter members, nine from the United States and one from Canada...
matches in the United States in 1967. His candour about the fledgling league's shortcomings distressed network executives, as he recounted in a 10 June 1968 Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
article he authored. In the 1968-69 season he was the regular commentator for Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...
.
Anton Weinberg's 1985 Channel 4 documentary film The Keller Instinct featured an appearance by Blanchflower, who spoke approvingly of his late friend musicologist Hans Keller
Hans Keller
Hans Keller was an influential Austrian-born British musician and writer who made significant contributions to musicology and music criticism, as well as being an insightful commentator on such disparate fields as psychoanalysis and football...
's advocacy of inventive, tactically creative football.
He died at his home in London on 9 December 1993, having suffered from Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
.
Honours
- English League Championship (1961)
- FA Cup (1961) (1962)
- European Cup Winners Cup (1963)
- Football Writers Player of the Year (1958) (1961)