Northern Ireland v Bulgaria

PETER THE GREAT – BETTER THAN BEST?

The late Malcolm Brodie claimed that the best player he ever saw in action was not George Best. The most wonderful player of them all, according to Malcolm, was another Northern Ireland great, Peter Doherty.

having such tremendous enthusiasm for the game that he would work like a horse for 90 minutes”. At the age of 20 he scored for Glentoran in the Irish Cup Final of 1933. He was soon crossing the channel to play for Blackpool in the First Division. As a Blackpool player he won his first international cap against England at Goodison Park in 1935. After three years financial troubles caused the Seasiders to transfer him for the then vast sum of £10,000 to Manchester City. Commenting on the transaction, Peter writes: “I might as well have been a bale of merchandise.” He had a nightmare debut for City against Preston, because he was tightly marked by a Scottish terrier, a wing-half called Bill Shankly (whatever became of him?). But Peter overcame his early difficulties. Soon City were sweeping all opposition aside on their way to winning the 1937 League Championship and Peter was slotting home 30 goals. That Manchester City team was the finest side he ever played for. But they had more than just skills and fitness. He comments: “Besides all round ability there was a spirit about the side which stood us in good stead on countless occasions.” At the end of that season City toured Germany. They were the first British team ever to play in the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, where they lost 3-2 to a representative German side in front of 70,000 spectators and lots of Nazi guards. Perhaps that was why Peter failed to find the net, missing one good chance after another. Before the game City honoured the German anthem by standing to attention but refused to give the Nazi salute. During the Second World War he joined the RAF but was allowed to ‘guest’ for several clubs. He also captained Ireland in war-time representative matches.

Even this old-timer is not old enough to have seen Peter play, but I certainly remember him as the manager of his country. It was his shrewd tactics and thoughtful man management which enabled Northern Ireland to reach the last eight of the 1958 World Cup finals. He influenced Billy Bingham, who was to repeat his achievement in 1982 and 1986. Peter most definitely laid the foundations for all the recent successes of the lads in green and white. I mentioned Peter to my mate Joe. Like me, Joe is nostalgic for the ‘good old days’ of the game, when shorts were baggy, boots were leather and pitches were quagmires. Joe passed on a book written by Peter Doherty in 1947, when he was 34 and nearing the end of his playing career. ‘Spotlight on Football’ was written in the wake of Peter’s contribution to Derby County winning the first post-war FA Cup Final (he scored their first goal). At the beginning of the book Peter states his purpose in taking up his pen and it is unselfish. He writes ‘to make clear to young ambitious players the pitfalls with which professional football abounds’. The final chapters include tips for youngsters on how to improve ball control. His playing career is the stuff of dreams come true. His football skills, nurtured by juggling a tennis ball on the streets of his native Magherafelt, were soon spotted by scouts. Malcolm Brodie was impressed not only by his brilliant skill with the ball but also with what is now called ‘workrate’. As an inside forward (midfielder) he seemed to cover every blade of grass on the pitch. England international Len Shackleton described Peter as the “possessor of the most baffling body swerve in football, able to perform all the tricks with the ball, owning a shot like the kick of a mule, and

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