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United’s original Captain Marvel  Before
Roy Keane, Bryan Robson and Bobby Charlton there was Johnny Carey —
the one-time Dublin Minor footballer who went on to manage his country.
Like ships that pass in the night. A great man hung up his boots and
left his club of 17 years while a boy of 15, who would become great, was
joining it. The year was 1953, the club Manchester United. The great man
was Johnny Carey and the young pretender was Bobby Charlton who would
not become professional until his 17th birthday the following year.
When all the club scouts came calling for the precocious talents of the
schoolboy Charlton, the Manchester club scout (Joe Armstrong) already
had a head start.
Said Charlton: “I had lost a little of my heart to his club in 1948
when they beat Blackpool (4-2) in one of the classic FA Cup finals. I
had played with the school team that morning and one of the lads invited
us back to his house. We were kicking a ball around, inevitably, but the
radio was on and we were listening as we played. Everyone was shouting
for Blackpool and the great Matthews. No-one admired him more than me
but I also liked United. I thought a cup final wasn’t just about
one man. Twenty-two players had fought to get there including 11 of United
who, ever since the resumption of the League after the war, had been playing
beautiful football. They had men like Johnny Carey.”
Indeed Carey had been made captain by Matt Busby in 1946 after the war
and on that May day two years later he became the first non-British player
to lead his victorious team up the Wembley steps in spite of commenting
later that: “Playing Stanley Matthews is like playing a ghost.”
John Carey, who was born in Dublin in February 1919 was known as Jackie
in Ireland and then more commonly as Johnny when he moved to England.
As a youngster in Dublin Jackie played Gaelic football representing the
county at minor level and moonlighting at soccer for Home Farm. He joined
League of Ireland side St. James’s Gate in the summer of 1936 but
only spent two months with them before being spotted by Billy Behan, Manchester
United’s Dublin scout and he was subsequently signed up by the English
club for what was then a record fee for a League of Ireland player of
£250.
Carey played inside forward in the beginning, not only for club but also
for country. For United he was to play in every position except outside
right, including once, goalkeeper. He made his first-team debut towards
the end of September 1937 in a Second Division match against Southampton.
(United had been promoted as Second Division champions in 1936 only to
go straight back down again in 1937.) One scribe noted that he was: “The
cleverest forward in the match, the only one with real constructive ability.”
(His team finished the season runners-up and immediately returned again
to the top flight in 1938 where they remained.)
Johnny’s international career took off simultaneously. His first
match for Ireland — then known as the Free State — was against
Norway for a World Cup qualifier in Dublin at the beginning of November.
He provided the cross for the equalising goal by Harry Duggan, the match
ending 3-3.
The War naturally interrupted both club and international football from
1939 until 1946 although a side effect of this meant a stronger domestic
League in Ireland with many of the English-based Irish players returning
to Ireland for the duration.
Carey on the other hand volunteered for the British army and served
in the Middle East and Italy where he played part-time for several clubs
and received offers to play as a professional after the war. But it was
to Manchester United that he returned, freshly installed as captain and
moving into defence either as half-back or full-back despite his relatively
slight frame — 5ft 11ins and 12 stone.
His brilliance relied not only on positional play and efficient tackling
but also in his versatility. His stature and leadership qualities grew
at both club and international level. As Con Martin, his international
teammate, said: “In those years after the war Carey was very special
to the rest of us because we were very raw and he was established in the
First Division. He had the experience and the ability to organise us and
we all admired him.”
In 1947 he captained the Rest of Europe against Great Britain before a
crowd of 134,000 at Hampden Park. Carey was a dual internationalist, playing
a total of 27 games for the FAI and nine for the IFA. In 1950 he captained
Ireland, as it had now become formally recognised by FIFA, to a famous
victory over England. Played at Goodison Park the Irish prevailed 2-0
which represented the first defeat by England on home soil by a foreign
country.
The post-war period saw the beginning of the building of the United dream.
They finished runners-up four times out of five from 1946/47 to 1950/51
and then finally knocked the great Spurs push-and-run side off top spot
the following season beating them into second place by a four-point margin.
Johnny Carey got his second winner’s medal once again as captain.
His eminence in that team was and has been universally conceded. He became
the second ever winner of Footballer-of-the-Year in 1949 and was voted
Sports Personality-of-the-Year in 1950.
However with the end of the 1952/53 season at the age of 34 he retired
from his playing career as Matt Busby, having assembled his Babes, deemed
it time to give youth its head.
He was invited by the United board to a meeting where they conveyed their
special thanks for his services and offered him a position as coach but
he decided to follow the almost obligatory route into management starting
immediately with Blackburn Rovers whom he guided into the First Division
in 1958.
Moving on to Everton that year he took them to fifth place in the top
division in 1960/61 but was sacked by director and benefactor, pools millionaire
John Moores who was hungry for greater success to justify his investments.
Next came Leyton Orient whom he guided to the top flight for the only
time in their history. After that with Nottingham Forest he had his most
success in 1967 as they finished Division One runners-up and FA Cup semi-finalists.
However Johnny Carey was also the Ireland manager from 1955 until 1967
and his tenure of this post caused some debate, particularly among his
players. The first thing to acknowledge is that he did not have control
over team selection. This was done by committee which continued until
the Mick Meagan and Liam Tuohy era of 1970-73. Under Meagan a system of
selecting a panel of players was introduced allowing Meagan to select
the final team. Tuohy was the first manager to have total control.
The other thing that has to be highlighted is the difficulties Carey
encountered with home matches being played on a Sunday when all his English-based
players would have had to take the boat immediately after finishing their
League game on Saturday afternoon, meeting up with the squad in Dublin
just hours before kick-off.
The beginning of his reign was auspicious though. His first game in charge
was in Dublin at home to Spain in November 1955 which ended 2-2. The next
match was away to Holland the following May in which Ireland turned in
a thrilling performance to win 4-1. Carey sat on the touchline with the
trainer and reserves puffing his pipe. Hold on to that image of Johnny.
I discovered some time ago that it is impossible to feel tense while smoking
a pipe. Someone I once knew complained that you could never win an argument
against a man smoking a pipe. It is one of the singularly most relaxing
actions there is — why I’m not sure, but it is.
Carey announced his managerial resignation 12 years later after the 2-1
European qualifier defeat by Turkey in 1967.
Some quotes by men who played under him betray a sense of having been
let down by him rather than any hostility towards him for a lack of progress.
Liam Tuohy: “There never seemed to be a pattern of play and that
was a disappointment because he was a great player and had a great reputation
as a manager in England.”
Shay Brennan: “It was not what he said, it was what he didn’t
say. I thought he was big enough in the game to have told the FAI that
he was going to pick his own team.”
John Giles: “The only criticism I have of Carey is that he did not
seem to make any effort to change the situation.”
Noel Cantwell (who was captain for most of Carey’s period in charge):
“He was my idol as a young lad. I went to see him play for United.
He was a great passer and had a great influence on that team. I always
wanted to improve my knowledge of football so I sat and listened to Carey
but I soon got the impression he felt there was very little he could do
with a team who assembled on the match day. Before a game he would talk
for a few minutes and then ask me to say a few words and I would often
go on longer. I would emphasise what it meant to play for Ireland. He
was a great father figure but we probably needed a more aggressive coach,
a stronger personality.”
Johnny Carey died aged 76 in 1995. He lived to a decent age but even
before the advance of time he looked ahead of his years. Like Bobby Charlton
he lost his hair during his 20s though sensibly eschewing Charlton’s
heroic comb-over. I see a benign, rather professorial, bald-headed, gentleman-coach
puffing peacefully on his pipe, while all around him were metaphorically
losing their hair, content in the knowledge that there wasn’t anything
he could have done about it anyway even if he had tried. |
