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MIDDLESBROUGH'S GEORGE HARDWICK- INVENTOR OF TOTAL FOOTBALL 19-4-07
Peter Holmes
April 19th. 2007 is the third anniversary of the passing of a legendary Middlesbrough giant, the one and only George Hardwick, who sadly gave his last breath in 2004 after a lengthy illness.
Accepted as one of our own, he was actually a son of Saltburn, but his greatest footballing love was Middlesbrough Football Club, which he joined at the ripe old age of thirteen on associate schoolboy forms.
George Hardwick was a natural leader who inspired others around him, as much by example as any of his other gifts, he always gave his all and was 100% professional, excellent attributes for a captain and for his eventual foray into coaching and club management. In return, his fellow players gave him their loyalty, support and admiration at every club he played with during every step of his career.
By all accounts he was an extremely stylish and very accomplished defender who was comfortable on the ball, hard, fair and very consistent. I remember when I was a kid once asking my Dad who did he compare him to now, he answered; "Bobby Moore with a smattering of Errol Flynn!"
A dashingly handsome superstar of world football, captain of top four Middlesbrough, captain of England and the inaugural captain of a Great Britain side which walloped the Rest of the World X1 at Glasgow's Hampden by 6-1, much admired and swooned over by local women with his pencil moustache and a film star appearance, he was renowned for always having a beautiful lady on his arm from the ranks of film starlets and dusky singing stars.
He certainly turned the lady's heads and my Mam reckons he was a real dashing gent who would swan into the local dance halls around the Boro of the fifties and every female head would turn and their eyes would swivel in his double-breasted suit direction and sigh audibly.
Stylish, polished and in essence a bit of a matinee idol he was one of the greatest players of his generation, certainly one of the greatest players ever to pull on the red and white shirt of Boro on the hallowed turf of Ayresome Park.
He was great mates with and played in the same era as another of Boro's anointed sons, the genius that was South Bank's very own Wilf Mannion. Those missed years of World War II certainly robbed Boro and its loyal fans of some interesting seasons and undoubtedly of some silverware. Sadly by the end of the war that great team was on the decline.
Like others of that hardy generation he served in the armed forces for his country, specifically in the RAF, becoming a sergeant in Bomber command, seeing action during World War II. He was actually wounded in both legs during a bombing raid after being buried alive but thankfully recovered fully to continue his football career.
During his war service he continued to play and made "guest" appearances for Nottingham Forest, West Brom, Reading and most notably Chelsea where he actually appeared in two FA Cup finals. They coveted his signature and his leadership skills but Boro resisted while George was happy to stay with his boyhood club.
Sadly, those seventeen wartime appearances for England were not recognised with official caps, as was the bizarre rule of the time, which is why he was only credited with thirteen full caps.
A little known fact about "Gentlemen George" was that he was actually the father of one of the modern games greatest tactical innovations which has become a mainstay of coaching manuals and part of the basic methodology of the game's great leaders the world over.
That phenomenon, which arguably changed the way the game was played in the seventies, became known as "Total Football". Pioneered in it's inception when George Hardwick was the new coach of Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven, perfecting the style he'd planned and nurtured while player manager of Oldham Athletic. Eventually, such was his standing and respect in the Netherlands, his career progressed to International level when he became coach of the Dutch national team and an advisor to the Dutch FA.
His effect on Dutch fortunes were pretty profound as their rise from lowland nobodies up the ranks of world football to be now held in high regard as one of the world's top footballing nations. They are synonymous with flair and purveyors of an all action skill-filled brand of football pioneered by one of our own, George Hardwick, inventor of total football.
What follows is a hearsay snapshot which I think helps explain the man and the leader he was. When a devastated young Middlesbrough lad called Brian Clough faced up to life as a crippled footballer, George helped him to pick up the pieces by steering him in the direction of coaching and the rest is history.
George recognised the unique flair that this brash uncompromising forthright young man possessed, being the wise and avuncular leader he was helped coax Cloughie into becoming one of the best English club managers ever to grace the football league.
It would be a very interesting match up in the post match press after a game between teams charged by Mourinho and Cloughie. Now that would be an electric press conference with a good verbal sparring bout and my money would be on a giggle or two with a dressing down for the self anointed special one from 'Old Bighead.'
The basic model of total football may well have been set in George's mind by his stint at Oldham Athletic whom George moved to after Middlesbrough at the age of thirty in 1950, rather surprisingly to take up the reigns as player-manager. To many people's amazement he played up front as a striker this after a stellar career as a cultured defender.
One of the tenets of total football is the belief that a player should be able to play anywhere on the pitch and the constant fluid movement of the team should be one continuos motion necessitating players always covering each other. A tenet that Ajax have taken a step further by basically only signing up forwards into their junior ranks and then moulding them into total footballers who can do the lot and play in many positions.
After a wonderfully rewarding life, George was nursed right through his illness by his devoted wife Jennifer. Drawing on her experience as a carer for her husband in his dying days Jennifer duly formed a charity known as 'The George Hardwick Foundation', which provides advice, support and guidance for other carers with centres in Stockton, Middlesbrough and at North-Tees hospital.
So, next time you wander passed that proud bronze statue of the great man, stop and reflect and ponder the effect this son of the Smog had during his life, especially the beneficial effect his tactical master plan has had on the way the modern game is now played.
I salute you Gentlemen George Hardwick, architect of total football, born leader of men and a true Boro great for ever.
Enough said,
ErimusRed.
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