Cup final king

Apr 12 2009 by David Old, Sunday Sun

THESE days footballers command multi-million pound contracts.

But in Jimmy McMillan’s day, he earned more working in his nine-to-five town planner job.

He played at Wembley in four finals, in front of crowds of 100,000, but still Jimmy was not tempted by overtures from top teams.

Newcastle United, Sunderland and even Chelsea were after his signature, but Jimmy plumped for amateur outfit Crook Town instead.

The 76-year-old grandfather, from Kibblesworth, Gateshead, has fond memories of his playing career during the 1950s and 60s, even if sometimes he mulls over what his life might have been like if he had been born a few decades later.

He said: “The wages these days are staggering. You can’t blame the players as they have got to make as much as they can, but £100,000 a week is obscene, especially when you look at the credit crunch and people on the dole.

“I sometimes think if only I was born 40 years later, but by and large I think I got the best of both worlds. It was something to be enjoyed, and better really than having gone professional.”

And Jimmy had plenty to cheer in an amateur career which saw him collect a record four winner’s medals. Despite being brought up in a post-war mining village in the North East, at a time when money was tight and opportunities for travel were tighter, Jimmy enjoyed plenty of adventures.

“I got the chance to go abroad and have a yearly trip down to London and the Home Counties, they were experiences I probably wouldn’t have got normally.”

He also toured Iceland with an unofficial amateur international side, and was even capped for England against France.

And his skills did not go unnoticed at the big clubs. “When I was 17 someone from Newcastle came into my office and put £10 on the table and said it was mine if I signed.

“I declined but then I had a Sunderland scout come after me and offer me the same. I turned it down but played a few games for Sunderland’s third team and then a chance at Crook Town came up.

“In those days professionals got paid £10 a week in the winter and £7 in the summer.

“I was never encouraged to try professional because I got a much better job with more money if I stayed at school and took exams.”

Page 2: So different from today