Treasure chest filled with gold
HE PLAYED AGAINST PUSKAS, MADE HIS SCOTLAND DEBUT ALONGSIDE BAXTER AND ONCE KICKED DENIS LAW SO HARD HE WENT OFF IN A HUFF ... A SUITCASE FULL OF MEMORIES HELPS JACKIE PLENDERLEITH RECALL HIS EXTRAORDINARY CAREER
Open 84-year-old Jackie plenderleith’s battered old suitcase of memories and you are instantly transported back to another era. The inconspicuous treasure trove is kept under the bed in his spare room at his home in Aberdeen, and offers no clue as to the priceless cuttings and photographs contained within.
There are newspaper reports on how he played against the legendary Hungarian and Real Madrid star Ferenc puskas twice in two days and how he marked Jimmy Greaves and John Charles. pictures of him and his close pal Denis Law — who he put up in the air during a Manchester City training session that saw Law go away in the huff — are also in the suitcase he holds so dear.
The fascinating collection of cuttings go all the way back to where it began for him as a 17-year-old centre-half who made his Hibs debut against Kilmarnock at easter Road in 1954. He went on to play alongside the Famous Five and was part of the team that lost the 1958 Scottish Cup final 1-0 to Clyde.
There are many matchday programmes from his time in the Hibs team that became the first Scottish side to play in the european Cup back on September 14, 1955. He is the last surviving member of the team that took on Rot Weiss essen in that historic game in what was then West Germany.
‘I had never been in a plane, never
I was left out of the next Scotland game... which just happened to be the 9-3 at Wembley!
travelled abroad, and the furthest I had ever been was a weekend in Rothesay with my parents from my home in Holytown in Lanarkshire,’ said plenderleith. ‘now I was just 17 and going to Germany with the likes of eddie Turnbull, Gordon Smith and Lawrie Reilly to a place I had never heard of in my life.
‘During the game it was pouring rain, the pitch was a mud-bath and most of the fans were British squaddies based nearby. We won 4-0 and eddie Turnbull scored two
and made two. eddie’s on-field expletives aside, all the Famous Five that I went on to play with, especially Gordon Smith, were very helpful to young players like me.’
Buried away near the bottom of the suitcase is a scrapbook from his days at his next club, Manchester City, where he played alongside the likes of Law and famous German goalkeeper Bert Trautmann. There are also five-star reviews for the way he marked John Charles out of a game, reports on playing against Jimmy Greaves for the Scotland Under-23 team and also against Tom Finney in a friendly with Hibs. There are also details of his proudest moment, which was winning his one and only Scotland cap against northern Ireland in 1960 on the same day Jim Baxter also made his international debut.
Yet there is one in thing missing that plenderleith regrets not having, but allows himself a wry smile when it is mentioned.
‘Ferenc puskas’ Real Madrid jersey from when I played against him twice in two days,’ he recalls. ‘Real Madrid were touring South Africa and I played against them for Hellenic in Johannesburg and then a Western province XI in Cape Town.
‘I was star-struck and so excited about playing against puskas. In the first game I kept hearing a high-pitched whistle and thought someone in the crowd was taking the rise and trying to impersonate the ref to put us all off.
‘Then I looked around and it turned out it was puskas, who would let out a piercing whistle whenever he wanted the ball. And if any of his team-mates didn’t give him it when he asked for it, he would get on to them.
‘We lost the first match 5-2 and the second one 4-1 but just to be on the same park as the likes of puskas, Jose Santamaria, Amancio Amaro and Gento on the left wing, who was the fastest player I ever played against, was a privilege. ‘I got Santamaria’s jersey after one game and then puskas’ after the other. I think Santamaria’s was lost somewhere but I gave puskas’ jersey to my parents for safe keeping as he was a legend even then. He was 37 at the time I played him and a year later won his sixth La Liga title and the european Cup. ‘A few years later I asked my dad, who was a coal miner, where it was keeping it. He said to me: “Son, I forgot it was puskas’ jersey and it was such a nice material that I started wearing it down the pit as I didn’t sweat that much in it”.
‘So I asked him where the white shirt was now. “It’s a rag son”, he said. “I wore it so much it got covered in coal dust and it was totally black until it disintegrated”.’
plenderleith does have the Scotland strip he wore against northern Ireland and the cap he was presented with after he made his debut in their 5-2 win at Hampden back in november, 1960. It is framed and hangs just above the bed under which he keeps his suitcase.
‘The Scotland team was picked by selectors and they had come to watch Spurs take on my team Manchester City at White Hart Lane a few months before,’ he said. ‘They had come to watch Dave Mackay and John White of Spurs and Denis (Law) from my team.
‘I wasn’t in their thoughts, I later found out, but I did okay against their centre forward Bobby Smith and we got a draw against a Spurs
I gave my dad Puskas’ white jersey to keep it safe... he wore it down the pit and got it covered in coal dust!
team that won the league and couple double that season. The selectors were so impressed that I got a Scotland call-up.’
Plenderleith kept the legendary Liverpool defender ron yeats out of the Scotland team and helped them to an emphatic win against a Northern Ireland side that included the likes of danny Blanchflower, Bertie Peacock of Celtic and Manchester United goalkeeper Harry Gregg.
‘Baxter did really well on his debut and was unlucky not to score as Gregg was in great form, but what a player Jim was,’ he said. ‘I thought I did okay but that was the first and only time played for Scotland.
‘I lost my place in the Manchester City team before Scotland were due to play again and handed in a transfer request and that was it. I wasn’t playing at club level so I wasn’t picked for Scotland again and at the time I was gutted.
‘Then again, the next Scotland game was the 9-3 defeat to england at Wembley, which is a match nobody from Scotland wants to remember. So maybe I was a bit lucky to miss that one!’
For Plenderleith leaving the Maine road side was tough as he loved the club and had made good friends like Law, who is now 81 and recently revealed he suffers from dementia.
‘I haven’t spoken to him for years but denis was a good pal and we used to share digs together at City,’ he said. ‘We had so much fun back then, so many laughs off the pitch.
‘I captained him for the Scotland Under-23 team and he was one of the greatest players in the world. He could have some temper on him on the pitch, regardless who you were, even in training. We were playing attackers against defenders and I got him and the ball — and up in the air he went.
‘He was furious and, after telling me what he thought of me, he stormed off in the huff. even our manager, Les Mcdowall, who was Scottish too, gave me a row for putting our star player up in the air. That was denis. He was a top player who didn’t like being roughed up — but could dish it out on the pitch.’
Plenderleith left British football to play in the South Africa National League during the apartheid era along with others such as Hearts striker Alfie Conn, who had joined Johannesburg ramblers. It was a segregated league with no black players until the competition folded in 1977.
‘I had a young family, was a bit naïve and didn’t look at the political situation over there at the time,’ said the former centre-half who signed for Cape Town City before going on to play for Bloemfontein then Hellenic. ‘I had fallen out of favour at the highest level, had been playing at Queen of the South and hadn’t played full-time for nearly three years and needed to earn an income.
‘I was still just 26 and felt I could restart my career in South Africa, but looking back with what I know now about apartheid, I would like to think I would not have moved there.
‘As for the football, it was an experience and I will always remember that I played against the great real Madrid and the amazing Puskas twice in two days. That will always be one of the highlights of my career.’
Nowadays Plenderleith admits his memory isn’t what it used to be and asks this correspondent to read out bits of his book to jog his
Denis didn’t like being roughed up, but he could dish it out on the pitch
recollections. Physically he is in good shape and only recently stopped playing 18 holes of golf due to a bad back. ‘I still practice my putting in the back garden and love watching golf and football on television, I and take the dog a walk when I can,’ he said.
So what does he make of his two big former clubs — Hibs and Manchester City — and how salaries have gone up, especially at the etihad, since he played?
‘Hibs have started the season well, which is great to see,’ said Penderleith. ‘What can you say about Manchester City? I was on maybe £16 a week when I was there, although I can’t really remember. The salaries players get nowadays are massive, absolutely massive, and puts what we earn, if you take in inflation, into the shade. But I had a great career and some lovely memories that money can’t buy.’
First And Last: how I Made european history With hibs, by Jackie Plenderleith with tom Maxwell, is available now from Pitch Publishing at £19.99.