Toon star’s role in theatre show
IT is 91 years since Newcastle United won the English title, while it is 63 years since the Magpies last lifted the FA Cup.
In fact, the 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was the last time any Newcastle captain hoisted a trophy aloft – and United fans now appear destined to go through an entire half-century without experiencing the glory of their club winning a trophy.
For several generations of fans, it is hard to imagine that United won trophies in six of the first seven decades of the 20th century.
Three First Division titles and a FA Cup triumph arrived between 1904 and 1910 alone – and Colin Veitch lifted all four of those trophies.
A player so versatile that he could be utilised in just about every outfield position, ex-England international Veitch scored 49 goals in 322 league appearances for Newcastle between 1899 and 1914. He has even been described by some as the finest player NUFC have ever had – and he was one of the nominees for the club’s official “best-ever Newcastle United XI” during their 125th-anniversary celebrations last season.
But, not only was Heaton-born Veitch an exceptional footballer whose career was cut short in 1914 as he went off to serve Britain during World War One as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Garrison Artillery, he was also a member of the Newcastle Socialist Party and a founder of the People’s Theatre, which was formed in 1911.
Undoubtedly, this is a player who should be considered a legend of the club, and the city in general, yet Veitch is not a name present-day Newcastle fans would necessarily recognise.
However, Veitch’s incredible life story will be told at the venue he founded, the People’s Theatre, in a play entitled Heaton! – and it is one NUFC fans should certainly take an interest in.
“Colin Veitch is central to this play, mainly because of the status in which he is held,” Chris Heckels, director of Heaton!, said ahead of the production, which runs from Tuesday, July 17 to Saturday, July 21.
“He is the most-successful footballer Heaton has produced; he was captain of the Newcastle side who won the league three times and, when they won the FA Cup, too, before World War One.
“But to us at the People’s Theatre he is also extremely important because he was a founder member. The Newcastle Socialist Party founded the parent of the People’s Theatre, and he was a member.”
Alongside Veitch, Heaton! – which was inspired by The Great Exhibition of the North – follows the lives of five other famous former residents of NE6 – Turbinia creator Sir Charles Parsons; Lady Katharine Parsons who founded the Women’s Engineering Society; women’s rights activist Florence Nightingale Harrison-Bell; Sydney Opera House constructor Ove Arup; and George Henry Stanley, who started the Tyne Theatre.
But it is Veitch - played by Ben Ostell - who is arguably the most-fascinating of the main characters.
Interestingly, he also served as a journalist for The Chronicle and was even banned from the St James’ Park Press box in 1929 due to the honesty with which he aired his opinions!
A PLAY ABOUT FAMOUS SONS AND DAUGHTERS FROM NE6 WILL FEATURE ONE OF NEWCASTLE’S ALL-TIME GREATS