A DECENT I
Jackie Carey was revered for his skill, loyalty and true sense of duty to Manchester United
WHEN news of the Munich air disaster filtered through to Manchester on that fateful February day in 1958, Jackie Carey drove straight to Matt Busby’s house to offer his help. Carey then appeared on television as a United spokesman before flying to Germany to be with the survivors.
What was curious about Carey’s prominence in the aftermath of the tragedy was the fact he was managing Blackburn Rovers at the time. He had retired as a United player almost five years earlier, but the club had never left him. It never would.
As captain under Matt Busby for seven seasons, Carey’s quiet authority and integrity on and off the pitch, brought him immense credibility and status. Just as he was there when United needed him on the pitch, so he was there when their world came crashing down in the slush and ice of Bavaria.
Such was Carey’s esteem as a United beacon, that when he died in 1995, there wasn’t a moment’s hesitation from the club hierarchy when his widow, Margaret, asked to scatter her husband’s ashes at the Stretford End. Carey was a special case. A special man. And United fans loved him. For he was ‘The Irish Lad’ of their terrace song.
‘Hello, Johnny Carey you can hear the girls all cry / Hello, Johnny Carey, you are the apple of my eye / You’re a decent boy from Ireland there is no one can deny / You’re a harem scarum devil may careum, decent Irish boy.’
Carey was born 100 years ago this week in the Dublin borough of Dun Laoghaire and lived an extraordinary football life, which began as a schoolboy at Home Farm, continued at St James’ Gate for half a season in the League of Ireland, and took flight after a bargain £250 transfer to United in November 1936.
As a United player, Carey’s front-line career spanned 16 seasons – seven of which were lost to the Second World War – during which time he captained United to FA Cup (1948) and English League Championship (1952) glory.
At Wembley, against the Blackpool of Stanley Matthews and Stan Mortensen, United, wearing unfamiliar blue jerseys, trailed 2-1 at halftime. Carey’s pep talk had the desired effect as United stormed back to win 4-2.
‘It was not my place or way to rant and rave. I just felt if the team remembered just how good they were, relaxed and played to the best of their ability we still had a great chance of victory,’ he said later.
The FA Cup win was United’s first major success in 39 years. On his return to a joyous Manchester the following Monday, Carey slept with the revered trophy under his bed at home in Sark Road.
His popularity peaked in 1952 when the club finally won the championship after the agony of finishing runners-up four times in the previous five seasons.
Carey scored a rare goal in the 3-0 win over Chelsea at Old Trafford which clinched the title and then casually walked to his house among the adoring United fans, as he had no car. On arrival home, Carey was quickly brought down to earth. ‘Margaret, my wife, informed me she was putting the children to bed so would I mind doing the washing up?’ he recalled.
Carey played 39 games out of 42 as United won their first title in 41 years and his role as a leader of men was superbly captured by Geoffrey Green of in his match report.
‘No man was more deserving than Johnny Carey, a model captain and among the most complete and versatile footballers in history.
‘At first glance, with his thinning hair and thoughtful expression he looked older than his true age. But there was no doubting his maturity.
‘From the moment he led his side out, you got the impression he was bringing a pack of schoolboys who were to be put through their paces under his supervision… there was something in his measured stately tread that engendered an instant feeling of respect and authority.’
Carey was Busby’s first captain at United and was so versatile and reliable that he was picked in 10 positions, including goalkeeper, over the course of 344 first team appearances.
He arrived as an inside-forward, was switched to right-back before finishing at wing-half. Wherever Busby played him, Carey looked at ease.
Improbably, Carey played the full 90 minutes in goal away to Sunderland in February 1953 – the match finished 2-2 and he berated himself for missing a cross late on from which Sunderland scored.
With no subs allowed then, Carey stood in goal several times where he would toe-tap the ball in the box rather than bounce it.
This caused bewilderment with those unfamiliar with his GAA background – Carey won a Dublin Minor Championship with Peadar Mackens in 1935.
Through his time at United, and beyond, Carey never lost his Irish brogue, attended Mass on Sundays, smoked his pipe, and helped Margaret raise four children. He played golf with a handicap of four.
Famously, Carey didn’t hesitate about signing up for active service with the King’s Own Hussars in the winter of 1942.
‘A country that gives me my living is worth fighting for,’ he said ahead of his posting as a sergeant to Algeria, Egypt and Italy where he became known as ‘Cario’ when he guested for local clubs.
It was a brave call, which not everyone appreciated on this side of the Irish Sea, as Eamon Dunphy acknowledged.
‘It was a shining example of courage and a noble thing to do as Carey could easily have avoided it (service),’ Dunphy said.
‘It was hugely important for Irish people in England and those that followed him. As captain of Manchester United, he did nothing but good for Ireland’s reputation.’
Carey’s reputation was stellar and in 1947 he was appointed captain of the Rest of Europe against a Great Britain XI at Hampden Park in a fixture to mark the return of the four ‘home’ nations to FIFA after a 20-year absence.
‘I was the only player on the European team who spoke English, and I’m an Irishman,’ he said wryly of a game which drew a staggering crowd of 134,000 to Glasgow.
In 1949, Carey was a runaway winner of the Footballer of the Year award, pulling in 40 per cent of the votes, more than the next two players, Billy Wright and Raich Carter, combined.
He received his award in London on a Friday, then caught the overnight sleeper with Busby for a game against Newcastle United the next day, which United won 1-0. Carey was man-of-the-match.
At international level, Carey played 29 times for the Republic of Ireland, or Eire as they were known before 1954, and nine times for the IFA’s Ireland.
In 1949, he led the Republic of Ireland to a famous 2-0 victory over an England at Goodison Park. For football daft kids in Ireland, Carey had a reputation from the Gods.
Growing up in Ormond Square in the 1940s, John Giles and his pals only knew one Irish name in English football: Carey.
‘When Ireland were playing at Dalymount, we went up there, especially to see one player: Jackie Carey,’ recalled Giles.
‘Carey was the man. He was the star. He went to United as an inside forward, he had that much skill. After the war, Matt Busby picked him at full-back.
‘He had great control, was a wonderful passer and always had space. He was my hero and one of the reasons I went to Manchester United.’
‘No man was
Giles argues that Carey became an envoy for Ireland through his calmness, affability, intelligence and dry wit. He never lost his ‘Gentleman John’ moniker. ‘Jackie played a key role in ensuring Irish people were made welcome in England, which wasn’t the case before he went over to Manchester in 1936.
‘He became established at United, as captain and became an unofficial ambassador for Ireland.
‘If I was picking the greatest Irish team of my time, he’d be definitely in it,’ said Giles.
When Carey died, Dunphy penned a titanic tribute in the Sunday Independent in which he hailed Carey as a ‘legend on the streets where small boys dream’.
Dunphy was one of those boys, who grew to appreciate the critical role Carey filled under Busby.
‘Old Trafford was a bombsite at the end of the war when Busby came in to pick up the pieces as manager.
‘He saw in Carey someone who shared his values, who could play and who he could trust. He got seven great years out of him,’ said Dunphy. ‘There are different qualities of leadership, Roy Keane was a special kind of leader; Carey was, too, in his own under-stated way, as was reflected by the esteem in which he was held by footballers, fans and the press.
‘As regards all-time Irish players, he’d be right up there,’ he added.
In 1953, Carey played his final international for Ireland. It was against Austria on March 25 and Ireland ran out 4-0 winners against a team that would finish third in the 1954 World Cup.
Among the 40,000 throng in Dalymount was a young Dub, Christy Fenlon, uncle of Pat, and a member of Shamrock Rovers.
‘I went to the Austria game to see Carey and couldn’t get over him. He was bald and looked older than my father. He played at the back and mopped up everything,’ recalled Fenlon 58 years on.
Fenlon’s regard for Carey runs deep and he approached An Post about the possibility of a stamp to commemorate the 100th anniversary
of Carey’s birth. ‘I left it too late as they have to prepare two years in advance,’ he said.
By the time of that Austria game, Carey had made up his mind to retire as a player and turn to management.
He had turned 34, although he looked older, and recognised the shimmering talent coming through under Busby at United. The club was in safe hands, he felt.
On May 23, 1953 his retirement was announced in the Manchester Evening News.
‘There comes a time when you have to make decisions and while I could probably have played another year, possibly two, I felt the only way was going down,’ he said.
‘This year from the back, I have seen at first hand Ray Wood, Bill Foulkes, Roger Byrne, Jeff Whitefoot, Mark Jones, Duncan Edwards, Tommy Taylor, Dennis Viollett and David Pegg.
‘Manchester United’s future is very bright indeed.’
Less than five years later, Byrne, Jones, Edwards, Taylor and Pegg were among the ‘Busby Babes’ to perish in Munich.
When Carey showed up at Busby’s house that day in 1958, it was nothing less than anyone expected in the club’s darkest hour.
‘Busby saw in Carey someone who could play and who he could trust. He got seven years out of him’