Saint latest in a long line of greats to sadly pass away
THEY used to say you know when you are getting older when the policemen look so young. These days, sadly, it is difficult to even spot one. It focuses my mind now when news comes every week that football legends from my younger days and broadcasting career have passed away.
The most recent include the Liverpool, Scotland and TV legend Ian St John, at the age of 82. One half of the wonderful, funny football show duo Saint and Greavsie, the ‘Saint’ died after a long illness.
Then Phil Chisnall, the last player to be transferred from Manchester United to Liverpool, died aged 78. Chisnall, a product of United’s youth academy, played for the first team from 1961-64. The forward then joined Liverpool for £25,000 in 1964.
The Newcastle United players wore black armbands at The Hawthorns on Sunday as a mark of respect for their former player and manager Glenn Roeder, who died aged just 65 on February 28 after a long-running battle with a brain tumour.
I always found Roeder helpful and friendly, both as a player, manager and an England coach.
I rang Danny Greaves, Jimmy’s eldest son, asking him to break the news about St John to his dad who cried when he heard.
Jimmy is in poor health these days after a second and severe stroke.
Their Saturday lunchtime show was a must-watch event on ITV and they became national treasures – even being featured with their own puppets on the satirical show Spitting Image.
Jimmy’s humour complemented the Saint’s lovely smile and laughter. How we could do with the humour in today’s wall-to-wall coverage of football.
Jeff Stelling’s Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports does provide flashes of humour but Saint and Greavsie were different class.
I recall a clip from Trump Tower in New York for the League Cup draw with the future USA President. Greavsie took the mickey with Donald, who clearly did not quite understand what was going on.
It finished with Greavsie presenting Trump with a ‘valuable’ Saint and Greavsie tea mug!
The younger viewers understandably thought of both Ian and Jimmy as TV personalities before being
reminded that both had brilliant goalscoring club and international playing careers.
St John began with his home club Motherwell before Bill Shankly signed him for Liverpool for thethen club record £37,500 fee. He won two League titles and scored the extra-time winner in the 1965 FA Cup final. He won 21 caps for Scotland, scoring nine goals.
It should be remembered, too, that he had a short spell playing for Coventry City in 1971-72.
As a small aside, but for my trip with Central TV colleague Trevor East to London, the Saint and Greavsie show may not have ever happened.
The 2002 World Cup in Spain occurred two years after Greavsie joined what was then ATV. The major ITV companies were often at odds on power and politics.
One senior London Weekend Television sports producer apparently was saying that Jimmy was a disaster in the Midlands when he had never actually seen or heard him. St John was an LWT man! So we went down to see John Bromley, head of both ITV and LWT Sport, and trusted our judgement.
Jimmy was the hit of the TV World Cup coverage and afterwards LWT came up with the brilliant idea of pairing Saint and Greavsie. The rest was history.
News comes every week that football legends from my younger days and broadcasting career have passed away.