In
February 2006, the Newcastle United fanzine I was writing for at that time asked
me to pen a profile for the Tyneside
Legends feature they ran in each issue back then. Previously the likes of Colin Veitch, Jackie
Milburn, Hughie Gallagher, Malcolm MacDonald, Kevin Keegan and Chris Waddle had
been the subject under the spotlight, so the onus was on choosing a pretty
special individual. Being given free rein, there was only ever one choice for
me; Peter Beardsley. Looking back now from a dozen years distant, I have to say
my piece was more than just uncritical; it was fawningly hagiographic, but I
would defend my approach and my words to the hilt, as Beardsley is the single
greatest footballer I have ever seen in a black and white shirt. Sadly, there
doesn’t seem to be much of a chance that I’ll see his equal turning out for
NUFC at SJP in my lifetime.
At
around 3.30pm on Friday 17th March 2006, as we lolled around the
office counting down the minutes until the weekend granted us freedom, I took a
call on my mobile from my mate Gary who, at the time, was Newcastle United’s
press officer. I presumed it was to firm up which non-league game we’d be
watching on the Saturday as Newcastle’s home game with Liverpool was a Super Sunday pick. Au contraire; Gary said there was someone with him who wanted a
word with me. Blow me down, within seconds Peter Beardsley was on the other end
of the line, thanking me for what I’d written about him, in very humble terms I
might add. We talked for about 5 minutes, not that I really took in what was
said, which is possibly the only time I’ve had a positive response to one of my
articles!
I
cannot claim to know Peter Beardsley, but I have subsequently met him on
numerous occasions; some positive, such as at Newcastle United community
foundation events, some sombre, like Pavel Srnicek’s memorial service and some
utterly coincidental, as he’s often to be found using our local Sainsbury’s and the Post Office at Four
Lane Ends. On every occasion our paths have crossed, I’ve taken the chance to
have a few words and he has been polite, friendly and eager to talk; a normal
middle-aged bloke in an NUFC trackie, who just happens to be the most gifted
footballer to come out of the North East since World War II. And yet, sadly, this
does not tell the whole sorry story of why Peter Beardsley is back in the news
and in grave danger of having his reputation denigrated by a litany of
accusations against him that hint at disgraceful conduct, involving bullying
and racism in his role as Under 23s coach with Newcastle United; a position
from which he has currently agreed to take an extended period of leave.
Before
this storm blew up, I was all set to write a piece suggesting NUFC’s pitiful
record in bringing through young talent from our academy, and the frankly
appalling results in almost all competitive fixtures by what are effectively
the reserve sides at the club, could only be improved by dispensing with the
services of Beardsley and his fellow coaches, who must take the blame for a dismal
record of stagnant underachievement that outstrips even Rafa Benitez’s
questionable performance with the first team. Obviously, as Peter would say, this
raises the issue of whether absolutely top-notch players simply can’t cut it as
coaches, as so much of their game was based on instinct rather than teaching.
For instance, we could all take cello lessons and, if we practised properly,
could managed to saw a tune out of the beast, though it’s a racing certainty
none of us would find out we’re the next Jacqueline Du Pre. When it comes to the upper echelons of sporting
or artistic excellence, instinct rather than coaching is the essential factor
that makes for genuine genius.
If
one looks at the England team from the 1990 World Cup, the collective CV of
those who went into management is somewhat less than impressive: Shilton,
Pearce, Butcher, Robson, Waddle, Barnes, Wright and Gascoigne have all failed
in every job they’ve had, while the rest didn’t even bother going into
management. I suppose you could argue Bryan Robson and Stuart Pearce had some
positive experiences at Middlesbrough and Man City respectively, while Terry
Butcher, after his hilariously calamitous failure with Sunderland, kept popping
up everywhere from Brentford to Inverness, achieving variable rates of success.
However, the point is, of the 22 players who were involved with England’s best
international performance since 1966, not one of them won a single honour in
their post playing career.
And
yet, that isn’t the story that I have to tell. Peter Beardsley has not only
failed to guide and develop the young players under his command, with Paul
Dummett being the sole NUFC academy product to make it into the first team
squad, he has also apparently demotivated and denigrated certain others by
means of a targeted campaign of vicious, verbal abuse that can only be viewed
as bullying. Additionally, his use of casual racism, under the specious guise
of “banter,” has resulted in complaints to the club’s senior management which
precipitated Beardsley’s enforced period of gardening leave. To be frank, the
club had no choice when 5 U23 players attested to Beardsley, who had taken the
squad to an outward-bound centre to use a military style obstacle course, asking
2 African youth team players who were struggling with the task, “Why are you
taking so long? Your lot should be good at this.”
Recently,
stories have emerged about the toxic, fetid atmosphere and culture in Chelsea’s
youth team set-up under the stewardship of Graham Rix and Gwyn Williams.
Clearly Rix, with a criminal record that saw him serve time for sexual
relations with a girl under the age of consent, has a considerably lower
standing in the game than Beardsley. However, regardless of his reputation, the
sheer hatred revealed by the unending torrent of racist abuse doled out to
teenage lads who simply wanted to be footballers, made me feel almost physically
sick when reading it. Rix and Williams came across like a pair of 1970s
National Front boneheads screaming abuse from The Shed. I have no doubt that
such behaviour cannot be tolerated in any civilised society; not only were the
words and phrases meant to wound and humiliate, they betrayed the kind of
Neanderthal attitudes I thought had died out 40 years back. This wasn’t
“banter;” this was hatred. In contrast, Beardsley’s comments, though they show
stupid, indefensible ignorance, like a kind of low-carb Jeremy Clarkson with
flat batteries, reflecting terribly on someone who played some of his best
stuff with the likes of John Barnes, Andy Cole and Les Ferdinand, don’t reek of
the same vile hatred as Rix and Williams display. Indeed, without trying to understate
the seriousness of these utterances, Beardsley’s crass and moronic words pale
into insignificance when compared to his alleged conduct in the case of Yasin
Ben El-Mhanni, on the basis that the former were a result of ignorance and the
latter targeted abuse.
Born
in London to Moroccan parents, El-Mhanni was signed from Lewes in summer 2016.
His on-line presence is such that he was famous among those connoisseurs of
ball-juggling wizardry who still pine for FIFA
Streets, mainly as a result of his show reels on You Tube. It should be pointed out that El-Mhanni is no raw kid;
he’s 22 and spent time as a trainee with both Barnet and then Aldershot Town,
without making the grade at either.
Despite his CV extending to a meagre 4 appearances for Farnborough and
11 for Lewes, in his entire career, he had trials with Watford, Bournemouth,
West Brom, Crystal Palace and Chelsea, where he scored on his debut as a
trialist for the reserves, before agreeing a deal to come to Tyneside. He has
appeared twice for the first team, both in the FA Cup, making his debut in
2017’s third round replay success at home to Birmingham and the fourth round
loss to Oxford United. In both games, he displayed sublime flicks and control,
but zero end product and was withdrawn around the 70-minute mark. When
subsequently questioned about El-Mhanni, Beardsley had this to say about him -;
He’s got unbelievable ability, but
without being negative, he needs to learn the game. If I’m being honest I can’t
take any credit for bringing him in. Steve Nickson [Head of Recruitment] and
his staff are the reason he’s here, because he’s obviously got a talent which
they saw, and we’re just trying to enhance that and make it better.
Now,
without being cynical, reading between the lines, this would suggest Beardsley
didn’t sign him, didn’t fancy him and didn’t know how to develop him. This is
of no surprise to me, as a friend whose son endured a frustrating 3 years at
Newcastle’s academy, where he felt Beardsley’s version of coaching actually
impeded his progress as a player, because of the constant barrage of negativity
directed towards anyone he didn’t rate, presumably in the hope of driving them
out of the club, had this to say -: He (Beardsley)has always picked on the most vulnerable
players and never the big names in the academy.
This (El-Mhanni) is just the
tip of the iceberg. It could be Newcastle’s version of the Harvey Weinstein
scandal as loads of former players will be coming out of the woodwork,
especially because the club knew exactly what he was doing, including Rafa, but
they all just buried their head in the sand. With the racism thing, I suppose
he’ll claim it is his humour, because he thinks it’s ok. Basically, he thought
he was untouchable, but he’s an evil little, back-stabbing bastard; the
absolute definition of a bully.
While
such sentiments may be coloured by personal involvement in this instance, as it
must be hard to remain neutral when considering the case of one’s son trying to
make a career as a professional footballer, the fact that El-Mhanni has made a
formal complaint about Beardsley, which is quite separate to the allegations of
racism, and additionally taken out a grievance against the club, shows that he
is extremely upset with the situation. The basis of his complaint is that he
has been forced to endure incessant, personal verbal bullying from Beardsley,
almost from the moment he signed for the club. Anecdotally, I do know that many
of the U23 players think that El-Mhanni is more of a circus act than a
footballer, but this does not hide the fact Beardley’s conduct is completely
unacceptable. In my personal playing experience, I’ve seen the effects of
bullying on a couple of players who simply gave the game up as they fell out of
love with it at one club, and I’ve also endured it myself at another club where
I was involved on the committee, where the closing of ranks and spiteful
innuendo caused me great upset.
Bullying,
at every level and for every conceivable reason, is wrong. It isn’t character
building, it isn’t part and parcel of the game and it certainly isn’t “banter;”
bullying is abuse, plain and simple. Whether the perpetrators accept it or not,
they are the abusers if a victim feels they are being bullied. There is no
hierarchy of abuse in football; those who suffered sexual abuse from the likes
of Barry Bennell are victims whose story must be told. The tragic revelation
that NUFC legend Gary Speed is one of 4 players coached by Bennell who have
subsequently committed suicide is a simply heartbreaking revelation that hints
at the heart of an immense darkness in our game.
While
Peter Beardsley will always remain a footballing hero of mine, like the
revelations post mortem of Philip
Larkin’s reactionary attitudes, I will have to separate the professional
achievements from the man himself. If he is found guilty of either or both the
accusations against him, he has to go. Sack him for gross misconduct, even if
he’s just about to turn 57 and is a club legend; he has to face retribution for
his acts, whether he accepts responsibility or not. Ironically of course, if his
current job was examined on purely footballing terms, he’d not have a leg to
stand on if his was sacked for his performance in the role, which will soon see
my beloved Newcastle Benfield pitted against Newcastle United Under 23s in the
semi-final of the Northumberland FA Senior Cup. I sincerely hope he isn’t
afforded the equivalent of a loaded revolver in a locked room, though this is
Newcastle United we’re talking about and if any club can respond in a
dysfunctional manner, it’s Ashley’s circus up Barrack Road.
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