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The Heighway from nowhere to heroism
By Richard Early
One moment he was at university studying for his finals, the next he was
playing in front of a packed Kop where he went on to win medal after medal.
BAMBER — it sounds like a name you might give to your favourite
teddy bear. But it’s what Steve Heighway’s Liverpool teammates
called him after Bamber Gascoigne, who hosted University Challenge, the
game show for all would-be eggheads.
Steve was a graduate of Economics from Warwick University, a rare bird
in a professional soccer team but rarer still, that Liverpool team also
boasted another graduate — Brian Hall — who was known as (either
because the lads had run out of inspiration or because they just liked
the symmetry) Little Bamber.
Mr Bamber (for let’s call him that) on the other hand really looked
and sounded like a fully paid-up member of academia, capable of reciting
the Encyclopaedia Britannica backwards. No doubt a thoroughly engaging
chap he didn’t look half as interesting as Big Bamber with his Mexican
Pete the Bandit ‘70s-style long hair and droopy moustache, buccaneering
down the wings at Anfield, nominally the left but could be either, scattering
defenders in his wake, raiding and plundering the open spaces, launching
salvo after accurate salvo for the likes of John Toshack, Kenny Dalglish
and (our favourite honorary Geordie), Wor Kev to fire into the net. Meanwhile
nice Mr Bamber remained stuck to his presenter’s seat and never
did anything more exciting than utter the dizzying: “Your starter
for 10.”
Oh come on lads! Surely you could have come up with a better moniker for
Steve than that? Or maybe there was another side to Mr Bamber that I don’t
know about. As my dear old mother, bless her and God rest her soul, used
to say “you can’t judge a book by its cover”. And perhaps
the other books that Mr Bamber could recite backwards were of an altogether
more salacious kind while Big Bamber on the other hand was just a nice
boy who played football very well.
But anyway, I digress…
Steve was born in Dublin in 1947 and grew up in England, went to school
in Sheffield and played football as a youngster for non-league Skelmersdale
United. Bill Shankly, who had been managing Liverpool since 1959, was
alerted to the winger’s talents by his assistant Bob Paisley. In
fact the story goes it was Bob Paisley’s sons who spotted him playing
in a match against South Liverpool in May 1970 while studying for his
finals and recommended him to their father. Shankly immediately signed
him on an amateur basis with no fees changing hands. And so at the age
of 22 he moved seamlessly from one institution — academic —
to another one — visceral.
He made his debut against Mansfield Town in a Second Round League Cup
game at Anfield in September of that year and established himself in the
hearts of the fans two months later during the local derby against defending
champions Everton when he tore the opposition apart on the wings, scored
a memorable solo goal and landed a pin-point cross onto the head of Toshack
for another.
Heighway studied economics, a definition of which is (at least when I
was a student): The best use of scarce resources. Well, Steve Heighway
was a scarce resource: A 22-year-old with no professional experience let
alone top-flight professional experience, just raw natural talent, who
slotted straight into one of the most successful teams ever and cost absolutely
nothing. And Shankly made best use of him as he was a regular from the
1970/71 season to the end of the decade. Now that’s economics.
With Liverpool, Heighway won four Division One Championship medals: 1973,
1976, 1977 and 1979. And he gained winner’s medals in the following
cup competitions: European Cup 1977 and 1978, UEFA Cup 1973 and 1976,
FA Cup 1974 and European Super Cup in 1977. Wow! Oh, and he also won four
boring old Charity Shield medals. His career at Liverpool lasted until
1982 during which time he made 475 appearances in all competitions and
scored 76 goals.
From Skelmersdale United — and a possible career in banking —
to that.
He is immortalised along with Kenny Dalglish in the chorus of The Fields
Of Anfield Road that still rings out around the ground:
“…where once we watched King Kenny play
We had Heighway on the wing
We had dreams and songs to sing
Of the glory round the Fields Of Anfield Road.”
Between 1970 and 1982 Steve Heighway represented Ireland 34 times. His
debut was in that September, just as he was starting his Liverpool career,
at Dalymount Park in a friendly against Poland.
Liam Tuohy was the manager of Ireland during the two years that preceded
the start of John Giles’ tenure in 1973. One of Liam’s problems
was securing the services of English-based players and in spite of making
personal visits to the clubs involved to introduce himself to the managers
it was still an uphill task getting them released for internationals —
the interminable club versus country conflict.
Giles was present on only two of his 12 matches in charge and Heighway
only once. He regarded Heighway’s absences as one of his big disappointments.
When Heighway phoned before the World Cup qualifier against the Soviet
Union in May 1973 to say: “I would like to play for Eire but I’m
taking a rest this summer,” Tuohy exploded and subsequently bemoaned:
“I deplore Heighway’s attitude to the most important games
Ireland have played over the last two years. The World Cup is the paramount
competition and we have our best chance of qualifying for a number of
years.”
However, a glance at Liverpool’s record that year shows that they
had just won the Championship and the UEFA Cup and ever-present Heighway
late of Skelmersdale United probably was exhausted.
After a few years in North America playing and coaching, he returned to
Liverpool in 1989 taking over responsibility at his old club for developing
young talent, anticipating a similar move by Liam Brady at Arsenal a few
years later.
This was a second major career for Heighway at Anfield. He remained director
of the Liverpool Academy for 18 years until his eventual retirement last
year when Rick Parry commented: “He has brought through a clutch
of outstanding players down the years… Steve McManaman, Robbie Fowler,
Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen, Jamie Carragher, David Thompson and Dominic
Matteo. Steve and his team have earned the respect of players and parents
alike. Our youngsters aspire to reach the highest level but they are also
given a great education and prepared for the possibility that their Liverpool
dreams might not be fulfilled.”
You get the impression that this role meant just as much to him as his
playing career with his enthusiasm and commitment reflected in his proud
record of winning the 1999, 2006 and 2007 FA Youth Cups.
After their triumph in 2006 he said: “I love the job and I feel
a great sense of responsibility towards the club. The board have shown
considerable foresight by investing in the Academy. Our record over the
years of bringing our own players through is magnificent.”
And none will gainsay that when you consider the stellar names in their
ranks.
Success again in 2007 marked a fitting way to crown his time at Liverpool,
which had started 37 years before. After the final he had this to say:
“It’s very emotional as I’ve been around the club for
such a long time. People don’t understand what it’s like,
the players are like your own kids. I signed nine of these players when
they were 10 years old and they signed again every year since. It will
be unbelievably difficult to go and I don’t have to but I feel the
time is right.”
And to think Stevie, if Mr Paisley’s sons hadn’t been wasting
their time watching a silly old football match you could be retiring now
from a glittering career at Barclays Bank or some such with an engraved
pocket watch and a personalised set of golf clubs. Where did it all go
wrong?!
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