Anthony Green (born 30 October 1946) is a Scottish former internationalist professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
. At the age of 25 his career ended prematurely in September 1972 due to an injury he received playing for
Newcastle United.
Albion Rovers
Green was born in
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
and began his professional career nearby at
Albion Rovers in
Coatbridge
Coatbridge ( sco, Cotbrig or Coatbrig, gd, Drochaid a' Chòta) is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. Along with neighbouring town Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Airdrie, Coatbrid ...
who he joined from school. Green studied maths at the
Paisley College of Technology while playing for Albion Rovers. A slightly built, quick, skilful attacker, he was playing internationally at the time for the Scottish youth team set up with whom he formed a left sided attacking partnership with
Lex Law. Green joined Rovers in the belief he would play first team football at an earlier age than he would playing for a bigger club.
[Lex Law interview qosfc.com](_blank)
/ref>
Blackpool
Green transferred just before the end of the season in May 1967 to Blackpool for an initial £13,500 on a four-year contract. Albion would receive a further £2,000 when he had played in twenty first-team games. Blackpool were already condemned to relegation from the top flight when Green debuted in the last game of the season 3–1 defeat away to Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
.["Blackpool Results Fixtures 1966/1967" football.co.uk](_blank)
/ref>
His enduring recollection of his time at Bloomfield Road was being denied promotion back to the top flight on goal difference in season 1967-68 finishing third behind Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system.
The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...
and Queen's Park Rangers
Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football, football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home ...
. "We'd won at Huddersfield and thought we were up. Our supporters crowded onto the field and were going daft but we got back in the dressing room to find that QPR had scored a winner in the last minute against Aston Villa. They'd been losing with ten minutes left," said Green.["Legend: Tony Green"]
''Blackpool Gazette''
Green suffered an Achilles injury that kept him out of the game for a year. In his time out the team Blackpool won promotion back to the top flight.["The Joy of Six: curtailed football careers" The Guardian](_blank)
/ref> His return to the fold came on 19 September 1970 for the visit of Everton to Bloomfield Road
Bloomfield Road is a single-tier football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C. since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two being Raikes Hall Gardens and the At ...
. His profile increased that season when he scored two goals in a 4–0 home televised FA Cup third round win against West Ham United
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
. The first was a solo run into the penalty area and the second was a left foot drive high into the net from just outside the penalty area.["BLACKPOOL VS WEST HAM - JAN - 1971" youtube.com](_blank)
/ref> Blackpool were relegated at the end of that season back in the top tier. In their last league game of the season Green scored in the 1–1 draw against Manchester United.["Blackpool Results Fixtures 1970/1971" football.co.uk](_blank)
/ref>
Blackpool that season won the 1971 Anglo-Italian Cup
The 1971 Anglo-Italian Cup was the second staging of the annual association football tournament. It featured twelve teams — six from England and six from Italy.
The competition started on 26 May 1971 and concluded on 12 June 1971 with Blackp ...
. Blackpool defeated A.S. Roma
' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...
and Hellas Verona
Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as Hellas Verona or simply Verona, is a professional Italian football club based in Verona, Italy, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won the Serie A Championship in 1984–85.
His ...
both in Italy to earn a trip away to play at AC Bologna in the final. Blackpool came from behind to win 2–1.["Bologna 1, Blackpool 2 - Anglo-Italian Cup Final, June 12, 1971" Blackpool Gazette 20 September 2006"](_blank)
/ref>
Green was inducted into the Hall of Fame at Bloomfield Road, when it was officially opened by former Blackpool player Jimmy Armfield
James Christopher Armfield, (21 September 1935 – 22 January 2018) was an English professional football player and manager who latterly worked as a football pundit for BBC Radio Five Live. He played the whole of his Football League career at B ...
in April 2006.
Newcastle United
In the month of his 25th birthday, October 1971["Tony Green", Sporting Heroes](_blank)
/ref> after him putting in a transfer request, Newcastle United took Blackpool's Scottish internationalist back to England's top tier. Newcastle made a £150,000 offer in a part-exchange deal involving Keith Dyson. Green became Newcastle's second most expensive signing, after Malcolm Macdonald
Malcolm Ian Macdonald (born 7 January 1950) is an English former professional footballer, manager and media figure. Nicknamed 'Supermac', Macdonald was a quick, powerfully built prolific goalscorer. He played for Fulham, Luton Town, Newcastle ...
who had signed in May the same year from Luton Town for £180,000. Green's debut was away at Everton["Newcastle United Tony Green" Replay Football](_blank)
/ref> on 30 October 1971. The 1–0 defeat put Newcastle bottom of England's top tier at that time after what had been their fifth consecutive defeat. Green scored though in the next game, a 3–1 home win against Southampton. Newcastle's revival for that season was under way to start an unbeaten run of five wins and two draws. The Geordies climbed the table to finish eleventh.["Newcastle United Results Fixtures 1971/1972" football.co.uk](_blank)
/ref> Macdonald with 30 goals from 52 games was the primary beneficiary of the team's attacking skills. Green was the brains and drive of the team. In a 2–0 victory at Manchester United, Green was instrumental in creating both goals. The first was a precision chip over a defender to release Stewart Barrowclough to centre for John Tudor to score. The second was a box to box solo run that left George Best
George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United. A highly skilful dribbler, Best is regarded as one of the greatest p ...
on the deck in Green's wake. Green crossed for Barrowclough to score.["12/02/1972 Manchester United v Newcastle United" youtube.com](_blank)
/ref>
On 2 September 1972["Newcastle United Results Fixtures 1972/1973" football.co.uk](_blank)
/ref> Green suffered a knee cartilage injury that ultimately ended his professional football career the month before his 26th birthday. His competitive career at Newcastle lasted only 39 games (33 in the league) spanning 11 months in which he was idolised by the Geordie fans. Green later said of the injury, "I was finished at the age of 25 by a tackle from Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick
* Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario
* Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
's Mel Blyth but I honestly think it was an accident, not malicious. Nowadays I would have been out for a month to five weeks because I would have been in hospital the next day. However, in the seventies I was in a splint for six weeks running up and down the St James' Park terraces and was then allocated a general surgeon, the club vice-chairman Bob Rutherford, instead of an orthopedic surgeon."
United got their £150,000 back through an insurance company after Green's retirement at Christmas 1973, but it was little consolation.
Newcastle manager Joe Harvey
Joseph Harvey (11 June 1918 – 24 February 1989) was an English football player and later manager. He spent much of his career at Newcastle United; he was the club's longest serving captain, manager, and, as of 2022, the last to win a major ...
said: "After they made Tony Green, they threw away the mould. I couldn't hope to buy a similar player, not even for twice the amount." Harvey said of the day of Green's retirement from football, "It was the saddest day of my life. He was my very best buy." In a minor irony Newcastle that season won the 1973 Anglo-Italian Cup that Green had won two seasons before."Stats 1972-73" nufc.com
/ref>
In 2008 Green said: "You think about things for about six months, and you look back wistfully. But in a way, I'm glad that if I had to finish like I did, I did it at Newcastle. I had a chance to play for a big club every week, in front of big crowds. You can't regret that. I'd have loved to have played on, but if you keep looking back it would drive you crackers."
Green was inducted into a black and white Hall of Fame at the Toon Reunion at Dunston's Lancastrian Suite on 9 July 2008 at the age of 61.
International career
Green made six appearances for the Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team gd, Sgioba Ball-coise Nàiseanta na h-Alba sco, Scotland National Fitbaa Team represents Scotland in men's international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. It competes in the thr ...
between February 1971 and May 1972.[Anthony Green www.scottishfa.co.uk](_blank)
/ref>
After playing
After his football career ended Green became a maths
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
teacher. He taught at Hodgson High School in Poulton-le-Fylde
Poulton-le-Fylde (), commonly shortened to Poulton, is a market town in Lancashire, England, situated on the coastal plain called the Fylde. In the 2001 United Kingdom census, it had a population of 18,264. There is evidence of human habitation i ...
, Lancashire, and later at Millfield High School, in nearby Thornton.
Since 1976, he has served on the Pools Panel
In the United Kingdom, the football pools, often referred to as "the pools", is a betting pool based on predicting the outcome of association football matches taking place in the coming week. The pools are typically cheap to enter, and may encou ...
, a three-strong panel of experts who predict results of postponed football fixtures.[
He currently lives in ]Poulton-le-Fylde
Poulton-le-Fylde (), commonly shortened to Poulton, is a market town in Lancashire, England, situated on the coastal plain called the Fylde. In the 2001 United Kingdom census, it had a population of 18,264. There is evidence of human habitation i ...
with his wife, Christine.
Honours
* Blackpool - 1971 Anglo-Italian Cup
The 1971 Anglo-Italian Cup was the second staging of the annual association football tournament. It featured twelve teams — six from England and six from Italy.
The competition started on 26 May 1971 and concluded on 12 June 1971 with Blackp ...
References
Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Tony
1946 births
Living people
Scottish footballers
Scotland international footballers
Albion Rovers F.C. players
Blackpool F.C. players
Newcastle United F.C. players
Footballers from Glasgow
Scottish Football League players
English Football League players
Association football midfielders
People educated at St Mungo's Academy
People from Poulton-le-Fylde
Alumni of the University of the West of Scotland