December 23 – Former England midfielder George Eastham, a member of the country’s 1966 World Cup-winning squad who became equally well known for blazing a trail for player freedom of movement, has died aged 88.
Stoke City announced Eastham’s death late Friday, saying it was “immensely saddened” to lose a “club legend”. It did not specify a cause of death.
Eastham played for Newcastle United, Arsenal and Stoke in the English top-flight league in a professional career spanning two decades, and earned 19 international caps.
Known for his lethal left foot and creativity, Eastham was a legend at Stoke, famously scoring the winner in the 1972 League Cup final, their first major trophy in a 2-1 victory over Chelsea. He made 194 league appearances for Stoke over eight seasons, and went on to manage the club between 1977-78.
He will also be remembered for his crusade against the old ‘retain and transfer’ system whereby clubs could refuse to allow a player’s transfer even if his contract had expired as a means to force them to stay.
When Eastham’s contract with Newcastle expired in 1959, he went on a strike for eight months to force the club to let him join Arsenal.
Eastham took his case against the system to the High Court, leading to major reforms in the British transfer market and the establishment of a tribunal to deal with disputes.
He received the award of an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1973 for his services to football.
Eastham did not get on the pitch at the 1966 World Cup itself and had to wait for a winner’s medal until 2007 when FIFA ruled that medals should be awarded retrospectively to non-playing squad members of previous finals.
Eastman finished his playing career in South Africa, where he also coached. He became a vocal critic of apartheid, the racist system of segregation in the country at the time.
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