OTD: LEN SHACKLETON HAT-TRICK
- BY SOBS
- 3 minutes ago
- 3 min read
On this day in 1948, the late Sunderland legend Len Shackleton made his debut for the club. It would be the start of a 348 game career on Wearside, during which the inside/outside forward scored exactly 100 goals.
A true master of his craft, the start of his career was not quite as smooth as he turned out to be on the pitch. After a spell at Bradford Park Avenue, and a loan at Kippax United, he was released from Arsenal's books after being told he was 'too small' to play the beautiful game. During the Second World War, when he worked assembling aircraft radios, he played 209 times in various competitions and knocked in 171 goals, and went pro with Bradford Park Avenue, scoring five goals in 15 appearances.
Due to heckling from Bradford's fans, who did not enjoy his individualist play, he signed for Newcastle United in 1946. How desperate must he have been! He scored 29 goals in 64 matches for Newcastle but fairly soon fell out with the club’s directors.
From this point, though, Len’s talent shone through, and in 1948 he joined the Lads for what was a record transfer fee at the time of £20,050, famously remarking “I’ve no bias against Newcastle – I don’t care who beats them.” The bids for his signature had to be made to the Magpies' hierarchy in sealed envelopes but allegedly we’d been tipped off about a rival bid, hence the odd £50. He went on to play for the Lads for the next nine years, during our Bank of England period, gaining attention from the England setup and eventually getting a mere five caps and one goal for his country.
Back at Sunderland, he famously didn’t get on with Welsh centre forward Trevor Ford to the extent that he often refused to pass to him. One commentator described his skills: 'Once in possession, and few can match his dexterity at bringing the ball under control, the ball becomes his slave'. A famous trick of Len’s was to put so much back-spin on the ball that a pass would hit the ground and return whence it came and he was also wont to sit on the ball and invite an opposing defender to come and get if off him. Add to that playing one-twos with the corner flag and going back to beat someone for a second time just because he could and you get the picture of a true entertainer.
As well as his love for football, Shack also enjoyed a game of cricket, playing for Wearmouth Colliery and Northumberland, where this infamous showman would delight the crowds by pretending to have missed catches and then would produce the ball from his pocket!
He retired from football in 1957 when a persistent ankle injury became too troublesome, and he enjoyed a long 43 years of semi-retirement while carving out a career as a journalist, before his death in 2000, aged 78. At the time of retirement, his autobiography was a big hit, running five editions in just three months, and contained the famous blank page entitled “the average director’s knowledge of football.” He also collaborated with North East writer Scott Dobson to produce the humorous book “Geordie at the Match” in 1975, a time when most local fans didn’t mind being part of the mythical Geordie nation.
A true Sunderland legend of the game, he was inducted into the SAFC Hall of Fame in 2019 and so his legacy lives on.
