His name is borne by the main stand at Newcastle United's ground. And on match days there his photograph can be found proudly on display in the press room. Kath Cassidy brings it with her to every game and hangs it on its appointed hook before attending to her duties as the finest tea lady in the land. Thousands of mourners lined the 20-mile route of the cortege from Ashington, the Northumberland town famed for its mining, to St Nicholas Cathedral in Newcastle.Ten years later, Milburn's statue stands at the entrance to St James' Park. While Gascoigne was drying out at the Marchwood Priory Clinic and Clough's name was being engraved on the Valley Road plaque, the north-east of England was remembering its favourite football son.
Milburn might not have been as skilful a player as Gascoigne, nor as adept a manager as Clough, but he was, without doubt, the region's best-loved football man His death prompted something like a state funeral. He kept whisky and sherry on his sideboard but would tell visitors to his Ashington home: "Help yourself. I never touch the stuff myself." His unhappy spell in football management came to an end when he resigned at Ipswich after discovering his players had been out on the town the night before a vital game.Last week marked the 10th anniversary of Milburn's funeral. Unlike both Gascoigne and Clough, however, Milburn was never driven to drink. Unlike Gascoigne, who commandeered one of Middlesbrough's club coaches the other week, he was fully qualified to do so.So, as a matter of coincidence, was Jackie Milburn.
Towards the end of his playing days, he acquired a 29-seater Bedford coach and started a family business running day excursions He drove the vehicle himself. Three years later, at the age of 30, Clough was managing Hartlepool United. And such was his eagerness to succeed in the management game he obtained a public vehicle licence so he could drive the team bus. The final straw which led to his departure from the Baseball Ground back in 1973 came when the Derby County board, concerned about his "habit", locked the drinks cabinet in his office.The Brian Clough story might have been altogether different had the young man fulfilled his rich potential as a natural goalscoring predator for club and country. Then again, he probably would not have ventured into football management with quite the same burning ambition if his right knee had not suffered its fateful collision with the Bury goalkeeper Chris Harker at Roker Park on Boxing Day 1962. It is known, however, that Clough has been a heavy drinker since his playing career was cut down in its prime by a cruciate ligament injury - ironically, similar to the one from which modern surgery has allowed Gascoigne a second chance. "I am supposed to have drunk more alcohol than the breweries and distilleries could produce," he said at the time.
Both, once upon a time, were famed for intoxicating the football masses. More latterly they have become more renowned for being intoxicated. Not until four years ago did Clough publicly admit to what he called a "drinking habit", when he felt moved to denounce reports portraying him as a drink-sodden recluse close to death's door. There is an ironic timing in the feting of Clough and the fate which has befallen Paul Gascoigne. Down the road at the Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough Football Club are not certain when Teesside's cause celebre of an adopted sporting son will be able to attend for work. Middlesbrough Town Council and the Middlesbrough Heritage Group, who have jointly organised the venture, are not certain whether Clough himself will be able to attend. A plaque is to be unveiled outside a council house in Middlesbrough commemorating the fact that Brian Clough spent his formative years at No 11 Valley Gardens on the Grove Hill estate.
TEESSIDE will be honouring its most celebrated sporting son tomorrow morning. And in spite of all that he says, maybe deep in the recess of this tortured soul he wants to be.. In effect, he felt that Tyson's decision to bite Holyfield so viciously was a result of "depression, impulse control problems exacerbated by depression, a sense that no one was protecting his interests, and a variety of social and financial pressures".Boxing people would disagree. They would say it was a far simpler process - that Tyson knew he was about to take a beating; that, in boxing terms, he wasn't man enough to handle defeat. And that was a combination of his own personal history and the siege mentality of the team around him.The commission, however, asked for psychiatric opinion and are likely to consider it strongly Tyson, meanwhile, says he expects to be rejected.
