Geoffrey Green

Geoffrey Green (12 May 1911 – 9 May 1990) was a distinguishedEnglish football writer.

Geoffrey Green was educated at Shrewsbury School, where he played football to a high standard. He started writing for The Times in the 1930s when football was not afforded much respectability among the paper's traditional readership. He is considered to be the godfather of football reporting and the world's first anointed Football Correspondent, although he remained anonymous in the paper until 23 January 1967. He also broadcast on football for BBC Radio.

Most noteworthy of his work was covering the Match of the Century on 25 November 1953, wherein the 'Magnificent Magyars' (Hungary) rammed Englandby 6-3 scoreline under the heading "A New Conception of Football". It was England's first defeat at Wembley, and the inventors of football were described by him as "strangers in a strange world." New Conception referred to the middle ground between "the hard hitting, open" British method and the "more subtle, probing infiltration" of the continental game.

The best goal of the game was scored by Ferenc Puskas; having received the ball from Czibor on the right near the six-yard box when the England captain Billy Wright went towards him for the tackle, Puskas drew the ball back as Wright charged past "like a fire engine going to the wrong fire" leaving the Hungarian captain free to score from his powerful left-foot.

Many football historians in England believe that it was this defeat that made English football think again, and the seeds of 1966 World Cup victory were sown. "English football can be proud of its past. But it must awake to a new future". The venerable Times offers this match-report on their site as part of its dedication to the game and for fans worldwide.

Green retired from The Times in 1976 after nearly 40 years of distinguished service.

Newspapers were printed out of Manchester until the late 1960s and coincidentally Sir Matt Busby's Manchester United were pioneering the cause to inject youth into football thereby creating a family atmosphere in the stands and no wonder that Green like many of his peers who frequented there, became inspired by their young, precocious team. The chief reason for being captivated was the healthy line of talented young players who came through the Youth Academy at Manchester United - Duncan Edwards, Sir Bobby Charlton and George Best. And it was Geoffrey Green who saw these three popular players in their prime.

Reported on perhaps one of the greatest games ever played in the FA Cup where Manchester United beat Aston Villa 6-4 in a 3rd round match'""They thought as one man and moved as one at top speed. Here was the sort of football one dreams about . . .""'

Green was one of a very few journalists to have seen, up close, the phenomenon called Duncan Edwards, to whom he devoted an entire chapter in his book 'Soccer in The Fifties'. "His talent, his energy, his unselfconscious fun and enjoyment of the chase, his ability to make everything seem possible, all this added up to a volcano of excitement that gripped the crowds and the game wherever he played". Edwards would sadly perish in the Munich Air Disaster of 1958, so would eight other celebrated journalists. "Certain it is that Duncan Edwards, had he survived, would have captained England to the World Cup in 1966."

Of significance to Manchester United supporters, Green captured the arrival of George Best, too, against Benfica in the 1966 European Cup quarter-final (modern day equivalent of UEFA Champions' League) in a splendid form "Night a star was born", wherein he described Best's goal as "gliding like a dark ghost past three men, to break clear and slide the ball home - a beautiful goal." Quintessential Best as The Beatle who "was the best of all, as he set a new almost unexplored beat" with his "long dark mop of hair, is known in these parts as The Beatle."

The Manchester club, who would rise after the awful Munich disaster of 1958 and conquer Europe a decade later, continued to play good football even during their return to barren years during the 1970s and 1980s. Out of those doldrum years came Green's 'There is Only One United' in 1978 where he described the club: "As for United, they stand for something more than any other person, any player, any supporter. They are as was once written in the club programme of 1937 - the soul of a sporting organisation which goes on from year to year, making history all the time. They remain a club with a rich vein of character and faith. Because of that they have no fear of the morrow."

1. The Official History of the FA Cup (1949)
2. History of The Football Association (1953)
3. Soccer in The Fifties
4. There's is Only One United (1978)
5. Pardon me for living(autobiography)