Eddie McCreadie

Edward Graham McCreadie (born 15 April 1940) is a Scottish former footballer who played at left-back, mainly for Chelsea. He later became a football manager.

Eddie McCreadie
McCreadie in 2017
Personal information
Full name Edward Graham McCreadie[1]
Date of birth (1940-04-15) 15 April 1940
Place of birth Glasgow, Scotland
Position(s) Left back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1959–1962 East Stirlingshire 29 (1)
1962–1973 Chelsea 331 (4)
1979 Memphis Rogues 1 (0)
Total 361 (5)
National team
1965–1969 Scotland 23 (0)
Teams managed
1975–1977 Chelsea
1978–1979 Memphis Rogues
1979–1982 Cleveland Force
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

McCreadie started his footballing career with amateur Scottish side Drumchapel before moving to Clydebank Juniors and then East Stirlingshire. After turning down a move to Fulham, he was signed for Chelsea in 1962 by then-manager Tommy Docherty for £5,000 to help the club's push for promotion from the Second Division. As part of the deal Chelsea also agreed to play two friendly matches against East Stirlingshire.[2] A match was played at Firs Park in 1963, but a return fixture was not scheduled. Over 50 years later, East Stirlingshire requested that Chelsea complete the agreement.[2] Chelsea were promoted to the First Division later in 1962 and McCreadie became a fixture in the Chelsea defence for the next decade.

A talented and pacy attacking full-back with impressive timing, McCreadie featured strongly in the flamboyant Chelsea sides of the 1960s and 1970s alongside the likes of Bobby Tambling, Peter Osgood and Charlie Cooke. While he only scored five goals for the club throughout his career, McCreadie scored a memorable winner in the League Cup final of 1965 in which he dribbled 80 yards up the pitch before slotting the ball past Leicester City goalkeeper Gordon Banks to give his side a 3–2 first leg lead, which ultimately won the trophy for his club as the second leg at Filbert Street ended in a 0–0 draw.

After a string of high-league placings and near misses in the cups (including defeat in the 1967 FA Cup final) but no more silverware, McCreadie won the FA Cup with Chelsea in 1970, where a move involving him won the throw-in which created David Webb's winner in the replayed final against Leeds United at Old Trafford. The side won the Cup Winners' Cup the following season, but McCreadie missed the final in Athens through injury.

He was also a Scotland international, winning 23 caps between 1965 and 1969 after making his debut against England. He played in Scotland's famous 3-2 win over world champions England at Wembley in 1967, after which the Scots declared themselves the new world champions.

Upon his retirement from playing in 1973, McCreadie joined the coaching staff at Chelsea having made 410 appearances for the club. In April 1975 he was appointed manager but by this stage the team was in decline with the club heavily in debt and he couldn't prevent relegation to the Second Division. Nevertheless, McCreadie re-built the side - taking the captaincy from John Hollins and giving it to 18-year-old Ray Wilkins in the process - and with no money to spend, put together a team of youth players and veterans from the club's heyday. Chelsea were promoted back to the First Division in 1977. It was then that he lost his job in somewhat bizarre circumstances. Having won promotion, his request for a company car was rejected by chairman Brian Mears, so he resigned. Mears then relented and offered him the car but with his sense of pride he did not come back to the club as he had already made his mind up.

McCreadie left for the North American Soccer League in the late 1970s and was appointed manager of the Memphis Rogues, with whom he played one game in 1979,[3] and later the indoor Cleveland Force before finally retiring from football in 1985. He continues to live in Tennessee in the United States.

References
  1. "Eddie McCreadie". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  2. Chelsea owe East Stirlingshire friendly from 1962 deal, BBC News
  3. NASL Stats
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