Perhaps more than any other club, Newcastle United is famous for its centre forwards. While its ‘No.9 Club’ includes all-time greats such as Hughie Gallacher, one of the most revered is Jackie Milburn (1924-1988) – or as he is affectionately known on Tyneside, ‘Wor Jackie’.
Numerous footballers have acquired nicknames but ‘Wor Jackie’ was unique. The Geordie pronoun meaning ‘our’ reflected his status as a regional hero and symbol of community as well as projecting a northern authenticity.
Even in 2013, a midweek lecture on Milburn at the National Football Museum in Manchester attracted a busload of Newcastle fans and was advertised with a double-spread feature in a local paper on the player himself, which portrayed him as an exemplary Geordie and gentleman.
So what have been the reasons for Milburn’s enduring popularity and fame on Tyneside?
Of course, his exploits on the pitch first and foremost contributed to his reputation. In 398 games, he scored 200 goals for the Magpies between 1946 and 1957. Milburn’s game was characterised by his speed off the mark; he had competed in local professional handicap races.
He was one of only three players who played in all three of Newcastle’s FA Cup victories in 1951, 1952 and 1955, scoring two in 1951, one a characteristic break from the halfway line, and one in 1955, an equally uncharacteristic header in the first minute.
Following a brief stint as player-manager in Ireland with Linfield and a briefer spell as Ipswich Town manager, Milburn returned to Tyneside as a journalist with the News of the World in 1964. This was a crucial moment in the development of the Milburn legend as the press would later shape his life story and image.
He easily befriended fellow reporters who were not only mesmerised with sitting in the same company as their hero, but also with Milburn’s modesty and friendliness. It was his new colleagues who helped to nurture the Milburn myth and keep him very much in the eye of the Newcastle public.
One local reporter, Doug Wetherall, organised a testimonial in 1967 (the teams included his second cousins, Jackie and Bobby Charlton), while a number of biographies were written (and ghost-written) by journalists.
In 1980, he was selected as one of nine Freeman of the City on the occasion of its 900th anniversary, reflecting his special status in the region. The following year, he was a subject on This is Your Life.
Moreover, as the region’s declining economic fortunes mirrored those on the pitch, Milburn was held up as symbol of a time when Newcastle was a northern powerhouse in industrial and sporting terms. Milburn’s funeral in 1988 was akin to a Geordie state funeral, which further cemented his standing.
Indeed, if anything, his mythical status increased following his passing. A musical, ‘Wor Jackie’, was completed shortly before his death and there were further books. Three statues were also built, one with the simple epitaph: ‘Wor Jackie 1924-1988: Footballer and Gentleman.’