The great Joe Harvey.
His achievements at Newcastle United have perhaps been under-appreciated over the decades, but in recent years the campaign to raise £10,000 for a memorial plaque has been a huge success and sparked a reappraisal of Harvey’s career.
Born in Doncaster in 1918, Joe would go on to distinguish himself as a player, coach, manager and scout at St James’ Park.
One of the club’s most loyal servants, he was skipper when the Magpies won the FA Cup two years on the bounce – 1951 and 1952.
A decade later, he returned to manage a club that had slipped into the second division.
Within three years, Harvey led the black and whites back to the promised land of the top flight and, by the end of the decade, United had disposed of some of the finest teams in Europe to win the Inter-City Fairs Cup in 1969.
Forty-six long years on, it remains the last major trophy won by Newcastle United.
As a manager, Joe left the nuances of football tactics to coaches like Keith Burkinshaw, while he himself was a master motivator.
If a player had had a particularly good game, he might even reward them with a post-match ciggie!
Harvey had an undoubted knack in the transfer market, identifying some of the Toon’s major protagonists of the era, like Davies, Smith, Macdonald and Hibbitt.
Meanwhile, some of the young talent brought through by Joe helped sustain United for years.
The likes of Moncur, Craig, Clark and Nattrass were all fabulous servants, while flying left-back Alan Kennedy – who went on to have huge success at Liverpool – is one of the finest to play in that position for the club.
After a tenure of 13 years, Harvey left the post of manager in 1975.
He continued scouting for the club – and died, aged 70, on February 24, 1989.
His successes, as we have seen, have sometimes been underplayed, but the 5ft by 3ft memorial plaque now proudly mounted on the wall of St James’ Park will help to redress the balance.
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This article first appeared at http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/history/newcastle-united-great-joe-harvey-8706674
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Sporting Memories Network has teamed up with The Chronicle and their Nostalgia Editor to capture as many memories of the Toon as possible. All memories shared will contribute towards the project across Tyneside that is tackling loneliness, dementia & depression.
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Memory added on March 28, 2015
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