Peter Beardsley

Peter Beardsley

Personal information
Full name	Peter Andrew Beardsley
Position(s)	Forward

Peter Andrew Beardsley MBE (born January 18, 1961, Newcastle upon Tyne) is a renowned English former footballer of the 1980s and 1990s, who once set a record transfer fee in the game and represented his country 59 times, on one occasion as captain.

Early career

A product of the famous Wallsend Boys Club in Newcastle, Beardsley was released as a teenager by hometown club Newcastle United but found his way back there in 1983 after successful spells with Carlisle United (126 appearances scoring 26 goals) and Canadian NASL outfit Vancouver Whitecaps, whom he joined from Carlisle for £275,000 on 1 April, 1982. He had also played the 1981 summer season with Vancouver. He stayed there for just over five months before Manchester United came looking to bring him back to England. They paid the Whitecaps £300,000 on 9 September, 1982, for the Geordie's services but, amazingly, only played him in one League Cup tie before letting him leave Old Trafford.

Beardsley rejoined Vancouver on a free transfer on 1 March, 1983 but again his stay was a short one. He was on the move once again on 23 September, 1983, this time to rejoin Newcastle, the club who had released him as a teenager.

Newcastle United

Beardsley signed for Newcastle for a fee of £150,000, although when they had let him go earlier they could have signed him for nothing. The pacey, incisive and skillful forward made his debut for the Magpies the day after he signed, 24 September, in the 1–1 2nd division draw with Barnsley at Oakwell. Beardsley was an instant hit with the Newcastle supporters, scoring and setting up spectacular goals. He went on to celebrate promotion with his team-mates, who were captained by Kevin Keegan in his final season as a player. They finished in the final promotion spot behind winners Chelsea and runners-up Sheffield Wednesday.

Beardsley scored his first goal for the Magpies on 19 October 1983 in their 2–0 victory over Cardiff City at Ninian Park. His first goals at St James' Park came in Newcastle's next fixture, against Manchester City. United beat City 5–1 and Beardsley scored his first ever hat-trick.

In his first season in the 1st division Beardsley scored 17 goals in 38 league games as Newcastle finished in 14th position. During the following campaign he played in all of Newcastle's 42 league matches, scoring 19 goals.

Whilst at Newcastle, Beardsley became a regular in the England side and teamed up with striker Gary Lineker, who described Beardsley as "the best partner I could ever have". Ironically, it was Lineker who made way for Beardsley when manager Bobby Robson gave him his debut as a substitute on 29 January, 1986 in the 4–0 friendly victory over Egypt in Cairo. His first goal came in his fourth appearance, on 17 May, 1986 in the 3–0 friendly win over Mexico in Los Angeles.

Having only made his debut in the January of 1986, Beardsley's performances for England won him a call-up for the 1986 World Cup finals in Mexico. England scored seven goals in the tournament, of which Lineker scored six (winning the Golden Boot for doing so); the other goal came from Beardsley in a 3–0 victory over Paraguay in the second round. England had failed to score a goal in the first two matches of the finals, but in the third match – Beardsley's first start in the tournament – they beat Poland 3–0. Beardsley contributed in that match with a spectacular cross to Steve Hodge, which allowed Hodge to make England's second goal for Lineker.

Upon returning from the World Cup, Beardsley helped Newcastle to another mid-table finish (11th), scoring 11 goals in 27 appearances, and won a further six caps for his country, before Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish sought Beardsley's signature. The offer was too good to refuse with Liverpool having just won the double, so after making 164 appearances and scoring 61 goals for Newcastle (all in the league), Beardsley swapped the black and white stripes of Newcastle for the red of Liverpool.

Liverpool

Liverpool paid an English record transfer fee of £1.9 million to bring Beardsley to Anfield on 14 July 1987. He was brought in along with John Barnes to form, probably, the most exciting attacking line in Liverpool's illustrious history. They were added to John Aldridge, who had signed during the previous campaign, with the three tearing Arsenal apart on Beardsley and Barnes' debut at Highbury for Aldo to score after just nine minutes of the opening day of the 1987–88 season, 15 August, 1987. Liverpool went on to win 2–1 and this would shape the rest of the season for the Reds.

Beardsley's first goal for his new club came on 29 August 1987 in the 4–1 victory over Coventry City at Highfield Road, with Beardsley scoring in the 83rd minute. He helped Liverpool to a record-equalling 29 league matches undefeated as Liverpool convincingly strolled to the League title. Beardsley became a darling of the Kop, scoring goals and making plenty more as the side suffered only two League defeats all season. However, there was disappointment at the end when Wimbledon denied them the 'double' with a shock 1–0 win in the FA Cup final, a game in which Beardsley "scored", only for it to be ruled out by the referee who awarded Liverpool a free-kick for an earlier foul instead of allowing play to continue.

Liverpool returned to Wembley and won the FA Cup the following year, but lost their League championship with virtually the last kick of the last game of the season against Arsenal. They did win the championship again in 1990, but Dalglish resigned soon afterwards, and Beardsley found himself out of favour with new manager Graeme Souness, even though he maintained his place in the England team and featured in both Euro 88 and the 1990 World Cup. He was also given the honour of captaining England on 17 February 1988 in a 0–0 draw with Israel.

During Beardsley's Anfield career he played in 175 matches and scored 59 goals, but it was his vision, guile and all action style of play that endeared him to the Anfield faithful, so much so he was voted in 19th position in the 2006 poll 100 Players Who Shook The Kop, conducted by the official Liverpool Football Club web site; over 110,000 supporters worldwide voted for their 10 favourite players of all time.

Everton

Liverpool's derby rivals, Everton succeeded in gaining Beardsley's signature when he joined them on 5 August 1991 for a fee of £1 million. He made his debut on 17 August in a 2–1 defeat to Nottingham Forest at the City Ground. By now he was aged 30.

Beardsley crossed the city to join Everton, a move which would normally incur the antipathy of the Liverpool supporters. However, he was forgiven because the fans were unhappy that Beardsley had not been retained and blamed the club, rather than the player. He played well and scored freely for the blue half of Merseyside, though ultimately he won nothing.

The one thing all Evertonians agree on is that they never had Beardsley in their side long enough and wished he had joined them sooner. He finished as the club's top scorer by the end of his first season at Goodison Park and again showed his dynamic quality during his second season, but off the field Everton were suffering financial difficulties and when former club Newcastle offered Everton 1.5 million for Beardsley it was a sum they couldn't turn down.

After just 95 matches for Everton, scoring 32 goals, he was on his way back to his home town club Newcastle.

The Return to Newcastle

On 16 July, 1993, Beardsley re-joined Newcastle for £1.4million, after his old team-mate and strike partner Kevin Keegan became manager. He was recalled to the England team and ultimately ended his international career in 1996 after gaining 59 caps and scoring 9 goals. He played for a further four years at his favourite club, almost captaining them to the FA Premier League title in 1996, though ultimately they just missed out to Beardsley's former club Manchester United.

During his second spell at St James' Park he racked up 157 appearances and scored 56 goals, bringing his overall total after two spells with the club to 321 appearances and 117 goals. This equates to a goal every 2¾ matches, a decent ratio for a player who was seen by many as a provider rather than a goalscorer. It is this period of his career that Beardsley regards as the time when he peaked.

Later Career and Retirement

He left Newcastle on 18 August 1997 for £450,000, joining Bolton Wanderers, where he made 21 appearances. He then went on loan to Manchester City, where he played six times, before moving to Fulham, where he made 28 appearances in two separate loan spells, eventually signing for them permanently. He then went to Hartlepool United, whom he joined on a free transfer, and played 22 times. Doncaster Rovers were his last English side, with Beardsley playing for them 22 times before leaving them on the 30 November 1999. He finally ended his career at the age of 38 when he played twice for the Melbourne Knights in Australia.

In 2003 Beardsley was the subject of a Premier League inquiry, after it was claimed that he had bullied two Newcastle United youth players. He was cleared of the charges.

Trivia

• In 1995, he was awarded the MBE for services to the game.
• He has captained England just once in his entire career.
• He is now on the coaching staff in the Academy at Newcastle United.
• He is married with a daughter and a son.
• He once claimed in a matchday programme interview that if he could be invisible for a day, he would stand at a pelican crossing all day, pressing the button.
• He once starred in an American infomercial on NBC for Adidas.
• He once scored four goals for England against Aylesbury United. These did not count towards his international tally, however, as this was not an official international match.
• Steve Davis once played a frame of snooker with Peter for Comic Relief that raised £1,000.
• He was terrified of swimming until he recently overcame his fear.
• He once played in goal for Newcastle against West Ham United in 1986 because there were no substitute goalkeepers and the no.1 was injured during the game. The game ended in an 8-1 defeat for Newcastle, Beardsley conceded the last 3 goals.
• In the episode Better Than Life from the second series of the UK sitcom Red Dwarf, Beardsley is briefly mentioned as the star of the (fictional) remake version of the film Casablanca.
• He is a total abstainer of alcohol because, as he said in an interview, he doesn't like the taste of it.
• During a match between Melbourne Knights and Springvale White Eagles, Peter played the whole match with his shorts on backwards, only to be noticed in injury time by the referee who subsequently issued a yellow card.
• He is mentioned in the song "My Book" by the band Beautiful South with the line, "Albert Steptoe in 'Gone With the Breeze'/ Mother played by Peter Beardsley, Father by John Cleese."

Honours

• 1987–88 Football League First Division (Level 1)
• 1988–89 Charity Shield
• 1988–89 FA Cup
• 1989–90 Charity Shield
• 1989–90 Football League First Division (Level 1)
• 1990–91 Charity Shield
• 1998–99 Football League Second Division (Level 3)

External links

• Peter Beardsley at Soccerbase
• Official Liverpool FC profile
• Profile at LFCHistory.net
• Peter Beardsley index at Sporting-heroes.net