John Elsworthy

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John Elsworthy
Personnel
Surname John Elsworthy
birthday July 26, 1931
place of birth Nant-y-derry ,  Wales
date of death May 3, 2009
Place of death Ipswich ,  England
position Outrunner
Juniors
Years station
Newport County
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1949-1965 Ipswich Town 396 (44)
1 Only league games are given.

John Elsworthy (born July 26, 1931 in Nant-y-derry , † May 3, 2009 in Ipswich ) was a Welsh football player . The tall outside runner played at Ipswich Town from 1949 to 1965 and won the English championship there in 1962 . Due to his physical robustness and reliability, he was considered one of the key players on the way to success and played a total of almost 450 competitive games for the club.

Athletic career

The Welshman gained his first footballing experience at home in Newport County before military service brought him to Mildenhall in the English county of Suffolk . There the talent of Elsworthy, who was also good at cricket (he completed a trial training in Glamorgan ), was discovered and so it was that the nearby third division Ipswich Town signed him in May 1949. Originally only equipped with an amateur contract, the tall newcomer quickly played his way into the team, although his debut on December 27, 1949 failed with a 4-0 home defeat against Notts County . In its first two years it was only partially available as it continued to perform the "National Service" in parallel. In the 1952/53 season he was then a regular player and in the position of the forward he scored an impressive 18 goals. However, the club was only granted a place in the lower midfield, but the following year they swung themselves up to the third division champion , which ensured promotion to the second division. In that 1953/54 season Elsworthy only missed one game, but scored only two goals himself. The luck in the Second Division lasted only one year for Ipswich and Elsworthy was rarely used in direct relegation .

For the revitalization of his career then ensured the coaching change from Scott Duncan to Alf Ramsey in 1955. The later world champion coach pulled Elsworthy back to the position of the left outer runner and it quickly became apparent that Elsworthy felt much more comfortable there. The renewed promotion attempt under Ramsey was initially not crowned with success, but in the second year the club again secured the renewed participation in the game operation of the Second Division. Elsworthy had developed into a central element in the midfield of the team. He was at his sporting peak and in January 1958 he showed in the FA Cup against the Busby Babes from Manchester United (only twelve days before the Munich plane disaster ) despite the 2-0 defeat, a well-recognized performance, as he was particularly good in the duel with Duncan Edwards , who was considered perhaps the best English footballer of his time, claimed and, according to experts, balanced the personal duel.

Shortly thereafter, he also received a nomination to the provisional Welsh squad for the upcoming 1958 World Cup in Sweden . However, since the association decided not to travel with the full staff for reasons of cost, Elsworthy stayed at home and in the following years he also stayed without an international match. Things went far better in the club and in an increasingly strong Ipswich team - led by goal scorers Ray Crawford and Ted Phillips - Elsworthy also rose to the top English division in 1961. If this was considered a surprise, a sensation followed a year later when Ipswich Town won the English championship in 1962. Elsworthy was only absent in a single game and was often considered a "rook in battle" - although he often had to fight injuries; this included a potentially life-threatening blood clot after a leg injury.

The next personal highlight for “Big John”, as he was called because of his high physique and commitment, was the 2-1 second leg win in the European Cup against Inter Milan , which was not enough to advance because of the 0-3 in the first leg. Then his career slowly came to an end. This was accompanied by the sporting decline of his club, which had a low point after the departure of Ramsey under successor Jackie Milburn with relegation in 1964 as bottom of the table. Under Milburn's successor Bill McGarry , Elsworthy, who was now getting on in years, could no longer find a place in the team and so he ended his career in 1965, where he led the team as captain in his three last appearances.

After leaving the professional business, Elsworthy ran a vegetable store in Ipswich and later a post office. In his later years he suffered from Alzheimer's disease and passed away at the age of 77 in May 2009.

Title / Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Martin Brooks: Ipswich Town Champions 1961/62 . The History Press, Stroud 2011, ISBN 978-0-7524-5890-8 , pp. 142 .
  2. ^ John Elsworthy: Cornerstone of Ipswich Town during the reign of Alf Ramsey " (The Independent)
personal data
SURNAME Elsworthy, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION welsh football player
DATE OF BIRTH July 26, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Nant-y-derry
DATE OF DEATH May 3, 2009
Place of death Ipswich