Just seen this on the BBC. He was once described by Sir Bobby as the best England player he had ever seen. Beattie, of Wren Avenue, won nine caps for his country but his career was dogged by injury and all but ended at the age of 28, when he left Ipswich Town. Magistrates heard the FA Cup winner was now living off "extremely limited means" and acting as a full time carer for his wife who suffered from multiple sclerosis. He was a great player but is clearly suffering now. Very sad just shows it's not all fame and glory!
Yeah, I saw this yesterday, but didn't think anyone would be interested. I'm sure at least a couple of us on here saw him play. He was compared to Greats who gone before, like Bobby Moore and Duncan Edwards, and I put him in there with them. A superb defender who chipped in with goals. He would have easily starred in the modern game too, being fast and brave. Great England player too. Injuries did for him.
It certainly is not and he is not the only one who has fallen upon hard times. For the average player who doesn't earn thousands and thousands a week, retiring aged 33 with no skills outside of football can be difficult to deal with. Some get back into coaching or the media, some have other interests, the rest will probably just have to struggle.
There was a TV report on the struggles of apparently well off footballers, and Neil Webb came up as a bloke who had fallen on quite hard times. It can happen to anybody. None of us [save royalty] are more than a few steps away from the gutter, however hard we try.
