Mr Newcastle : Stan Seymour

A must see Programme on Mr Newcastle, Stan Seymour to be aired 8.00pm on BBC 1 Monday night.
A somewhat ruthless man, makes, Ashl0ey look like a cuddly toy.

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/john-gibson-stan-seymours-time-7730498

He was known as Mr Newcastle, and while Stan Seymour had his fair share of success at St James' Park, his ruthless streak was also well known.

Mike Ashley isn’t the first chairman of people’s club Newcastle United to own a sports shop.

Back in the early fifties when the FA Cup mattered to the Mags and they successfully raided Wembley three times Stan Seymour’s one-shop empire stood on a main street corner of the city.

Seymour was even more powerful than Ashley. A former player who was in United’s last championship winning team of 1927, he ruled with a rod of iron effectively as chairman AND manager.

He was known as Mr Newcastle, a man steeped in the intricacies of football who fashioned great success it must be said, but he harboured a ruthless streak and the dramatic consequences of it are revealed in considerable detail on the Inside Out programme to be aired by BBC TV on Monday night.

Frank Brennan, a 6ft 3in colossus of a centre-half, was the defensive rock upon which United founded their Cup triumphs of 1951 and 52.

However, by the time they returned yet again to the Twin Towers in 55, Seymour had axed and humiliated United’s lynchpin amid a public outcry of bellowing proportions.

Despite angry fans packing the City Hall in protest and union firebrand Jimmy Guthrie making an impassioned speech about Brennan’s ‘slavery’ at the TUC conference, Frank never played for Newcastle again.

He was banished into the wilderness of non-league football at North Shields.

So what was his hideous crime? He had dared open a sports shop in competition to his chairman!

As someone who knew Frank well I was honoured to be asked to contribute to Monday’s programme of a betrayed hero, but it is the little snippets of information from members of his family which fascinate me most.

For example his sister Barbara reveals that United’s players were told not to frequent their mate’s shop, a disgraceful pressure on their loyalty, and that his wages were cut from £15 a week to just £8 despite the fact that he had to support a wife and six children.

So proud was Frank of his two Cup winners medals that he kept them in his trouser pocket says son Jim.

When he searched for change and brought out a handful of coins there they were!

A man who performed outstandingly in 349 matches for United over a decade of great success was at least awarded a testimonial, so essential as a lasting nest egg in those days of the maximum wage.

The incredible, shocking thing is that Frank Brennan’s farewell was not staged at St James’ Park but Roker Park, the home of United’s bitter rivals Sunderland.

To this day no other Newcastle player has ever had a testimonial on the Wear. May certain Geordie heads hang in shame! Of course Brennan had the last laugh and good for him. He managed North Shields at his old Wembley hunting ground in 1959 when they won the FA Amateur Cup.

To Ashley’s credit he and those who represent him in the boardroom have at last righted a wrong.

The Brennan family were invited to St James’ Park to witness Frank being inducted into United’s Hall of Fame, his tarnished image polished brightly by the actions of one sports shop owner to another!

I was invited by the family as a friend and stood with a smile of satisfaction as another Scottish international central defender Bob Moncur did the honours. Somehow after almost 60 years the record seemed to be wiped clean.

•Inside Out is to be aired on BBC One for the North East and Cumbria at the one-off time of 8pm on Monday.