Eric Caldow Breaks His Leg

[Ozblue 4,331]

Following on from another thread about "Your knowledge of old Rangers teams" There were a few posts that led to the day at Wembley 1963 when our famous captain, Eric Caldow had his leg broken in 3 places in a tackle by Bobby Smith of Tottenham Hotspur during the Scotland V England Home Championship.

Most Scottish/Rangers supporters are of the opinion that it was deliberate by Smith, while I'm sure the vast majority of English supporters deemed it an accident. From where I was that day it looked deliberate but after seeing it again perhaps Smith was just too slow and misjudged the tackle and the speed of Caldow after his first touch let the ball get away from him.

Here is some footage of that match showing the tackle ( 4.22 into the clip) so it would be good if the younger Bears in here can judge it for themselves and also view footage of our Rangers legends who played that day; Eric Caldow, Jim Baxter, Willie Henderson, Davie Wilson.

For those interested; here are the line-ups of both teams.

England: Banks (GK)- Leicester City, Jimmy Armfield (Captain)- Blackpool, Bobby Moore-West Ham, Gerry Byrne-Liverpool, Maurice Norman-Spurs. Jimmy Melia-Liverpool, Ron Flowers-Wolves, Bobby Charlton-Man.Utd, Bryan Douglas-Blackburn Rovers, Bobby Smith-Spurs, Jimmy Greaves-Spurs.

Scotland: Bill Brown (GK)-Spurs, Alex Hamilton-Dundee, Dave Mackay-Spurs, Ian Ure-Arsenal, Eric Caldow (Captain)-Rangers, Jim Baxter-Rangers, Willie Henderson-Rangers, Denis Law-Man.Utd, Ian St John-Liverpool, John White-Spurs, Davie Wilson-Rangers.

[Ozblue 4,331]

For our even younger Bears on RM who wonder why I didn't give the names of the substitutes, the answer is simple; There weren't such a thing back in those days

[Essandoh 21,208]

That looks like it was such a bad break.

[Ozblue 4,331]

That looks like it was such a bad break.

It certainly was,mate! As soon as it happened everybody knew it was serious. It took Eric about 2 years before he got back playing regularly again and although he played virtually the entire season in 1964-65 the injury had taken its toll and he left the following season after playing a couple of games, where iirc he went to Stirling? and played a season with them, then I think he played somewhere in England as a player/manager for a while. (but don't quote me on that)

[Bobby Hume 13,085]

I like you OB, at the time (although I only saw highlights on TV, probably these ones), was of the opinion it was deliberate, but mostly because I was partizan and would not change from my view, which in all honesty was the general consensus of the day, and who was I to disagree with my fellow Scots.

On looking at it again now, It would seem to be an awkward coming together of both players and the unlucky Caldow being the one who obviously came off second. It changed Daddy Long Leg's future playing career back at Ibrox, and was one of the biggest losses not only to The Rangers but to Scottish football in my mind, absolutely tragic.

Seeing all the old stars of The Rangers on a field with some of the best players to play the game just re-enforces the wealth of talent who have played for this wonderful Club of ours, and the old heart just bursts with pride that it was not all sad news that day at Wembley, and an honour to support your country back then.

Another outstanding aspect of that famous victory was the wonderful fact that not one septic player played any part in the defeat of the "Auld Enemy" priceless, absolutely priceless.

PS: Great post mate.

[Ozblue 4,331]

I like you OB, at the time (although I only saw highlights on TV, probably these ones), was of the opinion it was deliberate, but mostly because I was partizan and would not change from my view, which in all honesty was the general consensus of the day, and who was I to disagree with my fellow Scots.

On looking at it again now, It would seem to be an awkward coming together of both players and the unlucky Caldow being the one who obviously came off second. It changed Daddy Long Leg's future playing career back at Ibrox, and was one of the biggest losses not only to The Rangers but to Scottish football in my mind, absolutely tragic.

Seeing all the old stars of The Rangers on a field with some of the best players to play the game just re-enforces the wealth of talent who have played for this wonderful Club of ours, and the old heart just bursts with pride that it was not all sad news that day at Wembley, and an honour to support your country back then.

Another outstanding aspect of that famous victory was the wonderful fact that not one septic player played any part in the defeat of the "Auld Enemy" priceless, absolutely priceless.

PS: Great post mate.

There was certainly some brilliant talent on that park from both sides in that game and of course it was made more special having almost half the team being Rangers men and your fact that I have underlined, much to the chagrin of the septic fans who maintained that a certain William McNeill and a certain Patrick Timothy Crerand should have been playing in that game.

[WadeWilson 4,670]

A crude and ugly tackle... But, oh, what a beautiful team.

Mackay, Caldow, Wilson, Slim Jim, Wee Willie and the Lawman. World class.

Cheers for posting.

[Dubaijim 44]

Following on from another thread about "Your knowledge of old Rangers teams" There were a few posts that led to the day at Wembley 1963 when our famous captain, Eric Caldow had his leg broken in 3 places in a tackle by Bobby Smith of Tottenham Hotspur during the Scotland V England Home Championship.

Most Scottish/Rangers supporters are of the opinion that it was deliberate by Smith, while I'm sure the vast majority of English supporters deemed it an accident. From where I was that day it looked deliberate but after seeing it again perhaps Smith was just too slow and misjudged the tackle and the speed of Caldow after his first touch let the ball get away from him.

Here is some footage of that match showing the tackle ( 4.22 into the clip) so it would be good if the younger Bears in here can judge it for themselves and also view footage of our Rangers legends who played that day; Eric Caldow, Jim Baxter, Willie Henderson, Davie Wilson.

For those interested; here are the line-ups of both teams.

England: Banks (GK)- Leicester City, Jimmy Armfield (Captain)- Blackpool, Bobby Moore-West Ham, Gerry Byrne-Liverpool, Maurice Norman-Spurs. Jimmy Melia-Liverpool, Ron Flowers-Wolves, Bobby Charlton-Man.Utd, Bryan Douglas-Blackburn Rovers, Bobby Smith-Spurs, Jimmy Greaves-Spurs.

Scotland: Bill Brown (GK)-Spurs, Alex Hamilton-Dundee, Dave Mackay-Spurs, Ian Ure-Arsenal, Eric Caldow (Captain)-Rangers, Jim Baxter-Rangers, Willie Henderson-Rangers, Denis Law-Man.Utd, Ian St John-Liverpool, John White-Spurs, Davie Wilson-Rangers.

And a Scotland team where every player was a blue nose - changed days!!!!

[WadeWilson 4,670]

THE CAPTAINS

Twenty-three Scots have captained their country at Wembley. Of these, nine have been Rangers players: Davie Meiklejohn (1930), Jimmy Simpson (1936), George Brown (1938), Jock Shaw (1947), George Young (1949, 51, 53 and 57), Eric Caldow (1963), John Greig (1967), Sandy Jardine (1975) and Colin Hendry (1999). There have been four Celtic captains at Wembley: Bobby Evans (1959), Billy McNeill (1965), Danny McGrain (1981) and Roy Aitken (1988).

Leeds with Billy Bremner (1969 and 1971) and Gary McAllister (1996) and Liverpool, Kenny Dalglish (1979) and Graeme Souness (1983), are the only other clubs to have supplied more than one captain at Wembley.

George Young captained Scotland at Wembley on the most occasions, four (1949, 1951, 1953, 1957). Jimmy McMullan (1924 and 1928), Eric Caldow (1961 and 1963), Billy Bremner (1969 and 1973) and Graeme Souness, pictured below, (1983 and 1986) are the only other players to have twice captained Scotland at Wembley.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some legendary names in there... And Colin Hendry.

Also, since Souness captained and scored in April 1986, I would say that Rangers have supplied ten Wembley captains.

[WadeWilson 4,670]

I listened to a radio segment about the winger John White. I think they called him 'The Ghost' and he was supposed to have been some player. His life was cruelly cut short by a freak accident when he was struck by lightning (don't know the exact circumstances). He was just 27.

I think it was Danny Kelly doing a Spurs 'My Sporting Life.' The Spurs team of the early 60s ran amok at home and abroad with White and Danny Blanchflower in the midfield with Dave Mackay as the enforcer behind them and Jimmy Greaves up top. Billy Brown was also the keeper.

Just noticing how many Spurs players are actually in the line-ups in the OP. Must have been some team. Won the CWC in 1961.

[Gascoigne8 3,378]

I saw a documentry years ago and it covered this game. I think baxter scored a penalty in it and he said it was the first penalty he had taken at any level of the game. He says in it "i think it showed no a bad bit of bottle"

total legend

[HG5 11,113]

I read somewhere a number of years ago that Smith had openly bragged beforehand that he was going to break someone's leg that day - don't know how true that was...

[harlands plater 16,977]

I listened to a radio segment about the winger John White. I think they called him 'The Ghost' and he was supposed to have been some player. His life was cruelly cut short by a freak accident when he was struck by lightning (don't know the exact circumstances). He was just 27.

I think it was Danny Kelly doing a Spurs 'My Sporting Life.' The Spurs team of the early 60s ran amok at home and abroad with White and Danny Blanchflower in the midfield with Dave Mackay as the enforcer behind them and Jimmy Greaves up top. Billy Brown was also the keeper.

Just noticing how many Spurs players are actually in the line-ups in the OP. Must have been some team. Won the CWC in 1961.

John White went from Alloa to Spurs. He was playing golf during the close season when a thunderstorm broke, from what I read he was sheltering under a tree and was struck by lightning.

[Ozblue 4,331]

A crude and ugly tackle... But, oh, what a beautiful team.

Mackay, Caldow, Wilson, Slim Jim, Wee Willie and the Lawman. World class.

Cheers for posting.

It certainly was crude and ugly,BMR. That Scottish team was arguably the best eleven ever to wear the Dark Blue jersey. To your list of players mentioned I would have to add John White of Spurs to that list. He was one of the classiest inside forwards of his generation, sadly cut down at age 27 years.

[Ozblue 4,331]

I saw a documentry years ago and it covered this game. I think baxter scored a penalty in it and he said it was the first penalty he had taken at any level of the game. He says in it "i think it showed no a bad bit of bottle"

total legend

I will tell you another fact about that game, which was verified to me personally by 2 Scotland players. Jim Baxter scored a peach of a goal in the 29th minute, then 2 minutes later he scored again when Willie Henderson was brought down in the box and Slim Jim stepped up to ram the ball home to make it 2-0 to Scotland.

Bryan Douglas pulled one back for England in the 79th minute to make the final score 2-1 to Scotland.

Jim Baxter cursed Bryan Douglas for that because after the game,Baxter told all and sundry that if it had been 2-0 to Scotland with a minute to go he would have went back defending and put the ball past Bill Brown the Scottish goalkeeper so he could say he scored a hat-trick at Wembley

Some man was the Sliim Jim fella

[reallyruff 622]

Great OP, haven't seen that footage before. On the tackle I think that it was what modern commentators euphemistically call leaving your foot in. Game was ''harder'' then so likelihood of Smith wanting to hurt Caldow was probs higher too. Remember Scotland had Mackay, no shrinking violet himself.

[Ozblue 4,331]

John White went from Alloa to Spurs. He was playing golf during the close season when a thunderstorm broke, from what I read he was sheltering under a tree and was struck by lightning.

Your memory is slipping young fella John White went from Alloa to Falkirk in 1958 before going to Spurs a year later in October 1959 for £22,000.

He was tragically killed when out playing golf on his own at Enfield on 21st July 1964 as he sheltered under a tree during a thunderstorm and was struck by lightning, aged 27. The severity of the lightning strike was so great that it melted his wedding ring on his finger.

When the 'Ghost of White Heart Lane' died it was known as the day the Sky fell in.

[Ozblue 4,331]

Great OP, haven't seen that footage before. On the tackle I think that it was what modern commentators euphemistically call leaving your foot in. Game was ''harder'' then so likelihood of Smith wanting to hurt Caldow was probs higher too. Remember Scotland had Mackay, no shrinking violet himself.

I was never so glad to see a player get transferred to England as Dave Mackay when Hearts sold him to Spurs in 1959. He never took a backward step to anybody no matter who they were and considering he was only 5'8" tall it showed how hard he was.

[Bobby Hume 13,085]

I will tell you another fact about that game, which was verified to me personally by 2 Scotland players. Jim Baxter scored a peach of a goal in the 29th minute, then 2 minutes later he scored again when Willie Henderson was brought down in the box and Slim Jim stepped up to ram the ball home to make it 2-0 to Scotland.

Bryan Douglas pulled one back for England in the 79th minute to make the final score 2-1 to Scotland.

Jim Baxter cursed Bryan Douglas for that because after the game,Baxter told all and sundry that if it had been 2-0 to Scotland with a minute to go he would have went back defending and put the ball past Bill Brown the Scottish goalkeeper so he could say he scored a hat-trick at Wembley

Some man was the Sliim Jim fella

The patter that was flying about after that victory was just as brilliant as the team on that day. Baxter was just an all round class act and had the gift of the gab also.

My Dad and his mate were laughing at a rumour that was going round at the time, that God actually had two sons and that Baxter was his favourite.

[Ozblue 4,331]

The patter that was flying about after that victory was just as brilliant as the team on that day. Baxter was just an all round class act and had the gift of the gab also.

My Dad and his mate were laughing at a rumour that was going round at the time, that God actually had two sons and that Baxter was his favourite.

That's a cracker of a story,Bobby and it wouldn't surprise me if Baxter himself made that one up

[harlands plater 16,977]

Your memory is slipping young fella John White went from Alloa to Falkirk in 1958 before going to Spurs a year later in October 1959 for £22,000.

He was tragically killed when out playing golf on his own at Enfield on 21st July 1964 as he sheltered under a tree during a thunderstorm and was struck by lightning, aged 27. The severity of the lightning strike was so great that it melted his wedding ring on his finger.

When the 'Ghost of White Heart Lane' died it was known as the day the Sky fell in.

Hands up Oz you caught me out there. I completely forgot he was at Falkirk in between.

I was young at the time but remember people being really shocked at his tragic death.

[thedarvelmarvel 796]

5 gers 5 spurs ,story was scott symon looked at white and decided to say no, just about the time ian mcmillan was on the road out.oh dear.

[Bobby Hume 13,085]

That's a cracker of a story,Bobby and it wouldn't surprise me if Baxter himself made that one up

I certainly would not be surprised if you were correct on that one OB, as we all know he was as sharp off the field as on it, by all accounts.

[Ozblue 4,331]

5 gers 5 spurs ,story was scott symon looked at white and decided to say no, just about the time ian mcmillan was on the road out.oh

I certainly would not be surprised if you were correct on that one OB, as we all know he was as sharp off the field as on it, by all accounts.

Oh he was sharp off the field alright Some of the stories about the Slim one recounted to me by fellow football players would have you falling off your chair with laughter

[King Jela 20,361]

Had to watch it a couple of times but I think it was accident. Horrible viewing though can feel it