Newcastle United at the World Cup: 1954

Newcastle United at the World Cup: 1954 - The sometimes-forgotten Magpies striker

As the build-up to the start of the World Cup finals in Qatar at the weekend continues, we're looking back at previous tournaments, discovering the Newcastle United connections, and remembering what else was going on at the time.

Last time, we recalled the 1950 World Cup finals which took place in Brazil. It was the first time England had competed and, in the event, things did not go at all well. On the Magpie front, the two players who made up the club's dynamic striking partnership had run-outs for their respective countries - Ashington -born Jackie Milburn for England, and his hot-shot St James' Park sidekick, George Robledo for Chile.

In 1954, the World Cup finals took place in Switzerland and featured a player not always well-remembered 68 years on. If Milburn and Robledo shine brightly in the pantheon of post-war Newcastle United stars, our third World Cup Magpie is slightly less well-known. Ivor Broadis, nevertheless, was a fine striker for United and the Three Lions, and was the only Newcastle player to appear at the 1954 finals.

Born in London in 1922, Broadis had successfully plied his trade at Carlisle United, Sunderland and Manchester City, before arriving at St James’ Park for a fee of £20,000 in the summer of 1953. The following year’s World Cup finals came at a time when day-to-day life for the average Briton was improving as the grinding austerity which came in the wake of World War II began to fade.

1954 was the year when post-war rationing finally ended in the UK; American pop star Bill Haley released the incendiary Rock Around The Clock ; and movie heartthrob Marilyn Monroe married baseball star Joe DeMaggio. Popular films included On the Waterfront , starring Marlon Brando; JRR Tolkien published the first two parts of his fantasy trilogy Lord Of The Rings ; and a 19-year-old singer from Tupelo, Mississippi, called Elvis Presley began his musical career. People began to have fun again.

Striker Ivor Broadis played for Newcastle United between 1953 and 1955 - and represented England at the 1954 World Cup finals (UGC TNE)

As for Newcastle United, the Magpies had finished a lacklustre 1953-54 season 15th in the First Division, with Jackie Milburn top scorer on 18 goals, while Broadis netted a respectable 13 times. Come the World Cup, Broadis continued his good form, scoring twice (as did Bolton's Nat Lofthouse) in a 4-4 draw against Belgium. The match was notable in that it was the first World Cup finals game to go to extra time.

Broadis was also part of the England team, including the right-half and future Newcastle manager Bill McGarry, which beat hosts Switzerland 2-0, and he was in the line-up that exited the competition in the quarter-finals. It was Uruguay who sent the Three Lions packing with a comfortable a 4-2 victory. West Germany would lift the World Cup in 1954, just nine years after the end of the war.

Back on home turf, Broadis stayed at United until the end of the 1955 season, but didn’t play in that year’s victorious FA Cup team after falling out with trainer Norman Smith. Moves to Carlisle and Queen Of The South would follow, but it’s for being a respected sports journalist for the next 45 years that he’s best remembered, working on our sister title, The Journal . Ivor Broadis died in Cumbria in 2019 at the age of 96.

NEXT TIME: World Cup 1958, Sweden.

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