It’s Christmas Day – which means it’s time to crown the greatest player in Ipswich Town’s glorious history!
And who else could it be than Kevin Beattie? The Beat is surely the greatest player ever to wear an Ipswich Town shirt.
The word “colossus” is one which is greatly over-used in football, but it is exactly what Beattie was.
His sheer power, and pace, were both absolutely awe-inspiring. Bobby Robson called him his “diamond.” He also said he was “daft as a brush.”
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Both were true.
Beattie should have won 100 England caps.... instead, serious injury problems meant he only played nine times for his country. His last game for Town was in the 1981 FA Cup semi-final against Man City, when he had to go off after breaking his arm.
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It was a poignant, and somehow fitting, way for this great, but unlucky, player to end his career. I cannot believe any of us will see better playing for Town.
Of course, Beattie died, aged just 64, earlier this year and the amount of people who turned out to applaud his funeral procession as it passed by Portman Road showed just how much Town fans loved him. It was a very emotional moment.
MORE: Support our campaign to fund a statue of Beattie in Ipswich
Kevin Beattie. The best there was, is and ever will be. Thanks, Beat.
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