Honorary Graduates
Orations and responses
Trevor Brooking
Oration given on 13 July 2001
Chancellor, the Senate has resolved that the degree of Doctor of the
University be conferred upon Trevor David Brooking.
On Saturday 19 May this year, one of British television’s most famous
programmes was brought to an end with the words: “as for Saturday nights, thanks
for watching and join us after the break”. With these words, presenter and
former England striker Gary Lineker ended what to millions of viewers had become
an institution – BBC 1’s Match of the Day. One of the cornerstones of Match of
the Day’s success has been the quality of its post-match analysis, and in
particular the compassion and insight brought by Trevor Brooking. Trevor
will continue to appear on our screens, providing match analysis of England
internationals and some European games, and he will remain a regular fixture on
Radio 5 Live, where he hosts his own football show as well as providing expert
analysis on live matches.
Trevor Brooking was born in Barking in 1948, the son of a Police Officer, and
has lived for almost all his life in Essex. He passed his 11-plus and
entered Ilford County High School. Unlike many professional soccer
players, Trevor placed great emphasis on his education, indeed, he might claim
to be an early exponent of lifelong learning. He took 11 O-levels and
Economics and Accounts at A-level. Even after signing as an apprentice
with West Ham United Football Club in 1965, Trevor continued day classes in
Business Studies. “If I had continued at school, I suppose I would
eventually have become an Accountant” he said. Accountancy’s loss was
football’s gain.
His father was a key influence in the development of his footballing talent.
In his autobiography, Trevor stated that “I used to run along the pavement
kicking a tennis ball against the garden fences, controlling the rebound … [my
father] would throw the ball at [my]‘bad’ foot, my left, for hours at a time
until [I] became equally adept at using both feet.” Trevor also pays
tribute to the important influence of two long serving West Ham managers, Ron
Greenwood and John Lyal. Another, more unusual influence was ballroom
dancer and night-club proprietor, Lenny Heppell. Lenny Heppell told Trevor
fairly early on in his career that he was too relaxed. Bobby Moore, who
also benefited from Heppell’s advice, described Trevor as “Easy-ohsy, flopping
here, flopping there. Lenny tensed him up. Put some oomph in him.
Next thing Trevor’s in the England team.”
Trevor Brooking made his West Ham debut in a 3-3 draw at Burnley at the start
of the 1967/1968 season - the scorers in that game were Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst
and Martin Peters, West Ham’s legendary triumvirate from England’s 1966 World
Cup triumph. Trevor retired 17 years later, having played 635 times for
West Ham, his sole club, and scoring 102 goals. He was twice an FA Cup
winner with West Ham, in 1975 and again in 1980, when the Second Division club
famously beat the mighty Arsenal 1-0 at Wembley. Trevor scored the only
goal with the third header of his career. Ironically one of England’s most
intelligent footballers had a reputation for not using his head.
Reporters, like historians saw the incident differently: The Sunday Times saw “a
Stuart Pearson miss-hit shot that was deflected off Brooking’s forehead”.
But perhaps the final word is best left to an Essex graduate, Brian Belton, in
his book ‘Bubbles, Hammers and Dreams’: “Dave Cross sent in a shot that
ricocheted off the Gunners’ centre half, Willie Young. Pearson got
through. For an instant his effort looked wasted. The angle was very
tight and the instinctive shot was not well directed, but Trevor, one of only
three survivors from the 1975 Cup winning team, down to waist height, darted in
and headed (yes, he headed the ball!) past Pat Jennings from close range,
falling backwards in the process. Brooking had been 16-1 against to score
the first goal.”
Trevor’s links with West Ham continue and very recently it was announced that
he had joined the club’s Board of Directors. He made his international debut
against Portugal in 1974 and went on to play 47 times for England, scoring 5
goals. One of the great disappointments of his career was not to play a
major role in a World Cup. In the 1982 tournament in Spain, the only World
Cup finals for which England qualified during his international career, Brooking
was injured and did not play until England’s final second round group match
against the hosts Spain. Manager Ron Greenwood chose Brooking as a
substitute and brought him on after 60 minutes. Unfortunately,
despite bringing a fine save from the Spanish goalkeeper, Trevor failed to break
the deadlock and England went out of the World Cup, unbeaten and having conceded
only one goal in the tournament. Trevor Brooking then retired from
international football.
The bare statistics of his football career do not do justice to Trevor
Brooking’s prowess on the football field. Video evidence is not a
practical proposition at an occasion like this, so we have to rely on the
written evidence of those who watched him play. Brian Scovell, of the
Daily Mail, described Trevor Brooking as “a gentleman in a rough game – an
authentic English sporting hero. As football has become fiercer, more
competitive and less enjoyable, he has carried on delighting us with his skill.
He is one of the few players left in England who can bring people out of their
seats in rapt appreciation. He is an honest player in a sport that can at
times be very dishonest. He has never been involved in any scandal.
Nobody has accused him of selling his soul or trying to cripple an opponent.
He has never been sent off and only cautioned five times. His record is
above reproach. As a player of unique skill in a game that has become
over-competitive and over-physical he is ideally placed to talk about what is
wrong and how it can be put right. He is the thinking man’s footballer.”
Jeff Powell, also of the Daily Mail, argued that “any half way decent team
should be able to cater for one luxury player. Look at Trevor Brooking – a
fabulous luxury for West Ham to have in their team. If his name had been
Netzer or Gerson or Rivera we would all have been crying out for an English
player like him. But because he was English we complained that he didn’t
run about enough or tackle hard enough.”
Unlike many others in his profession, since the end of his playing days in
1984, Trevor Brooking has pursued not one but two successful careers, one in BBC
television and radio and the other in sports administration. He was Chair
of the Eastern Region Council for Sport and Recreation from 1987 until 1997 and
it was in this role that he presented the prizes at our own 12th Sports Awards
Dinner in 1989. He became a Member and Vice-Chair of the then Great
Britain Sports Council. Subsequently, in 1999 he was appointed Chair of
Sport England. Sport England is responsible for developing and maintaining
the infrastructure of sport in England and has responsibility for distributing
National Lottery funds. Last weekend may not have been one of great
British sporting triumph at Wimbledon, Edgbaston or Melbourne, but some of the
foundations for the future have been laid. The relative British success in
the 2000 Sydney Olympics can perhaps be attributed to the improved
infrastructure supporting British athletics.
Few of us will envy Trevor’s task of negotiating Sport England’s way through
the trials and tribulations of establishing a new national stadium at Wembley.
Much less well known is Trevor’s extensive commitment to charity work. He
contributes to several charitable and voluntary organisations, particularly
related to disabled people and youngsters. With typical modesty, in his
autobiography, he admits to a “fairly close association with a residential
centre in Essex called New Mossford which caters for almost 70 handicapped
children”. This charity work has lead to a street being named after him in
the Newham borough of London. In researching this oration a bookseller
just off Charing Cross Road told me that he also did charity work in prisons,
but he did not like to talk about that.
Chancellor, today we salute Trevor Brooking, an old-fashioned sporting hero
who remains a model and an inspiration for our Sports Science students and for
all sports players today.
Chancellor, I present to you TREVOR DAVID BROOKING.
Orator: Dr Tony Rich