Sadly I report the death of a great guy and Newcastle legend - Ivan Arthur “Ivor” Broadis. I met him in Workington three years ago ... and what a man.
Ivan Arthur “Ivor” Broadis, who has died aged 96, was at the time of his death the oldest living former England international footballer. Although he was born in Poplar, on the Isle of Dogs in London, he made his name in the far north of England, with Carlisle United, Newcastle United and Sunderland, before running down his active career just across the border, with Queen of the South.
During the war he trained as a navigator and was commissioned to fly Lancaster and Wellington bombers, although he never actually flew bombing missions over Germany. After the end of hostilities he spent a lot of time flying former combatants home. He was then posted to the RAF Crosby-on-Eden station outside Carlisle, now the Stobart-owned Carlisle Lake District Airport, and was able to concentrate on football, although he had previously guested as an amateur for, among other clubs, Tottenham Hotspur, where a misreading of his name saw Ivan become “Ivor”, the name by which he would become known.
Aged only 23, he became player-manager at Carlisle United and his talent became obvious. In 1949 he arranged his own transfer, for £18,000, to Sunderland. He was succeeded as Carlisle boss by Bill Shankly, but he continued to live and train in Carlisle, he and Shankly often playing one v one games in the afternoon. It was a regime which Shankly always claimed turned Broadis into an England player, while Broadis himself conceded Shankly's work ethic and enthusiasm rubbed off on him.
He scored 27 goals in 84 games for big-spending Sunderland, helping them finish third in the First Division in 1950, before, in 1951, Manchester City paid £25,000 to take him to Maine Road. It was here that he won the first of his 14 England caps. His eight goals in 14 internationals is an excellent return for a man not recognised as an out-and-out striker. They included his famous counter in England's 7-1 loss to Hungary, in Budapest in 1954 and two against Belgium during the 1954 World Cup finals.
His final cap came in the World Cup quarter-final against reigning champions Uruguay. These caps were won as a Newcastle player, United having paid £20,000 to sign him in 1953. He fell out with the United trainer and was not picked for their win in the 1955 Cup Final, leaving St James Park to return to Carlisle as player-coach in July of that year. While back at Carlisle he won further representative honours, being chosen for the Third Division representative side in three straight seasons.
He spent a further four years with United, before running down his career with Queen of the South, where he scored 20 goals in 63 games. These seasons at Palmerston, he always insisted were the most enjoyable of his career. Hearts tried to sign him, but he said he wanted to end his playing career with the Doonhamers.
While with Manchester City, he had dipped his toes in football writing, with the Manchester Evening News and, after hanging up his boots, he established a freelance football-reporting agency in Carlisle, along with his son Michael, and daughter Gillian.
Given his experience - over 500 senior games, in which he scored over 150 goals, plus his 14 internationals - and with his experience as a manager and coach, Ivor Broadis wrote with authority and a love of the game, displaying in the press box the same high level of skills he had exhibited on the pitch. During the brief excitement of Gretna's rise and fall, he was an occasional visitor to the press box at Rydale Park, where, even in his eighties, he was sharp, incisive and an inspiration to the younger journalists around him.
Ivor Broadis was pre-deceased by his wife Joan, and by Michael. He is survived by Gillian and her family.