Scotland goalkeeper

Born: March 15, 1935;

Died: June 4, 2019

LAWRIE Leslie, who has died, aged 84, was a former Scotland goalkeeper whose courage on the pitch led him to sustain a horrendous number of injuries during his career. Indeed, his long-suffering wife Jeanette once joked: “Lawrie had his own bed at the Royal London Hospital - he was taken there so often after being injured playing with West Ham.

Leslie was an Edinburgh boy, who had been run over by a truck as a nine-year-old and told he would never walk again but recovered and went on to become a footballer. He played his early career at right-back, but switched to goalkeeper playing for Hawkhill Amateurs, before coming to prominence with that prolific junior nursery Newtongrange Star, from where he went on to Hibs. There he under-studied, then, once his national service with the Royal Artillery was out of the way, succeeded Tommy Younger as the first-team goalkeeper. He was recommended to Hibs by future teammate, Jock Buchan.

Leslie's bravery was evident, as was his ability; he made the spectacular look common-place and, in 1958, he back-stopped the Hibs team which reached the Scottish Cup Final, but lost to Clyde.

The following season, after 98 games for Hibs, the club he had supported as a boy, he had a major fall-out with the club, who off-loaded him to Airdrie, and it was at Broomfield, where he became team captain, that his brilliance caught the eye of the Scotland selectors. He would only play around 60 games for the Diamonds, but he was so good, he was inducted into the club's Hall of Fame in 2005.

He was given the then-normal audition of a game for The Scottish League XI, against the Irish League, in September, 1960, retaining his place for the match against the League of Ireland the following month and, with the SFA unhappy with Tottenham Hotspur's reluctance to release regular Scotland keeper Bill Brown for internationals, Leslie was one of four new caps for the opening game in the 1960-61 home internationals, against Wales, at Ninian Park, Cardiff, on 22 October, 1960.

Wales won 2-0, and, as usual after such a beating, the press ripped into the Scotland side. However, Leslie emerged with credit, the great Herald football writer Cyril Horne wrote in his Monday match report: “I can recall, of Scottish goalkeepers, only John Thomson, against the English League in London in 1931 and Jimmy Cowan against England at Wembley in 1949, making as many breathtaking saves in one match as Leslie did on Saturday.”

His second cap followed, against Northern Ireland, at Hampden in November and it was no surprise when he was named as goalkeeper for the Wembley trip. However, just seven days before that game, playing for Airdrie at Somerset Park, he sustained a cut eye, was taken to Ayr County Hospital and had 11 stitches inserted in the wound.

He was sure he could face the English, but he could not see out of the injured eye and Scotland manager Ian McColl was loathe to risk him, and while Leslie travelled to London with the party, he already knew Haffey would play.

Given the result, did he dodge a bullet? We will never know, but Jeanette Leslie had no doubts. Speaking on the 50th anniversary of that Wembley debacle she said: “There is no way, even with both eyes stitched shut, my Lawrie would have let in nine goals.”

Needless to say, he was back for Scotland's next game, adding a further three caps to his tally in World Cup qualifiers, home and away against the Republic of Ireland and Czechoslovakia during May, 1961.

By the start of the 1961-62 season, Leslie had been sold to West Ham United for £14,000 - Spurs and the SFA had kissed and made up and Brown was back as first choice. Leslie's Scotland career was over after just five games.

But his form with his new club continued to be exceptional, to the extent that he became the first goalkeeper to be named “Hammer of the Year” at the end of that season. In November, 1962, he needed that reserved bed at the Royal London after breaking a leg against Bolton Wanderers, but, again he fought back to complete the season as first choice.

His penchant for getting himself injured saw him drop out of the United team and move on to Stoke City, with United recouping their investment when they sold him. He helped the Potters reach the 1963-64 League Cup final, which was then a two-legged affair. He was injured during the first leg and missed the second.

The following season, injury free, he barely missed a game, but, in 1965-66, he lost his first-team place and at the end of the season, he returned to East London, when he signed for Millwall, to replace Alex Stepney.

He was soon a cult figure at The Den, adored by the Millwall fans, who loved his bravery and flamboyance. He spent two years at the club, before running down his playing career with Southend.

Leslie had a spell coaching at Southend, then back at the Den, where he was briefly caretaker manager, before leaving the professional game to coach football in various schools near his home on the Kent/London border.

One of the long-lasting effects of his childhood road accident was he was treated with unscreened blood in transfusions, which caused him to have recurring liver problems throughout his life. All the broken bones took their toll also, and for several years he could only get about in a wheel-chair, pushed by the steadfast Jeanette, before, eventually, with the onset of Alzheimer's, he had to go into a nursing home, where he died.

MATT VALLANCE