The pain of the forgotten Cardiff hero who kept out Real Mad

The pain of the forgotten Cardiff City hero who kept out Real Madrid

Sunday 16th February 2020


He was part of one of the most famous City sides of all time, but has since battled injuries, ill-health and immense personal tragedy

"I'm OK. I'm still taking the tablets!"

The fact he can share a laugh and a joke with me just weeks after suffering a mild stroke arguably tells you all you need to know about Jim Eadie, but there's no denying the realities of his ill-health.

The grim catalogue of injuries and assorted battle scars would likely make the faint-hearted wince a little, while unbearable personal tragedy too has taken its toll.

The fact his spirit, and indeed his sense of humour, remains largely intact speaks volumes.

So too does his enthusiasm for the game, although there's no denying that football took a lot from the 72-year-old, who now lives the quiet life in leafy suburban Bristol, far away from the Glasgow shipyards that helped mould him.

Nowadays, he spends a fair bit of his time watching his rugby-playing son Mitch, who after a spell at Northampton Saints has just signed on for his adopted hometown.

He almost seems a little flattered at the idea of someone taking an interest in his own sporting legacy.

Eadie only played 43 times during a four-year spell for Cardiff City, but has a collection of memories that arguably go well beyond some of the club's more well-known names.

After turning his back on a new life in Canada to join the Bluebirds at the age of 21 in 1969, he broke into the City first team during the 1970-71 season, just in time to take part in the club's finest hour.

To this day, Bluebirds of a certain age regale members of the younger generation about that night on March 10, 1971, the day City toppled the mighty European giants of Real Madrid in the European Cup Winners' Cup at Ninian Park.

Unsurprisingly, it doesn't take long for our conversation to drift towards that night, and the madness that took over the city.


Jim Eadie has a special place in Cardiff City folklore (Image: Mark Lewis)
'Canton was a heave of bodies'

Indeed, memories of the bedlam that descended on the Welsh capital are just as strong as Frank Clark's match-winning header.

"All I remember thinking over and over again when we drew them was 'I hope I'm picked. I hope I'm picked'," he recalls.

"I was picked.

"I still remember Jimmy Scoular, who was the manager back then, telling me to get down there for 5pm.

"I lived in Llandaf at the time and I remember the drive to the ground. When I got to Canton it was just a heave of bodies.

"So I was 45 minutes late arriving in the end! Then, when we walked in, it was just as packed.

"There were even fans climbing up the floodlights. I'd never seen anything like it before.

"They [Madrid] probably thought it was a s***hole, mind!

"Then, when the header went in, my God, I just looked up and thought 'this is brilliant, this'."


City's Brian Clark celebrates after scoring the only goal of the game against Real Madrid (Image: Mirrorpix)
For the former plumber, who used to work on ships like the QE2 before turning to football, it must have felt like he'd achieved immortality.

Every kid with a ball in the back garden dreams of moments like the one Eadie tasted. Only a handful get to live it for real.

The significance of that night means little is said about the return leg at the Bernabeu, where despite a plucky performance, Cardiff were dumped out of the tie after a 2-0 defeat.

Nevertheless, to play at one of world football's most impressive stadiums, in front of 80,000 fans, was arguably just as special.

"I think it must have been around 43,000 at Ninian Park, and I thought I'd never play in front of a crowd like that again," he added.

"Then, when we got to the Bernabeu, I was just stunned. I thought 'My God, what is this?' I ran out at the bottom of the pitch for the beginning of the game and it was a crowd of around 92,000. I couldn't believe a stadium could even hold that many.

"Even the trophy room was about 100 yards long.

"We ran on first, and the fans really, really appreciated us. They were clapping and cheering.

"Clearly they had respect for us.

"Even when we came out after the game they hung about outside to shake our hands. No arguing or fighting or anything.

"Then, of course, everyone knows the score..."

He's very relaxed on the whole thing, but it was actually his error that helped hand the hosts the initiative in the tie.


Jim Eadie in action at the Bernabeu
Team-mate Nigel Rees told the Daily Mail years later that Eadie "threw the ball out and it hit Dave Carver on the back. Their man got it and scored".

Such a mistake would normally haunt a goalkeeper for the rest of their career, but he doesn't seem to remember too much about it, choosing instead to talk about the shortcomings at the other end.

"Aye. It was a scrappy goal," he recalled.

"I think it was Don Murray, who went up for the corner. It was an absolute bloody sitter. The ball dropped down for him and was heading straight for his head and I just thought 'Go on son. Hit it in!'

"He bloody missed it. And that was 10 or 15 minutes from the end, and of course it could have been the away goal that sent us through."

'Cardiff was worse than the SAS'

Whatever the reason for their shortcomings, Cardiff valiantly bowed out, but would still return to South Wales as heroes.

Not that boss Scoular saw it that way, mind.

"He went absolutely crazy," Eadie laughs. "He went bonkers when we went into the dressing room.

"He grabbed my shirt and had me by the collar, growling at me. Blaming me for letting the goals in, but I couldn't stop them.

"I was absolutely gutted."

Those who knew Scoular would hardly see such insight as a revelation. He was, by all accounts, one of the hardest men to have sat in the Ninian Park dugout.


Cardiff City manager Jimmy Scoular, pictured with members of the City team, in the dressing room at Ninian Park looking at the South Wales Echo Real Madrid special (Image: Mirrorpix)
After all, he was the one who told team-mate Nigel Rees to turn down a call-up for Wales in order to play in the first leg.

"Remember who pays your wages," was the explanation.

Rees never got another chance to play for his country.

Not many managers strike the sort of fear into players that causes them to turn their back on international football, but life under Scoular, a fearsome Scot himself, was always gruelling.

The brutality of his training methods was legendary, and one exercise in particular that still sends shivers down Eadie's spine, known simply as 'poles'.

Essentially, what he describes to me is a bleep test on steroids.

"The training, honestly, was absolutely horrendous," he explained. "You'd be sick sometimes, it was so hard.

"You'd be vomiting, and he'd be on the sidelines shouting and swearing at you. I did initially wonder what I'd let myself in for.

"There used to be three or four players at a time, on their knees throwing up.

"It was worse than the SAS, honestly.

"And he'd be there shouting at you to get up and carry on.

"This was every Thursday. Two days before a game.

"I was knackered by the Saturday! Your legs were just gone.

"Then, on game day itself, he'd take a half bottle of whisky, put it on the table and say 'right, before you go out, everybody has to have a swig'. He said it would give us some fire in our bellies.

"It just burned your throat and your stomach. Thinking about it, we should have just taken the slug and then spat it out on the pitch.


Eadie made just 43 appearances for the Bluebirds but was part of one of their most famous nights

"When I left for Bristol Rovers, it was honestly like going to Butlin's in comparison!

"We still had a really good laugh, but it was really, really hard."

Nevertheless, given he was arguably cut from the same cloth, Eadie managed to thrive, impressing Scoular in a rather bizarre way while on trial at the club.

"There was one training session where my foot was sore because I had a new pair of boots on, and I so decided to take them off," he remembered.

"The manager just thought 'what the hell's he doing?' and I was kicking the ball out from goal kicks without any boots on.

"And they were still reaching the halfway line!

"I tried a few kicks out of my hand and they were reaching the penalty area, and I think he just thought 'this lad looks all right'."

In fact, it was only because of Cardiff that the former Rangers trainee even stayed in football.

"After a couple of weeks they said they'd like to sign me, and I said 'that's fine, but I'm going to Canada in three months' time'," he said.

"Me and my wife decided to emigrate. I'd been through all the processes and everything.

"But I just thought that it was better than being underneath the deck of a bloody boat. So I thought I'd give it a couple of years and see what happens."

Eadie played himself into the number-one jersey, before losing out to Bill Irwin the following season after that famous win over Madrid, and game-time soon became hard to come by.

A six-game spell at Chester came in 1972, before he headed over the Severn to join Bristol Rovers in 1973.

A career tally of more than 200 games seems a little underwhelming for a professional football career, but it nevertheless took its toll, with Eadie forced to retire just four years after arriving in the South West.


The day the dream ended

"We went on tour to America and played Portland Timbers," he remembers. "Clyde Best was playing for them and he went up for a corner and bundled me into the goal.

"I got up and I was a bit shaken, but the next time I threw the ball I out, I couldn't carry on. I had to come off.

"That was it then. I couldn't play again.

"I had four great seasons in Bristol. I think I only missed one game, but I had to pack it in. I'd slipped a disc in my back and I actually have a pin for it now.

"I found out that I'd basically twisted my spinal cord. But that was just football.

"It wasn't one incident. Just diving, diving, diving.

"I still get pins and needles in my fingers and that's all to do with the nerves in my spinal cord.

"My disc has gone. I've got arthritis. I've had a triple-A. I've lost my balance. I walk with two walking sticks and my spinal cord is twisted.

"I've got everything you could name.

"And I blame Scoular because that's when it all started!"

He bursts out laughing at that last line, but you can't help but feel there's a shade of sincerity there.

Eadie's injuries were so catastrophic that having retired from football at the age of 30, he was soon forced to turn his back on his new life as a labourer in Bristol too.

However, he did receive some respite from the game that had clearly taken so much.

"I got a cheque off Peter Taylor at the Football League. He'd found out that I'd got injured and didn't have insurance," he added.

"So he sent me this cheque and said 'I hope this keeps you going for a while'. It was for £500,000. So, I was delighted by that, given that I was only on around £20 a week!"

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The greatest pain of all

Having his career taken away prematurely no doubt proved tough on its own, but the noticeable pride Eadie takes in his family suggests they played a huge role in keeping him going.

Along with his son Mitch, he tells me all about his three daughters, Rebecca, Rachel and Shannon, with buckets of enthusiasm.

But family life has come with its own heartache.

When his other son, James, was born without a corpus callosum, which connects the two sides of the brain, Eadie once again had to call on the battle-hardened spirit he showed as a player.

James was born blind, but gained his sight after contracting meningitis, although doctors had nevertheless predicted he would never walk or talk.

But after battling hard, James defied the odds, learning to read and write, and was soon able to run around and play with his school friends.


Like his old man, he was clearly a fighter, but on one tragic night in June, completely out of the blue, tragedy struck.

"He was epileptic," Eadie explains. "And I put him him up to bed.

"He'd had a massive fit. I went up to check on him, and he was lying in bed, sprawled across the bed.

"His heart had stopped. We tried everything to revive him, but it was too late.

"I didn't know how long he'd been lying there.

"He was gone."

James was just nine years old when he passed away.




Giving away memories

Despite the pain, the deeper we go into his past, the clearer it becomes that Eadie's days at Cardiff were among the happiest, which makes it all the more remarkable that he chose to give away what should have been one of his most precious keepsakes from that time.

"There's a trophy up in the loft somewhere to commemorate that Madrid game," he said. "I also got a watch with the Real Madrid face on it, but I bloody lost it!

"I think I gave it away to somebody. When I was at Bristol Rovers I remember having a drink, half-cut with this guy, who was the head of the supporters' group at the time.

"I just turned to him and said 'I've got a present for you' and I gave him my watch.

"He said he couldn't take it, but I said 'go on, have it'. As it happens it wouldn't have made a difference, anyway."

Incredibly, his moment of madness may well have prevented a valuable piece of Cardiff City memorabilia being lost forever.

When Bristol Rovers' Eastville Stadium caught fire in 1980, it not only left the club temporarily homeless, but also claimed some of Eadie's most precious memories with the Bluebirds.

"I had a suitcase with some Cardiff City suits that I had," he explains. "I would've put the watch in there, and I left it with the secretary and it was in the bloody stadium when it burned down.

"I had a Madrid strip in there as well because I'd changed with the goalkeeper after the name.

"I lost it all. The whole suitcase was gone. Everything gone up in flames.

"So I would've lost the watch anyway.

"In fact, I'm glad I gave it to him in the end.

"That guy's probably still got the watch.

"I see him at some of the Rovers reunions every year, but we've not really spoken about it.

"I've certainly not asked for it back yet anyway!"

While his body may be battered and bruised, the memories are clearly unblemished.

Perhaps, for the man that kept out Madrid, that's enough.

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Good read Annis, God they breed them tough in those ship yards!!!

What a guy.

The pain of the forgotten Cardiff City hero who kept out Real Madrid

Sunday 16th February 2020


He was part of one of the most famous City sides of all time, but has since battled injuries, ill-health and immense personal tragedy

"I'm OK. I'm still taking the tablets!"

The fact he can share a laugh and a joke with me just weeks after suffering a mild stroke arguably tells you all you need to know about Jim Eadie, but there's no denying the realities of his ill-health.

The grim catalogue of injuries and assorted battle scars would likely make the faint-hearted wince a little, while unbearable personal tragedy too has taken its toll.

The fact his spirit, and indeed his sense of humour, remains largely intact speaks volumes.

So too does his enthusiasm for the game, although there's no denying that football took a lot from the 72-year-old, who now lives the quiet life in leafy suburban Bristol, far away from the Glasgow shipyards that helped mould him.

Nowadays, he spends a fair bit of his time watching his rugby-playing son Mitch, who after a spell at Northampton Saints has just signed on for his adopted hometown.

He almost seems a little flattered at the idea of someone taking an interest in his own sporting legacy.

Eadie only played 43 times during a four-year spell for Cardiff City, but has a collection of memories that arguably go well beyond some of the club's more well-known names.

After turning his back on a new life in Canada to join the Bluebirds at the age of 21 in 1969, he broke into the City first team during the 1970-71 season, just in time to take part in the club's finest hour.

To this day, Bluebirds of a certain age regale members of the younger generation about that night on March 10, 1971, the day City toppled the mighty European giants of Real Madrid in the European Cup Winners' Cup at Ninian Park.

Unsurprisingly, it doesn't take long for our conversation to drift towards that night, and the madness that took over the city.


Jim Eadie has a special place in Cardiff City folklore (Image: Mark Lewis)
'Canton was a heave of bodies'

Indeed, memories of the bedlam that descended on the Welsh capital are just as strong as Frank Clark's match-winning header.

"All I remember thinking over and over again when we drew them was 'I hope I'm picked. I hope I'm picked'," he recalls.

"I was picked.

"I still remember Jimmy Scoular, who was the manager back then, telling me to get down there for 5pm.

"I lived in Llandaf at the time and I remember the drive to the ground. When I got to Canton it was just a heave of bodies.

"So I was 45 minutes late arriving in the end! Then, when we walked in, it was just as packed.

"There were even fans climbing up the floodlights. I'd never seen anything like it before.

"They [Madrid] probably thought it was a s***hole, mind!

"Then, when the header went in, my God, I just looked up and thought 'this is brilliant, this'."


City's Brian Clark celebrates after scoring the only goal of the game against Real Madrid (Image: Mirrorpix)
For the former plumber, who used to work on ships like the QE2 before turning to football, it must have felt like he'd achieved immortality.

Every kid with a ball in the back garden dreams of moments like the one Eadie tasted. Only a handful get to live it for real.

The significance of that night means little is said about the return leg at the Bernabeu, where despite a plucky performance, Cardiff were dumped out of the tie after a 2-0 defeat.

Nevertheless, to play at one of world football's most impressive stadiums, in front of 80,000 fans, was arguably just as special.

"I think it must have been around 43,000 at Ninian Park, and I thought I'd never play in front of a crowd like that again," he added.

"Then, when we got to the Bernabeu, I was just stunned. I thought 'My God, what is this?' I ran out at the bottom of the pitch for the beginning of the game and it was a crowd of around 92,000. I couldn't believe a stadium could even hold that many.

"Even the trophy room was about 100 yards long.

"We ran on first, and the fans really, really appreciated us. They were clapping and cheering.

"Clearly they had respect for us.

"Even when we came out after the game they hung about outside to shake our hands. No arguing or fighting or anything.

"Then, of course, everyone knows the score..."

He's very relaxed on the whole thing, but it was actually his error that helped hand the hosts the initiative in the tie.


Jim Eadie in action at the Bernabeu
Team-mate Nigel Rees told the Daily Mail years later that Eadie "threw the ball out and it hit Dave Carver on the back. Their man got it and scored".

Such a mistake would normally haunt a goalkeeper for the rest of their career, but he doesn't seem to remember too much about it, choosing instead to talk about the shortcomings at the other end.

"Aye. It was a scrappy goal," he recalled.

"I think it was Don Murray, who went up for the corner. It was an absolute bloody sitter. The ball dropped down for him and was heading straight for his head and I just thought 'Go on son. Hit it in!'

"He bloody missed it. And that was 10 or 15 minutes from the end, and of course it could have been the away goal that sent us through."

'Cardiff was worse than the SAS'

Whatever the reason for their shortcomings, Cardiff valiantly bowed out, but would still return to South Wales as heroes.

Not that boss Scoular saw it that way, mind.

"He went absolutely crazy," Eadie laughs. "He went bonkers when we went into the dressing room.

"He grabbed my shirt and had me by the collar, growling at me. Blaming me for letting the goals in, but I couldn't stop them.

"I was absolutely gutted."

Those who knew Scoular would hardly see such insight as a revelation. He was, by all accounts, one of the hardest men to have sat in the Ninian Park dugout.


Cardiff City manager Jimmy Scoular, pictured with members of the City team, in the dressing room at Ninian Park looking at the South Wales Echo Real Madrid special (Image: Mirrorpix)
After all, he was the one who told team-mate Nigel Rees to turn down a call-up for Wales in order to play in the first leg.

"Remember who pays your wages," was the explanation.

Rees never got another chance to play for his country.

Not many managers strike the sort of fear into players that causes them to turn their back on international football, but life under Scoular, a fearsome Scot himself, was always gruelling.

The brutality of his training methods was legendary, and one exercise in particular that still sends shivers down Eadie's spine, known simply as 'poles'.

Essentially, what he describes to me is a bleep test on steroids.

"The training, honestly, was absolutely horrendous," he explained. "You'd be sick sometimes, it was so hard.

"You'd be vomiting, and he'd be on the sidelines shouting and swearing at you. I did initially wonder what I'd let myself in for.

"There used to be three or four players at a time, on their knees throwing up.

"It was worse than the SAS, honestly.

"And he'd be there shouting at you to get up and carry on.

"This was every Thursday. Two days before a game.

"I was knackered by the Saturday! Your legs were just gone.

"Then, on game day itself, he'd take a half bottle of whisky, put it on the table and say 'right, before you go out, everybody has to have a swig'. He said it would give us some fire in our bellies.

"It just burned your throat and your stomach. Thinking about it, we should have just taken the slug and then spat it out on the pitch.


Eadie made just 43 appearances for the Bluebirds but was part of one of their most famous nights

"When I left for Bristol Rovers, it was honestly like going to Butlin's in comparison!

"We still had a really good laugh, but it was really, really hard."

Nevertheless, given he was arguably cut from the same cloth, Eadie managed to thrive, impressing Scoular in a rather bizarre way while on trial at the club.

"There was one training session where my foot was sore because I had a new pair of boots on, and I so decided to take them off," he remembered.

"The manager just thought 'what the hell's he doing?' and I was kicking the ball out from goal kicks without any boots on.

"And they were still reaching the halfway line!

"I tried a few kicks out of my hand and they were reaching the penalty area, and I think he just thought 'this lad looks all right'."

In fact, it was only because of Cardiff that the former Rangers trainee even stayed in football.

"After a couple of weeks they said they'd like to sign me, and I said 'that's fine, but I'm going to Canada in three months' time'," he said.

"Me and my wife decided to emigrate. I'd been through all the processes and everything.

"But I just thought that it was better than being underneath the deck of a bloody boat. So I thought I'd give it a couple of years and see what happens."

Eadie played himself into the number-one jersey, before losing out to Bill Irwin the following season after that famous win over Madrid, and game-time soon became hard to come by.

A six-game spell at Chester came in 1972, before he headed over the Severn to join Bristol Rovers in 1973.

A career tally of more than 200 games seems a little underwhelming for a professional football career, but it nevertheless took its toll, with Eadie forced to retire just four years after arriving in the South West.


The day the dream ended

"We went on tour to America and played Portland Timbers," he remembers. "Clyde Best was playing for them and he went up for a corner and bundled me into the goal.

"I got up and I was a bit shaken, but the next time I threw the ball I out, I couldn't carry on. I had to come off.

"That was it then. I couldn't play again.

"I had four great seasons in Bristol. I think I only missed one game, but I had to pack it in. I'd slipped a disc in my back and I actually have a pin for it now.

"I found out that I'd basically twisted my spinal cord. But that was just football.

"It wasn't one incident. Just diving, diving, diving.

"I still get pins and needles in my fingers and that's all to do with the nerves in my spinal cord.

"My disc has gone. I've got arthritis. I've had a triple-A. I've lost my balance. I walk with two walking sticks and my spinal cord is twisted.

"I've got everything you could name.

"And I blame Scoular because that's when it all started!"

He bursts out laughing at that last line, but you can't help but feel there's a shade of sincerity there.

Eadie's injuries were so catastrophic that having retired from football at the age of 30, he was soon forced to turn his back on his new life as a labourer in Bristol too.

However, he did receive some respite from the game that had clearly taken so much.

"I got a cheque off Peter Taylor at the Football League. He'd found out that I'd got injured and didn't have insurance," he added.

"So he sent me this cheque and said 'I hope this keeps you going for a while'. It was for £500,000. So, I was delighted by that, given that I was only on around £20 a week!"

Annis I remember him well and the Real Madrid game, feeling my age now

I remember him well plus that night against Real Madrid. What few people remember is that we weren't actually that surprised that we beat them, as we had reached the semis only a few years earlier and we had a very good side that was at the top of the old Second Division (the Championship for the youngsters out there).

What surprised me was that he only played 43 times in 4 years. As far as I can remember he was our regular keeper that season.

They were great days supporting city. I remember Bob Wilson was our 'keeper before Jim. He used to paint houses during the close season to earn a few pounds as they weren't millionaires in those days. He worked on a few in Grangetown one summer and a few of us used to stop and have a chat, he was always willing to talk and was a nice bloke. Anyone know what happened to him in later years?

They were great days supporting city. I remember Bob Wilson was our 'keeper before Jim. He used to paint houses during the close season to earn a few pounds as they weren't millionaires in those days. He worked on a few in Grangetown one summer and a few of us used to stop and have a chat, he was always willing to talk and was a nice bloke. Anyone know what happened to him in later years?

I remember he ended up at Exeter City. Apparently worked for the post office afterwards.

The club need to get him down to a game as guest of honour.

Jim Eadie, Now there is a name from the past.

Started going down city with my dad (RIP) in 1969 season and as somebody else has said, he seemed to be a regular in the team before Bill Irwin Came.

Team full of Scots with Don Murray, Jim and Scouler - God they were hard men in the Halcion days of Football for me and so many others.

Thing is when you look back at some of these former players in their 70's, 80's who played on a Saturday, went though tough training and had a "real" Job on weekdays, Can you imagine some of the Prima Dona footballers of today in that world !!

Great Idea for the Club to feature a "Guest of Honour" for Ex-City Players at Home matches - would be a brill Gesture for them and a great remembrance for us oldies

Good read that.

Excellent post I remember Jimmy well and my mate married his sister

Keep it going Jim your a inspiration to us all.

Scoular sounds like a nasty ******. I think its fair to say his managerial methods might not have been so effective with our pampered modern footballer!

A great read, and I remember watching him play for us, including the Madrid game. Can't believe he had 500,000 quid when he had to stop playing though! Have they added a nought by mistake?

Scoular sounds like a nasty ******. I think its fair to say his managerial methods might not have been so effective with our pampered modern footballer!

Seem to recall he wanted to fight Brian Clough in the tunnel at the Baseball Ground when we played Derby in the old Second Division. My grandfather used to tell me he was one of the hardest players he ever saw. Dread to think what he would have made of the likes of Pogba and his ilk.

Really enjoyed reading that Annis. I remember all the names mentioned there as my first game was in 1967 at Ninian Park under the lights. I can honestly say that the next 10 to 12 yrs following Cardiff were the best i have ever experienced up to this present day. I was at the Real Madrid game reunion where i got to meet and talk with all the players and get the 12 players involved that night to sign the replica jersey of that famous night. I really treasure it ! Jim Eadie was pissed that night and his wife also had a few drinks on !!As for Jimmy Scoular... in my opinion the best we have ever had in Cardiff. !! Anyway fabulous read and great, great, memories ! Blooooobirds !!!

One of my favourite city players could never understand how bill irwin got in before him. Some other names for you Greg Farrell Bobby Ferguson Grahem Coldrick Johnny Vincent