1. John Edward Thompson "Jackie" Milburn was an English football player principally associated with Newcastle United and England, though he spent four seasons at Linfield.
51 Facts About Jackie Milburn
1. 2.
Cousin to the mother of Jack and Bobby Charlton, Milburn played two trial matches at St James' Park as a 19-year-old in 1943.
3.
In total, Jackie Milburn played in three FA Cup winning finals for United; 1951,1952 and 1955.
4.
Jackie Milburn remained so until he was surpassed by Alan Shearer in February 2006.
5.
Jackie Milburn remains Newcastle's second highest goalscorer, having scored 200 competitive goals.
6.
Jackie Milburn's signing for Linfield "added thousands to the gate" and he made 54 appearances, scoring 68 goals in four seasons in all competitions for the club.
7.
Jackie Milburn was finally granted a testimonial ten years later, in 1967.
8.
Jackie Milburn died of lung cancer on 9 October 1988, aged 64.
9.
Jackie Milburn was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in October 2006.
10.
Jackie Milburn was born on 11 May 1924 in the upstairs flat of his grandparents' house at 14 Sixth Row in Ashington to Annie Thompson and Alexander Jackie Milburn.
11.
Alexander Jackie Milburn worked as a coal cutter at the nearby colliery.
12.
When he was eight years old, Jackie Milburn was given his first pair of football boots as a Christmas present from his parents and from that point "football dominated his life".
13.
The young Jackie Milburn idolised Joe Hulme, and hoped to emulate him.
14.
When he was twelve, Jackie Milburn moved to Hirst East Senior Boys School and was selected to play right-wing for the school football team.
15.
Jackie Milburn's father promised to award him a penny for every goal he scored.
16.
Jackie Milburn left school at fourteen and, telling his father that he was too claustrophobic to follow him into coal-mining, he found employment stacking shelves and filling sugar bags on eight-shillings a week, after an abortive spell as a pantry boy in London.
17.
At sixteen, Jackie Milburn accepted an apprenticeship as a fitter at a local colliery.
18.
Jackie Milburn was then instructed to run poorly in the semi-final so to artificially conflate his handicap in the 1941 renewal, where his odds would be higher and he would be better prepared.
19.
Jackie Milburn duly came last, allegedly with a dozen pennies weighing down his left running shoe, causing him to "run like a lop-sided whippet with three legs".
20.
When he was told afterwards that the promised scout had failed to arrive, Jackie Milburn described it as "a bitter pill to swallow".
21.
The first trial was held in midweek and Jackie Milburn scored two goals in one half, earning an invitation to return on Saturday for a public trial at St James' and an 'amateur contract'.
22.
Jackie Milburn attended his first training session the day after his signing, and immediately impressed his new teammates by out-sprinting Albert Stubbins in a 100-yard dash.
23.
Seymour invited Milburn's father to accompany him and Jackie recalled later that this was "to give me confidence on such a momentous day".
24.
Jackie Milburn, disappointed to have made little impact, was consoled afterwards by Seymour, who assured him "you'll be in the side next week".
25.
Jackie Milburn continued to combine his football career with his work at the colliery.
26.
Jackie Milburn used to combine his work at Woodhorn with training on two or occasionally three evenings a week, and there were some instances where Jackie Milburn would work a double shift on a Friday, so he would be free to play for United on the following Saturday.
27.
Jackie Milburn continued to initially play as an inside forward, on either the left or right flank.
28.
Jackie Milburn made guest appearances for Sheffield United during the season.
29.
Jackie Milburn continued to score goals himself and finished the season as United's second highest scorer with 14 goals, as Newcastle finished 6th in the Northern War League.
30.
In total, Jackie Milburn made 95 appearances for Newcastle United in War League matches, scoring 38 goals.
31.
Jackie Milburn, who had played on the right flank for almost the entire season, made 27 appearances in all competitions and scored 8 goals.
32.
Jackie Milburn finished the season as top-scorer with 20 goals in 40 matches.
33.
Two weeks later, Jackie Milburn put a transfer request to the Newcastle board, stating that: "I need to get away from Tyneside as my wife's health is suffering".
34.
Jackie Milburn did not play that match due to international duty.
35.
Newcastle eventually finished in 4th place and Jackie Milburn top-scored again with 19 goals in all competitions.
36.
Jackie Milburn missed the match as he sat at Windsor Park as an unused substitute for England.
37.
Jackie Milburn scored one of the four goals which beat Bury in the 3rd round.
38.
Jackie Milburn settled "a terrific meeting" with two second half goals; the first after a sharp turn and shot from 15 yards and the second saw him beat the offside trap to run clear and score.
39.
Jackie Milburn was denied a hat-trick when a late header struck the bar and rebounded to safety.
40.
Jackie Milburn later said that "quite unconsciously, every man who is going to play in a great match doesn't put everything he possesses into ordinary league games before the great day" and he, Taylor and Harvey were just three of the senior players who found themselves 'rested' in the games prior to the final as Newcastle "tottered from one defeat to another" to end their title chances.
41.
Jackie Milburn's brace took his season's FA Cup total to 8 goals in 8 games.
42.
When fit again, Jackie Milburn asked to be selected for the reserves so as to not disturb a winning side, later explaining that "I thought it unfair that the forward line should be changed to accommodate me and Mr Seymour accepted my request".
43.
On 3 May 1952, Newcastle and Jackie Milburn travelled to Wembley to play Arsenal in the FA Cup final.
44.
Jackie Milburn had a quiet match, though he almost scored with a header which was cleared off the goal line, a goal from Robledo five minutes from time meant Newcastle became the first team in the 20th century to retain the cup.
45.
Jackie Milburn scored 25 league goals during the season and was the second highest scorer at the club behind George Robledo.
46.
Jackie Milburn had worried that ten years after leaving the club, people would have forgotten, but he needn't have worried, as almost 50,000 turned out at St James' Park for the match.
47.
Jackie Milburn was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1981, when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the studios of Tyne Tees Television in Newcastle.
48.
The whereabouts of the third statue had caused some local consternation in 2011, when the local newspaper recounted a fibreglass statue of Jackie Milburn located outside St James' Park between 1996 and 1998, but which had since vanished.
49.
In 1987, Jackie Milburn was voted the 'greatest post-war North East footballer' by the local press.
50.
In 2006, Jackie Milburn was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in recognition of his contribution to English football.
51.
Jackie Milburn was the subject of a 53-minute documentary, "A Tribute to Jackie Milburn: Tyneside's Favourite Son", produced by Tyne Tees Television, and later released in 1989 by Video Gems on VHS.