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Such was his standing at Manchester United that he was at one stage being tipped to take over from the legendary Matt Busby as manager of the famous Red Devils. However, determined not to live in someone else’s shadow, Cantwell showed the footballing world that he could be his own man when he turned his back on Old Trafford. He was involved with the Ireland soccer team on a part-time basis from October 1967 to May 1968, but although he had championed the rights of his fellow professionals as a player, as a manager he did not have the same power and his efforts to improve the Irish team’s performances did not produce the desired results.

CANTWELL’S EARLY YEARS AND THE EAST END OF LONDON

Born in the Mardyke area of Cork city, Cantwell started playing as a full-back for Western Rovers; however, it was with Cork Athletic that he came to prominence. Frank O’Farrell, who would later be Cantwell’s teammate at West Ham and with Ireland, actually grew up with Noel and remembers him well: ‘I knew Noel from when he was nine years old. I played with his brother Frank, who was also a full-back, for Western Rovers in Cork. Noel would come to watch us play and to collect the kit. We used to call him “Skippy”, because he was always following us around.

‘He was a small, thin lad in those days, and he suffered from adenoids which caused him a lot of discomfort. He managed to overcome it and grew up to be a big, strong man and a fine footballer. Even at a young age, he had great skill.

‘I joined West Ham in 1948. I remember it well. At the time I was working on the railway and playing semi-pro for Cork United. My father had also worked the railway, driving the express between Dublin and Cork. It was a good life, and if I had not made it in football, I would have been happy working for the rail company. When West Ham came in for me I had to decide whether I could turn my back on the railway and make the move to London. It was a huge decision, one Noel would also have to make later on. I didn’t have to wait too long before I met up with Skippy again, because Noel signed for West Ham four years later in 1952.’

In that time Cantwell had grown up to be a strong athlete and with his movie-star looks he was destined for the top. The transfer came about in the second half of the 1952–53 season, Cantwell having caught the eye of West Ham’s manager Ted Fenton. After joining the club, Cantwell settled into London and made three League appearances. The following season saw him progress further, and he secured a regular place in the first-team squad, making twenty-two appearances.

As his confidence grew, Cantwell fashioned an inventive full-back partnership with John Bond. Neither man was an old-fashioned, stagnant, physically imposing defender. Instead, both were very attack-minded, using every opportunity to become involved in the build-up play and relishing making overlapping runs into attack.

Cantwell became known for his versatility, easily switching
to centre-half or centre-forward, and he emerged as one of West Ham’s key men. His importance to the side became apparent very quickly, and he was soon appointed captain of the team. His greatest moment was when he led the side to the Second Division title in 1958 and back to the big time after a twenty-eight-year absence. Then, having helped the team to secure promotion, he contributed to the Hammers consolidating their position in the First Division.

While at West Ham, his stature continued to grow, and he soon found himself tasting European football for the first time when he was selected in the London XI side that competed in the first Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final on 1 May 1958. The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was a precursor to the UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) Cup and was a tournament that mixed football with trade shows. The first competition was to be held over two seasons to avoid clashes with national League fixtures. However, because it was also planned to correspond with international trade fairs, in the end it ran over into a third year, the tournament commencing in 1955 and eventually finishing in 1958.

The first competition included a group stage and also featured some representative teams instead of clubs, hence Cantwell’s appearance for a London XI managed by Chelsea chairman Joe Mears. They reached the final after topping a group that included a Basel and Frankfurt XI, and also the Swiss club Lausanne-Sport. Their eventual opponents in the final were a Barcelona XI. Unlike the London team, Barcelona was effectively made up of players from FC Barcelona, with one player from RCD Espanyol. After a 2–2 draw at Stamford Bridge, Barcelona won the return 6–0. The London XI only competed in the
first tournament. All future Inter-Cities Fairs Cups would be contested by individual clubs from London instead.

Cantwell only played one game in the tournament, and that was the final itself, and he did not feature in the first leg that ended 2–2, instead appearing in the 6–0 thrashing in the return leg. His future Ireland playing and coaching partner Charlie Hurley also featured in the tournament, playing in the group stages in a 3–2 victory over Frankfurt.

Between 1953 and 1960 Cantwell made 245 League appearances and scored sixteen League goals for West Ham. His performances began to get noticed and such was his level of skill and versatility that he caught the eye of one of the greatest managers ever. Matt Busby knew a good player when he saw one, and in November 1960 he shelled out £29,500, then a record for a defender, to sign Cantwell. Manchester United were in a state of rebuilding at that time, following the tragedy of the Munich air disaster, but the club was slowly moving forward again.

In a seven year spell with United, Cantwell made 144 appearances and scored eight goals, playing alongside some of the greatest players ever to pull on the red jersey, including Denis Law, Bobby Charlton and George Best. The highlight of his time with the club was undoubtedly the 1963 FA Cup final, the first trophy won by United after the Munich disaster, making it an important building block on the road to recovery. Leicester were the favourites to win the match, but he led the club to a 3–1 win. Cantwell himself acknowledged the turmoil of those times when he commented on the number of captains the club had had that season, but the Cork player was the man of the day and even had time to cause some ructions of his own when he hurled the famous FA Cup in the air.

That win was a turning point for United. The season after, they finished runners-up to Liverpool, and they went one better the season after, winning the League. At that stage, though, Cantwell was not a regular starter on the side, only providing cover for Tony Dunne, Bill Foulkes and Shay Brennan. They won another League title in Cantwell’s final year in 1967, although by that point he was playing even less and only made four appearances during the Championship-winning season. However, such was his stature at United that in the season they won the League and Cantwell was on the periphery of the team, he still retained his role as club captain.

THE INTERNATIONALIST

Cantwell made his Ireland debut against Luxembourg in October 1953, and over a fourteen-year period he became a permanent fixture in the team, playing in almost every outfield position. He eventually took over the captaincy in 1957. He was a natural leader, and as Mick McGrath, the former Blackburn defender, points out: ‘Noel was a great public speaker and not afraid to tell the committee that ran the show what he was thinking. He would often have a natter with Joe Wickham, who was an official at the FAI, asking him, “How come we can’t have lighter shirts like the England team?” Our shirts at the time were very heavy, and it did not help on the pitch, especially if it was raining. But it was all about money – or the lack of it. It was the small things that needed changing. For example, the England players would get a cap a game, and we would get a cap a season. They would write the fixtures you’d played in on
the cap. Noel highlighted this sort of thing on behalf of the players.

‘There were a lot of hangers-on in the Ireland set-up at that time. The committee was made up of the local committees from Limerick, Cork, Galway and Dublin. But Noel was great. He wanted to see some changes. We were frustrated with the old socks and shirts and the lack of tracksuits. He wanted us to be professional, and he pushed for what these days would be considered the basics.’

However, it was on the field that he was most invaluable, proving to be surprisingly assured in front of goal for a defender. In the 1960 European Nations Cup, Ireland was drawn against Czechoslovakia in the qualifying round. Ireland won the first leg 2–0 at Dalymount Park, with Cantwell getting the second goal. The return leg saw Ireland lose an early penalty, but they were still in with a chance of qualification until three goals in a twenty-minute spell in the second half saw them limp out.

The qualification for the 1964 European Championship saw Cantwell net four goals, including two against Iceland and a further two in a 3–2 victory over Austria. His second goal was a last-minute penalty that sealed a quarter-final place against Spain, which the team lost 7–1 on aggregate.

As with a lot of Ireland’s greatest players of that generation, while they tasted success with their clubs in England, a lack of success with Ireland was a sore point, and the 1966 World Cup in England was the closest that Cantwell and his compatriots came to qualifying. Ireland had been drawn with Spain and Syria, who later withdrew when they backed a protest by the African countries over their allocation of places in the finals, in group nine. The protest by the African countries was based on
the FIFA rule that the winner of the African zone was required to play a play-off against the winner of the Asian or the Oceania zone for a place at the 1966 World Cup. Syria supported the African stance and promptly withdrew from the qualification campaign as a result. With Syria now out of the picture it was a straight fight between Ireland and Spain. Ireland won the home match in Dalymount with a 1–0 win courtesy of an own goal; however, they lost the second leg 4–1.

Cantwell was the most experienced Ireland man on the pitch in Spain, with thirty-one games under his belt – five players that day had less than ten caps, and there was a distinct lack of experience in the team. In fact, and bear in mind that this was a qualifier for the World Cup finals, Eric Barber, a striker, made his debut for Ireland that day: ‘I remember I was called into the squad for the match against Spain in Seville. I was with Shelbourne at the time and had received some good press coverage and was in good shape. We were flying over on the Monday, three days before the game. I woke up that morning and had the worst toothache and my jaw was swollen. We were leaving at 12.00 p.m., and I figured I had time to get into Mercer’s Hospital and have someone have a look at it. I told the doctor the situation and was given an injection to help the pain, but it made me pass out.

‘I only woke up at 12.10 p.m. I panicked and rushed out of the hospital to get a taxi to the airport. Little did I know that the team had held the plane back for me. I actually spoke to Noel first and not Johnny [Carey]. He asked me, “Did you not get the itinerary?” and I explained what had happened. I was petrified, and I don’t think he believed me. Even though Johnny was in charge, Noel was the captain and a real leader in the Ireland set-up.

‘I was on antibiotics over there, and they had a bad effect on me. I was not feeling the best, and, looking back, I don’t think I should have played, but I was eager to be involved. We lost 4–1, and I hardly had a touch. I think Johnny Carey should have maybe taken the decision not to play me, but I don’t think he had the heart to do it.

‘Both Noel and Charlie played in the match, and they took turns in the changing-room before the game to speak to us. Noel and Charlie were big men of the game and very influential players. Charlie was a 6-foot 3-inch centre-half, and he could head the ball almost to the halfway line. Noel was a tough man, a bit like Roy Keane, although maybe not as outspoken. He liked to do things his way, and he had very little time for the officials who were involved with the FAI at the time.’

Despite the defeat, it was not all doom and gloom. These days qualification for a major tournament often hinges on the difference between goals scored and goals conceded, especially when the teams finish level on points. As both teams had won a game each it was decided that they would meet again in a play-off match. The play-off was to be held in a neutral venue – initially it was decided that the game would be played in London, but then it was decided to play the game in Paris. This move to Paris ensured that there were more Spanish than Irish in the stands, although the crowd had little bearing on the outcome. Ireland put on a credible show and came close, before losing 1–0.

In all Cantwell won thirty-six full international caps for Ireland and scored fourteen goals. He made his final appearance for his country away to Turkey in a European Championship qualifier in February 1967. It was fitting that in his last game
of international football for Ireland he scored a penalty in the final minute, although sadly for him he did not end his career with a victory, as Turkey won 2–1. The match also marked the end of Johnny Carey’s reign as manager.

MANAGER

During Cantwell’s time with West Ham, the club was a hotbed of future thinking, led by Ted Fenton. While his peers, managers and fans thought of Cantwell as a shrewd and intelligent footballer, he was not alone at West Ham, surrounded as he was by players who all understood how the beautiful game should be played.

His time at West Ham was also the beginning of his integration into a group of players who were all destined to become managers. He played alongside John Bond and Malcolm Allison, who would later lead Manchester City to success, as well as Frank O’Farrell and Dave Sexton, who both went on to manage Manchester United.