Frank Brennan 1946 - 1956

Born	Annathill	nr Coatbridge	23/04/1924
Arrived	Airdrie	05/1946	£7,500
Debut	Millwall A	D2	31/08/1946
Departed	North Shields	03/1946	Free
Apps/Goals	271	6
Ht/Wt	6' 3"

The Rock of Tyneside

At a time when the average footballer's height was barely 5' 10", the 6' 3" and almost 14 stones Rock of Gibraltar was a giant.

He arrived from Airdrie as a 22 year old as United geared up for the first post war League campaign. He had been unknown South of the border until he starred in the Victory International against England. He marked Tommy Lawton out of the game and United had to move fast to get their man ahead of a number of suitors.

With his size eleven boots he was a stopper in the true sense of the word. Indomitable of spirit, Frank's simple mantra was "thou shalt not pass" and he either got the ball or the man. Keeper Fairbrother thought the world of him claiming "75% of his success" was down to the big man.

"He was so big that if he stood in the middle and put out his feet Charlie Chaplin style, there was no room on the pitch to get past him"

Joe Harvey judged him the best of his day and talked of how he had no nerves at all before games, often getting changed minutes before the start of the match. On the pitch "we used to leave him on his own" as he more often than not came out with the ball no matter how many forwards he was up against.

But Frank wasn't just a hard man; he was neat on the ball and specialised in getting his defence out of tight corners. He often took attackers by surprise with his nimble footwork which allowed him to recover seemingly impossible situations

Brennan excelled at badminton and golf and was a trained tenor. And as with many players at the time he had another job when he first arrived, working as an electrician at Hartley Main Collliery in Northumberland.

Jackie Milburn was also impressed with his acting ability whereby he could clatter a forward and then, as the referee appeared, pick the stricken player up "full of concern" and pat him on the head.

Frankfurter

His appetite for a bruising battle was more than matched by his legendary hunger off the pitch

Charlie Crowe [Crowe amongst the Magpies] related a number of stories. How he once ate the entire team's meals when he returned to the hotel early after a theatre visit. How on the boat to America he sampled every item on the lunch menu at the same sitting. How on a tour of Ireland his breakfast averaged ten eggs and seven rashers of bacon.

Conversely he liked to travel light and when the squad was assembling at Central Station at the start of the South African tour of 1952 trainer Smith asked where his luggage was. He pointed to a toothbrush in his blazer, he hadn't even brought toothpaste.

Frankenchrist

Another famous story about the Big Man was when United met Wolves in the FA Cup semi-final of 1951. After making a clearance he fell down heavily and his head smacked against some metal drainage pipes.

The motionless and ashen faced scot was tended to by trainer Smith who thought he was dead! Generous application of smelling salts and the magic sponge gradually brought him round. The referee, anxious to get proceedings moving again, restarted play with Brennan clearly still very groggy.

Smith told him to avoid heading the ball for a while, but in the very next attack he caught a rasping drive right on the forehead. The ball bounced thirty yards clear and Frank smiled.

Frank-pledge

In the eight seasons between 1946-47 and 1953/54 Frank was the lynch pin of the United defence; barely missing a game and helping United to their cup wins of 1951 and 1952. It was a time when the turnover of players was high but crowd favourite Brennan retained his place throughout

He was capped by his country seven times; twice in 1947 and then five more times in 1953 and 1954 when his time on Tyneside was coming to an end.

Frankness

His departure from Tyneside is one of the less savoury episodes in United's history. Big Frank was only thirty when the 1953-54 season ended but he was to be forced out the club in very controversial circumstances.

Brennan had only made five appearances during the first half of the 1954-55 season and in January the club announced that he had been transfer listed. It was commonly thought that Brennan was being forced out because he had opened a sports shop in Newcastle and director Seymour (who had an established business in town) was not happy with the competition.

Seymour claimed such suggestions were "entirely wrong and unfair" and said the reason he was available was because they wanted to allow some of the younger players through.

Brennan was hugely popular amongst the fans and hundreds attended a protest meeting at the City Hall organised by the chairman of the Newcastle United Shareholders Association, Mr E Pringle.

Seymour responded by deploring the "gratuitous intervention of Mr Pringle for his own purposes" whilst appearing to back-track by suggesting that Brennan was to be retained. But (in the words of Charlie Crowe) "the Brennan affair had cast a huge shadow over the Gallowgate ground".

At the end of the campaign Frank was retained, however his new contract slashed his £15 plus bonuses weekly wage to a mere £8. After initially turning down the humiliating offer Frank backed down but his experience was used as a test case by PFA Chairman Jimmy Guthrie in his campaign to have the inequitable pay and retain system abolished.

Brennan eventually moved to North Shields in March 1956, just before his 32nd birthday.

Journalist John Thompson once wrote a glowing tribute of him under the headline: "Frank Brennan - a big man in everyway". He finished the article with the following tribute.