The Great Jimmy Hagan

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Dnblade said:
I remember my Dad telling me how Jimmy would effortlessly control the ball on his instep when the ball was fired up to him,and would glide past players.
When we were talking about TC,he never said Jimmy was better,but would often say what a great player Jimmy Hagan was aswell.
I think it's a generational thing...for me it's TC,but I never saw Hagan;and it's difficult to compare players from different era's...If there was a comparable player today,people like me would be saying "nah,he's not as good as Currie".
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Father in Law always said when he was in trouble hitting the ball to Hagan at any height no matter how hard he always took it down with ease.

Always said he was better than TC.

Why he didn't follow Harris as manager when we were in a good position was the biggest bollock dropped by SUFC ever and they have dropped some bollocks over the years..
 

GRUMPY BLADE said:
Father in Law always said when he was in trouble hitting the ball to Hagan at any height no matter how hard he always took it down with ease.

Always said he was better than TC.

Why he didn't follow Harris as manager when we were in a good position was the biggest bollock dropped by SUFC ever and they have dropped some bollocks over the years..
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Who was your father in law?
 
grafikhaus said:
I'm an old bastard, but even I never saw JH. I was at TC's debut - a 3-2 win at home v. Spurs on Feb. 26th, 1968 and - like Hagan with just one - TC never saw the number of England caps that he should have, but in that era we had quite a few similar players -Stan Bowles, Frank Worthington, Alan Hudson etc. My dad always raved about Hagan and said that 'Currie wasn't a patch on Hagan.' I think that's an 'age' thing. Older fans go on about Matthews, Finney, Mortensen etc., but what did England ever win with them in the team?

Anyway, to prove that some things never change, this is from Wikipedia:

After the war, Hagan initially refused to re-sign for United, missing the first four games of the 1946–47 season. Having got a job as a trainee chartered surveyor he only rejoined the team on a part-time basis. He continued to play for United until 1958, as captain between 1946 and 1949, despite United accepting what would have been a British record transfer fee of £32,500 from Wednesday in February 1951. Hagan rejected the transfer and Wednesday were relegated to the Second Division.
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I believe that Alpine Blade was told by Mr Hagen that had he signed for Wednesday, he would never be able to walk down the Moor again
If I am incorrect I'm sure that AlpineBlade will correct me
 
Bert said:
Somebody ought to write a book about Jimmy Hagan. :)
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Someone did write a book about the great man - cant remember who it was but I have read it and it takes in his managerial career in Portugal where he is a legend as well - I will try to dig it out and post the title
 
grafikhaus said:
I'm an old bastard, but even I never saw JH. I was at TC's debut - a 3-2 win at home v. Spurs on Feb. 26th, 1968 and - like Hagan with just one - TC never saw the number of England caps that he should have, but in that era we had quite a few similar players -Stan Bowles, Frank Worthington, Alan Hudson etc. My dad always raved about Hagan and said that 'Currie wasn't a patch on Hagan.' I think that's an 'age' thing. Older fans go on about Matthews, Finney, Mortensen etc., but what did England ever win with them in the team?

Anyway, to prove that some things never change, this is from Wikipedia:

After the war, Hagan initially refused to re-sign for United, missing the first four games of the 1946–47 season. Having got a job as a trainee chartered surveyor he only rejoined the team on a part-time basis. He continued to play for United until 1958, as captain between 1946 and 1949, despite United accepting what would have been a British record transfer fee of £32,500 from Wednesday in February 1951. Hagan rejected the transfer and Wednesday were relegated to the Second Division.
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As well as his skill this endeared him to Blades fans
Even in those far off our neighbours deluded themselves that they were massive.
 
RammyBlade said:
Someone did write a book about the great man - cant remember who it was but I have read it and it takes in his managerial career in Portugal where he is a legend as well - I will try to dig it out and post the title
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The Jimmy Hagan Story by Roger Barnard (Illustrated, 1 Sep 2007) Paperback Paperback on Amazon at £6.95
 
Roger Barnard posts on here under a different name.
Alpine Blade is Jimmy's son.
Great read is the book even if you never saw Jimmy play and covers in detail his life after playing.
Well worth getting hold of a copy.

UTB
 
Kentblade said:
Roger Barnard posts on here under a different name.
Alpine Blade is Jimmy's son.
Great read is the book even if you never saw Jimmy play and covers in detail his life after playing.
Well worth getting hold of a copy.

UTB
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He does post on here, that's why Bert suggested to broomhillblade that somebody ought to write a Hagan book :)
 
There's an old saying " comparisons are odious " and it certainly applies with regard to JH and TC.

Yes, I've heard ancient farts even older than me coming out with stuff like " Currie wasn't fit to tie Hagan's bootlaces " and other such rubbish but you should remember that they also thought that 'proper ' football ended when they did away with steel toe caps and leather 'caseys'.

The fact is that on a good day ( and both had many of them) they were an absolute joy to watch and two of only three Sheffield footballers since WW2 to whom description 'great' can truly bee applied along with Joe Shaw.

I sympathise with those who were denied the pleasure of watching one or both of them but, as Blades, you should still be proud of this heritage.
 

Just want to thank ALL the people who have posted on this thread. Makes a son very proud to be a Blade. I am always amazed every time I go to Sheffield that so many people still have memories of my father. By the way, despite following my father's career through his management carreer, I am still a Blade and will be there on Tuesday for the Stoke match. Once a blade always,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
 
Isaw Joeshaw said:
There's an old saying " comparisons are odious " and it certainly applies with regard to JH and TC.

Yes, I've heard ancient farts even older than me coming out with stuff like " Currie wasn't fit to tie Hagan's bootlaces " and other such rubbish but you should remember that they also thought that 'proper ' football ended when they did away with steel toe caps and leather 'caseys'.

The fact is that on a good day ( and both had many of them) they were an absolute joy to watch and two of only three Sheffield footballers since WW2 to whom description 'great' can truly bee applied along with Joe Shaw.

I sympathise with those who were denied the pleasure of watching one or both of them but, as Blades, you should still be proud of this heritage.
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Walker £50M?

How much to buy Hagan or Currie?

Mindblowing.

P.S. We'd flog 'em for £3M and the board would walk round with hardons. :(
 
My favourite story my Dad told me was when on entering the Lane one Saturday afternoon he bumped into a pal of his who was a Wednesdayite. My Dad said to him "Na'then what are you doing here". His mate replied "I've come to see the master".
Speaks volumes of a player my Dad believes was the greatest ever to don the red and white.
 
alpine blade said:
Just want to thank ALL the people who have posted on this thread. Makes a son very proud to be a Blade. I am always amazed every time I go to Sheffield that so many people still have memories of my father. By the way, despite following my father's career through his management carreer, I am still a Blade and will be there on Tuesday for the Stoke match. Once a blade always,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
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Along with a few others I only have my Dad's thoughts on the great man, he started watching the Blades in the late 30's and whilst he loved the Currie/Woodward era he said that Hagan was the best English player he ever saw - he said his touch and control of the football was amazing, and as another poster has mentioned no matter how hard or high the ball came at him it was on a sixpence instantly - he also said Shaw was decent for a centre half ;);)
 
I used to have a picture postcard of a United 11 with Hagan's head on all 11 players. I cannot put my hands on it now. Anybody else remember it?
 
Like many others, my father always says Hagan was the best, much as he thought TC was a genius.

Having said that, my grandfather always said Billy Gillespie was the best and he saw most of United's greats including, as a young boy, "Nudger" Needham!:confused:
 
Bayingblade said:
Like many others, my father always says Hagan was the best, much as he thought TC was a genius.

Having said that, my grandfather always said Billy Gillespie was the best and he saw most of United's greats including, as a young boy, "Nudger" Needham!:confused:
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My dad was also a fan of Billie Gillespie, but he reckoned Hagan was the best.
 
I seem to remember seeing a team photo where JH's head is transposed on to every player. Cannot find it on the internet. I don't suppose anyone has a copy of it they could post on here?
 
Westbrook Blade said:
Along with a few others I only have my Dad's thoughts on the great man, he started watching the Blades in the late 30's and whilst he loved the Currie/Woodward era he said that Hagan was the best English player he ever saw - he said his touch and control of the football was amazing, and as another poster has mentioned no matter how hard or high the ball came at him it was on a sixpence instantly - he also said Shaw was decent for a centre half ;);)
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I can vouch for Sir James's ability to take badly hit passes with astonishing ease.

An abiding memory is of being on the John St. terrace with him right in front of me calling for the ball from Tommy Hoyland on a lousy pitch with a ball weighing about the same as a crate of beer. When the pass was delivered it was way to hard, about 18 inches off the ground and behind him, with a brute of a full back bearing down.

The great man simply checked his stride, leaned forward and back heeled the speeding ball over both his own head and that of the approaching thug. He then ran off the pitch to get round him and was there to trap the ball as it landed, and carry on as if nothing had happened.

Now THAT'S genius.
.
 
Isaw Joeshaw said:
I can vouch for Sir James's ability to take badly hit passes with astonishing ease.

An abiding memory is of being on the John St. terrace with him right in front of me calling for the ball from Tommy Hoyland on a lousy pitch with a ball weighing about the same as a crate of beer. When the pass was delivered it was way to hard, about 18 inches off the ground and behind him, with a brute of a full back bearing down.

The great man simply checked his stride, leaned forward and back heeled the speeding ball over both his own head and that of the approaching thug. He then ran off the pitch to get round him and was there to trap the ball as it landed, and carry on as if nothing had happened.

Now THAT'S genius.
.
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I must have been at that same match since I recall that stroke of magic. Even for Hagan, it was a bit special. As you say, he flicked it forwards over his head from behind, barely checking his stride. He had so many tricks, you never knew what he would do next. I recall one of his regular moves was to receive the ball along the ground, facing his own goal (often with an opposition defender marking him). He would flick the ball up and over his head, spin 180 degrees and then catch it on his foot as it came down, setting off towards goal in one movement, leaving the defender marking fresh air. He was already 30 when I first saw him, and maybe he was beginning to lose a bit of pace by then, so maybe he increasingly used to rely on his amazing ball control and bag of tricks. Once he had the ball under close control it was almost impossible for a defender to take take it off him without committing a foul. Few of todays' players seem to have that skill.
 

I've been supporting since 1959 and just missed the Hagan era, but as for the comparison to TC all I will say is that having watched various clips of Hagan's performances, one thing has to be accepted, those players were allowed far more time on the ball compared to when TC played, TC didn't have bulldozing cart horse defenders to deal with, by the mid seventies, they were athletic, brains not just brawn, it's impossible to evaluate how effective Hagan would heave been in the more modern game.
Just very proud to support a club that can produce two brilliant players who would grace anybody's best England 11 all time players.
 
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