PLAYER PROFILE: Frank McLintock

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Frank McLintock MBE (Arsenal F.C. 1964-1973)[/u]


Frank McLintock - Inspirational Captain

Glasgow born Frank McLintock joined Leicester City from Shawfield Juniors in January 1957 at the age of seventeen. His debut for Leicester came in the 1959-60 season and during his seven seasons at Filbert Street he played over 200 first team games and won the first of his nine Scottish caps. Frank also played in the 1961 and 1963 FA Cup finals as well as the 1964 League Cup final but ended on the losing side in all of them. He was transferred to Arsenal in October 1964 when Billy Wright paid £80,000 for his services, this was a record at that time for a wing half and a club record for Arsenal.

What Arsenal had acquired was a very determined, gritty, attacking midfield player essentially right-sided who was always totally committed, totally passionate and who possessed fine all round ability. Frank had great stamina, was a very incisive tackler and a precision passer of the ball. In short he played uncomplicated football with a passion, a typical Scottish number wing-half if you like. If he had a fault it was that he wanted to make a contribution everywhere on the pitch and his eagerness to do so might cause him to leave an exploitable gap during his enthusiastic wanderings. But above all what Arsenal got for their money was the player who was to become the driving force that moved the Club forward from a long run of trophy free seasons to become a Championship winning side. However in his first three seasons at the club, Arsenal were a mediocre side at best despite that Frank was probably the one player who could be regarded as consistent.

When Frank was given the team captaincy in the 1967-68 season it fitted him like a glove. He was a driving force, a man who would not accept second best. He was so passionate about the game that he was prepared to come to blows with his own players if he thought they'd slackened or jeopardised our chances. Equally he was soon to become the ideal man to talk future young stars such as Pat Rice, Charlie George and Ray Kennedy through the game on their way up a fast learning curve. At the start of the 1969-70 season, disillusioned with the Club's lack of success, Frank requested a transfer but fortunately, for both himself and the Club, he was persuaded to stay.

I can't do Frank's captaincy justice in a short piece like this so if you want to understand more about Frank as captain I implore you to beg, borrow or steal a book entitled 'Proud to Say that Name' by Amy Lawrence. It's one of the best books ever written about Arsenal and what follows is a paragraph from her chapter on Frank: - Frank's love for team spirit was infectious. Being a born enthusiast and a man who doesn't require a telescope to aim for the football stars, he wanted the Arsenal unity to be the strongest football would ever see. Don Howe is unequivocal about the impact Frank made. 'You could put a lot of Arsenal's success in that period down to Frank. He created this we'll win this together mentality. Frank was an outstanding captain, a wonderful leader of men, a wonderful presence in the dressing-room.' His quest for glory nagged him with the overwhelming intensity of a drug addict aching for a hit, and he searched, relentlessly, for ways to satisfy the craving. Howe lived next door but one to Frank and every day they drove from Highbury together, thrashing out methods to get the best out of the team. 'He'd stamp off into his house and I'd stamp off into mine and the next morning we'd start all over again,' smiles Howe.

In his first season as captain he guided Arsenal to their first final since 1952 only to lose out to Leeds the League Cup Final. Things improved in the League for the 1968-69 season when we rose to forth place but once again McLintock suffered a League Cup Final defeat when we lost to lowly Swindon on a Wembley bog that had more in common with a ploughed field than the supposedly hallowed turf. This was a really tough defeat for us fans to take but it must have been a really low point for Frank, his fifth final and his fifth defeat. During the 1969/70 season Arsenal suffered a crisis in central defence after Ian Ure had moved to United in August. Don Howe solved the problem by making the outlandish suggestion that Frank should move to centre half alongside the stylish Peter Simpson. Frank wasn't keen on the idea and there were many who thought that at 5'10" he was too small for the job. Despite Frank's initial protest we got ourselves a first class born again defender.

The 1969-70 season saw Arsenal gain their first trophy in seventeen long seasons. During that time our local neighbours had been successful by their standards and we'd played second fiddle for far too long. Seventeen years without a trophy is an extremely long time, so it was a highly delighted crowd that chaired Frank around the pitch at Highbury after our Fairs Cup Final victory against Anderlecht. Those who were lucky enough to be there, and I was one of those delirious 51,612 fans, will tell you that it was the greatest night they'd ever known at Highbury. Even now over 30 years later I can still say it was the most stupendously wonderful night I've witnessed at Highbury. Emotional does not begin to describe it, for the first time ever at a game of football I had tears of joy streaming down my face.



Fairs Cup night - best night ever at Highbury

Frank's career at Highbury had yet to peak because even better things were to come in the 1970-71 season. Our Championship win that season was based on a solid defence, the best in the League, where we conceded just 29 goals in 42 League games. Frank played in every game that season the first 17 league games saw him playing alongside the dependable Welshman John Roberts at the back. When Peter Simpson returned from injury his partnership pairing with Frank formed a solid defensive foundation that was to last till the end of the season and yield two trophies. Simpson and McLintock were more than just defenders though; they both knew how to pass the ball and were equally comfortable breaking forward with it.


Arsenal's final run in for the Championship started on March 2nd at Molineux. In those vital last 13 games we took 23 points from the 26 available (two points for a win in the 70-71 season) and conceding just a miserly 4 goals in those games. It was a season where if we went a goal up the opposition might just as well have gone home there and then, because no way would Frank's team allow them to score. Especially at Highbury where Arsenal kept 17 clean sheets and were unbeaten in League matches at home for the entire season. McLintock was more than just a great defender and brilliant captain though. It's easy to forget that he scored three crucial goals, including the winner at Southampton during our Championship run-in that season. Our memorable win at White Hart Lane on May 3rd 1971 meant a lot to Frank, and despite a little matter of the Cup Final later that week Bertie Mee granted our heroes the night off to celebrate. Word is that Frank celebrated 'til five o'clock in the morning at a pub in Southgate.

Frank had yet to overcome his Wembley hoodoo and he must have been more than a little concerned to see his team go a goal down in injury time on a stifling hot day under the twin towers. Despite Arsenal's championship win Liverpool were still the bookies favourites on the day and the 31-year-old knew that there is a limit to the number of Wembley finals any player gets. Even when Steve Heighway scored to put Liverpool ahead in extra time we all knew that this Arsenal team hadn't made it this far to roll over and die, under Frank's command it just wasn't allowed. We knew we had a captain who could and would rally the troops. He did and we won the Double. So Frank finally got the chance to climb those Wembley steps and lift a trophy once he'd got to the top, that winners medal must have been well worth the wait. Having become only the second player of the century to captain a double winning side Frank was named footballer of the year for 1970-71, an award that was totally deserved.

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Frank went on to lead Arsenal to another Cup Final the following season, his sixth major final, only to lose to Leeds. In 1972 Frank was awarded the MBE for services to football and in 1972-73 he led us to second place in the League. But after nine years service to Arsenal he was surprisingly and disappointingly transferred to QPR for £20,000 in June 1973. Whether or not it was time to break up that team is still open for debate but his leadership was certainly cruelly missed. He went on to play for four more seasons, including the 1975-6 season when QPR were narrowly piped for the championship.

When he retired in May 1977 his career had spanned twenty years during which time he'd played well over six hundred league games. After a spell out of the game he had moderate management spells with Leicester and Brentford and was also assistant manager at Millwall. Frank has also worked in the media doing commentary work for both Radio 2 and Capital Gold Radio. More recently he's been seen regularly as one of the soccer pundits on Sky Sports television. If you've seen or heard him you'll know he's still very much an Arsenal man at heart despite his old mate George Graham being given the elbow.

If ever a pub debate amongst fellow Gooners turns to the greatest Arsenal captain ever Frank's name is well to the fore. Joe Mercer, Frank McLintock and Tony Adams would form many peoples short list I imagine and for my money Tone and Frank would both get to play in my all time Arsenal eleven. As for choosing between them for captain I'd rather not thank you very much. With two such focused and fervent individuals both born winners and born leaders I'd be happy to bottle it and leave them to choose between themselves. I'm fairly confident that it would be 15 rounds at least before either gave way.