📍Aberdeen, Scotland, UK
1940 – 1955“I was born in February 1940 at 6 Printfield Terrace, in Woodside, Aberdeen, the youngest of seven children, four boys and three girls, in a council flat. My father was a trawlerman, away at sea most of the time, and I never really knew him. We were poor: my father's suit went to the pawnbroker every Monday until he came home at the end of the week, and I had no shoes of my own until I was about twelve, wearing hand-me-downs after that. My mother was too proud to apply for the free school meals or boots we were entitled to. I had a terrible squint, and wore thick National Health glasses; I learned to play football with one eye closed. I went to Kittybrewster School and was offered a place at Aberdeen Grammar School, but I turned it down because they played rugby there, and went to Powis Academy instead. I played in the streets and parks of Woodside every moment I could, and when my teachers moved me from full back to inside left, I began to score goals. I was picked for Scotland Schoolboys, and a scout called Archie Beattie, whose brother Andy managed Huddersfield Town, sent me south for a trial. The Huddersfield staff could hardly believe it when a skinny, bespectacled boy arrived, but they signed me in 1955, and the club paid for an operation to fix my squint. Under Bill Shankly I grew into a player, and I went on to Manchester City, Torino and Manchester United, where I won the European Footballer of the Year award in 1964 and the league title twice. Aberdeen has always claimed me, and I was proud to come from Woodside.”
🗺️ Approximate location today
📍 Street view today