Football produces unique characters. 

It’s hard to forget the image of Diego Maradona bouncing the ball from knee to knee with ease whilst the opposition blares - what was meant to be - intimidating music. Then there’s Roy Keane who stamped on Gareth Southgate’s stomach because he “tried” to break his leg. Whether you believe him or not, the point still stands. 

These are just a couple of the well-known personalities in the game. But some go under the radar. History fails to remember their antics as vividly as it might with a Maradona or Keane - yet, they produced stories worth telling for generations.

Is there anyone more fitting for that description than John Beck? Probably not.

A player, turned successful manager, with a unique and oftentimes confusing approach to football and life. His antics both on and off the field were, at times, questionable but there’s no doubt that they were hilarious.

Beck’s managerial success

It’s only fair to start with Beck’s achievements. 

Beck’s entrance to management wasn’t conventional; some might say this was symbolic of what was to follow. After a successful career as a player, with over 500 English Football League appearances for five clubs between 1972 and 1989, his career abruptly ended following an injury. His experience in the English top flight made him a desirable asset for lower-league clubs looking for guidance. As a result, he was almost immediately made assistant manager of Cambridge United, the last team he played for before his retirement. That season, as United sat mid-table in the Fourth Division, manager Chris Turner was appointed in January 1990 - allowing Beck to step up to the main role only after just a year. 

It was an extraordinary task for a new manager. Yet, Beck took the chance and ran with it, achieving success that was beyond the imagination of most, if not all, the U’s fans. 

From the offset, Beck implemented his unique, and somewhat frustrating, playing style - something that would plague his managerial career till the very end. He gave his players strict orders to play route one style long balls, and when receiving the ball in the middle of the park, players were instructed to distribute it through the channels. It’s fair to say that no one found this style of play attractive, and it went against the grain of Cambridge’s playing style. Some fans shunned the playing style, others were glad their team were winning. 

In his first season, during the 1989-90 campaign, Beck’s side won the Fourth Division playoffs and reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. It was an incredible achievement which caught the attention of the press, though Beck admitted in a Guardian article that, “This was where I made a mistake: I allowed [the press] access.” 

Despite the added distractions, success continued to follow United. In the 1990-91 season, they won the Third Division title and they proved their FA Cup run the previous season wasn’t a fluke by reaching the quarter-finals again. 

It’s not surprising that clubs began to take notice of Beck. He received inquiries from the likes of Leicester City, yet, he turned these opportunities down because he believed he could take Cambridge United to the First Division. It was of course a bold claim, but one that very nearly happened. 

After finishing fifth in the 1991-92 season, Beck nearly became the first manager in English Football League history to complete three consecutive promotions - if it wasn’t for their loss to Leicester City in the play-off semi-finals. 

While Beck remained a fan favourite, the heavy criticism of his style of play grew louder and louder following the defeat. This, coupled with the less-than-favourable start to the 1992-93, ultimately led to Beck’s dismissal and Cambridge United’s sharp decline. 

Only a few years later, Beck took over at Lincoln City. The club was in a dire state: Beck was the third manager appointed in under two months, and City were averaging just 2,488 attendees at the Sincil Bank. 

Bold as ever, Beck promised the fans that City wouldn’t remain out of the Conference. In his eye, the club needed a complete overhaul - to clear out the “dross” - before they could rebuild successful foundations. What this really meant was completely changing the club’s style of play and tearing up any skill or guile in the team that would be a detriment to Beck’s tactical approach. Ball-playing midfielders like Paul Walness were ousted for the likes of Steve Holmes and Barry Richardson, who were better suited to Beck’s style. 

Yet again, despite scepticism around Beck’s tactics and unorthodox style, there’s no denying that he built a side capable of staying in the Football League. City finished 8^th in the league that season, 24 points from the bottom. It was another successful season for Beck as he proved his managerial credentials. 

Gamesmanship and unusual antics

While he hasn’t received the same adulation as some that have come before and after him, it’s hard to deny that Beck was a visionary. He employed analysts to, in his words, “note every kick of the game”; and he was an early adopter of introducing fitness consultants who recommended the players warm up and down, and that they should take cold showers before the game to activate the central nervous system. 

But, this level of intensity fed itself into other areas of Beck’s life - both on and off the pitch. 

“I know I’m a good manager, but because my PR has not been good, I’m perceived in a certain manner and that’s why I’m out of football at the moment,” he reflected in 2003.

There’s no smoke without fire - and Beck’s controversial actions led to him being portrayed poorly in the media. 

He was known for his gamesmanship. His route one style of play was aided by tactically overgrowing the grass down the flanks to ensure the ball would hold up when his defenders swung speculative balls upfield. 

Sure, perhaps this was just a tactical advantage. Everyone does it. But what about the time that he moved the opposition dugout so that the manager was more or less unable to see the action? Or when he would make sure that the visiting side were given half-inflated balls, or sometimes rugby balls, for their warm-up. Or, in Simon Clifford style, when he painted the away changing rooms in bright pink as to throw them off before the game.

“If you ask some chairmen about me they will say, ‘John Beck? Oh yes, long ball, cold showers and dirty tricks.’ People only remember bad stuff. It’s all a load of cobblesticks,” Beck claimed in another interview with The Guardian.  

What’s interesting is that some of his weirder antics were actually in the home dressing room. He hung a picture of the controversial dictator Saddam Hussein to get the Cambridge United players’ blood pumping. It has also been alleged that he would get his players to kick the opposition’s changing room walls as they performed a war cry. 

Beck rustled some feathers during his time as manager. It’s no wonder that his favourite quote belongs to the American philosopher-poet Ralph Waldo Emerson: “To be great is to be misunderstood.”