|
Caps: 1 (of 18)
Goals: 0
Pat Saward never really enjoyed his time at The Den. Despite coming through the youth ranks, the young Irishman was targeted for abuse from certain sections of the crowd because his style of play didn't really fit in with the traditional "blood and thunder" approach that was expected. As a result, Saward divided the crowd - you either loved him or you didn't. It was a simple as that.
Born in Cork but raised in the South London suburb of Croydon, he made debut at the age of 20 during the 1950/51 season and quickly established himself as part of The Lions' first team. But his reluctance to go in hard with a tackle and his seemingly lazy approach alienated parts of the crowd who quickly nicknamed him "Eustace" after a cartoon character of the time called Useless Eustace. Such was the level of barracking that at one point manager Charlie Hewitt was forced to speak out in public, describing the fans' behaviour as "nothing short of disgusting".
However, his potential was there for all to see and he was an influential figure during The Lions ill-fated Third Division campaign of 1952-53, which saw the club miss out on promotion and the Championship by the narrowest of margins. The following season his performances were recognised at international level as Saward won the first of his eighteen caps for the Republic of Ireland in the 1-0 victory over Luxembourg. But despite his performances and many assists feeding an ever-grateful forward line, he was still being booed by the odd few.
Shortly after the start of the 1955-56 season, Saward was sold to Aston Villa. The club had originally put him on the transfer list in order to balance the books but the player was desperate to escape his mindless critics and the club accepted what manager Hewitt described as a "knock-down fee" of just £6,100.
Saward naturally flourished away from The Den and enjoyed life in the top division, where his talents found a more appreciative audience. He went on to star in Villa's 1957 FA Cup winning side before joining Huddersfield Town later in his career.