George Eastham obituary: One of England’s boys of 1966 who ended football ‘slavery’ – today’s players owe a debt of gratitude to former Arsenal, Newcastle and Stoke star

Big moments – they are what every footballer wants: to be part of glory and to leave fingerprints on the days that matter.

How George Eastham did that. With his short, blond hair and his slender shoulders, he was a beautiful player for Newcastle and Arsenal, one of the boys of that golden summer in 1966 who went onto score the goal at Wembley in 1972 that provided Stoke City with their greatest moment.

Eastham, a little box of tricks, will forever be associated with magic but it says everything about his remarkable career that winning the World Cup and League Cup are not the most important achievements in a career that spanned three decades.

It is not overstating things to say that every footballer who has kicked a ball professionally since 1963 owes a debt of gratitude to Eastham, who passed away on Saturday aged 88. He had plenty of big moments on the pitch but none were bigger than his moment in the High Court.

He triggered a seismic overhaul in the transfer system before Jean-Marc Bosman, who is often regarded as the game’s revolutionary figure, was a twinkle in his father’s eye. Eastham, an activist for change, had the determination to take on the authorities and the courage to see things through.

His legacy was defined by the fallout from a row with Newcastle in 1959. Eastham disputed that the house his club had supplied him with his habitable and the second job they had provided for him was unsatisfactory. There was a rule in place at the time that meant clubs paid a maximum wage of £20.

Eastham went to the High Court to push though a transfer from Newcastle to Arsenal in 1960

Eastham, who has died aged 88, was a little box of tricks and had a remarkable career

Eastham refused to sign another contract and, though there was interest from Tottenham, wanted to move to Arsenal. Newcastle refused to let him go, as they were able to retain his registration and didn’t have to pay wages if a player had asked to leave. Eastham had no intention of accepting it.

He went on strike and moved to London, were he sold cork and was getting paid more doing that than he was for Newcastle; they eventually relented and sold him to Arsenal in October 1960 but Eastham felt there was a case worth fighting and took it all the way to High Court.

‘I didn’t really anticipate that would happen,’ Eastham said in an interview with 6Towns Radio in 2016. ‘The PFA asked me if I wanted to carry on with the case, after I’d gone to Arsenal, because I think they were down to the last few bob with all the lawyers’ fees and what have you.

‘But I said: “aye, go on.” Payments from Newcastle stopped as soon as I went to London. “No play, no pay!” they said. It took a few years but eventually they decided it was restraint of trade. That was it.’

It was deemed that Newcastle owed Eastham £400 in unpaid wages and £650 in bonuses; the Judge, Mr Justice Wilberforce, deemed the “retain-and-transfer” system was a restraint of trade. And so change arrived.

When Eastham returned to Newcastle for a game with Arsenal, scoring an equaliser in a 3-3 draw, he was pelted with apples, as he recalled: ‘I saw all these fruit wagons on the way to the game. I soon found out what they were for when I took the first corner! I picked one up and had a bite!’

Eastham was a member of the England squad at the 1966 World Cup but did not play

He was a man with spirit – he lived in South Africa in later life and fought against apartheid – but he was also a man with talent. Born in Blackpool, he started his career at Ards in Northern Ireland and made his debut alongside his father, George senior, who was a notable player himself.

Arsenal provided the platform for him to gain England recognition; he won 19 caps and was selected for the 1966 World Cup squad but never kicked a ball in the tournament. That summer saw another move, this time to the Potteries, were he is remembered with huge fondness.

His name is commemorated on an avenue next to the Bet365 Stadium and rightly so, as his strike against Chelsea in 1972 took them to nirvana. Eastham was awarded an OBE in 1974 for his services to football. He did more for the game than many will ever truly know.