Terry Paine

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Born Winchester; March 23, 1939.

The name Terry Paine is synonymous within football with the virtues of loyalty, endurance and consistency. It is well documented that Paine set appearance records galore during his career, mainly with Southampton, but his story is notable for more than its’ sheer longevity.

Like many footballers whose careers’ reach the veteran stage Paine redefined himself as a footballer as he advanced in years. It could be said that the changes which occurred in Terry Paine the footballer mirrored wider changes which occurred in football as a whole around the same time. In the player these changes were necessary and welcome, allowing a wily craftsman to continue giving wonderful service at the top level well into his thirties. The general trend away from wingers towards more mundanely reliable midfield players in the game as a whole was not so agreeable.

Terry Paine was completely and utterly a product of Hampshire. As a promising youngster he played at inside forward for Hampshire Boys and represented Highcliffe Corinthians before moving to Winchester City, his birthplace, where he was moved out to the right wing. It was not long before the local lad was attracting the attention of Southampton and his seemingly predestined passage towards The Dell was promptly sealed by the clubs’ relatively new manager Ted Bates.

Bates would remain at the helm with Southampton for eighteen years, about the same length of time that Paine would stay as a player, and this early signing was perhaps the most important thing the manager would do for the club during his reign.

Southampton had become stuck in something of a rut in Division Three South when Paine arrived and the young winger was pivotal in helping lift the gloom. He made his debut a week before turning eighteen in a 3-3 draw against Brentford and then celebrated his birthday by scoring his first league goal in a 1-1 draw at Aldershot. Paine kept his place in the side until the end of the season and would never lose it over the next seventeen seasons.

There quickly became something of a buzz around The Dell. Along with Terry Paine the club had another exciting young winger on the left hand side in John Sydenham and the bold, confident duo were soon exciting the fans and attracting scouts from bigger clubs in equal measure. Initially Sydenham aroused most interest but it was not long before Paine became generally acknowledged as the superior player.

Sydenham was a dashing flyer whereas Paine, quick enough, was more astute and certainly more reliable in his use of the ball. He was also a far more consistent goalscorer than his wing partner. Between them the pair were a real weapon for The Saints and they certainly helped make a few reputations down at The Dell.

To be fair the club would also be blessed with some fine centre forwards during the coming years and the late 1950’s and 60’s became exciting, memorable times on the south coast. While the clubs’ achievements during this time stopped short of real glory Saints fans of the time were treated to a series of attacking teams which looked to make up for any defensive deficiencies by simply scoring even more goals. Paine would become the major creative force of all these teams.

The first players to benefit from the outstanding wing play of Paine and Sydenham were Derek Reeves and George O’Brien who plundered goals for the club over several seasons. In 1957-58 Reeves hit 31 of Southampton’s 112 league goals, still a record, although this total only brought The Saints a final position of 6th in Division Three South.

The following season the league reformed into Division’s Three and Four and it was the season after that, 1960-61, in which Southampton finally reclaimed a place in the second division as champions of Division Three.

Reeves hit 39 league goals that year and O’Brien 23 but it was Paine who was now very definitely the hot property at The Dell. His performances in tandem with Sydenham had brought them both to the attention of the national selectors and as the club moved up a division both would be capped at Under 23 level.

Terry Paine took to the second division like a duck to water and notched 18 goals as Southampton finished their first season back at that level in 8th place. He also marked his debut for the Under 23’s with the final goal in a 5-2 win over Holland as well as scoring in a fine 4-1 win over West Germany. At the end of the season Paine was also included in the Young England side which earned a 1-1 draw against the full England side in a game played on the eve of the cup final.

Here was a star not so much in the making as already arrived.

It was inevitable that Terry Paine’s performances would attract firm interest from the first division and it was early on in the next campaign, 1961-62, that matters first came to a head on the transfer front. Paine actually asked for a move and Arsenal moved in with a bid of £35,000. This was £10,000 short of Southampton’s valuation and before the situation had chance to develop the player had come off the list at his own request.

When Paine withdrew his transfer request there were rumours of interest from Newcastle and the rumours would recur over the next few years as the winger excelled in the second division and also progressed into the full England squad but Paine would never be as close to leaving The Dell as he had been in 1961 until his eventual departure in the summer of 1974.

No doubt Paine had a sense of loyalty to the club and was happy to remain in the county of his birth but the club also did their utmost to make it worth their mans’ while to stay put. It was reported that the club provided bonuses on top of the players’ basic salary that few others in the game were granted and they also helped him establish his several business interests which helped to tie him to the area.

Few players could claim to be as busy away from the game as Terrry Paine was. At various times his interests included horses, furniture, property, fruit and veg, a restaurant and to top all that he even went on to win a place on the local council.

What were the qualities that made Paine such a hot property on the field though? His overwhelming quality was consistency. Most wingers would blow hot and cold during a season. Many would be troubled by injuries. These problems never seemed to trouble Paine. He scarcely ever missed a game and seldom turned in a below par performance.

He was an out and out winger first and foremost. He was not lightening fast but was certainly fast enough to take on most full backs for pace. He was not the trickiest of dribblers but he had a fine turn of pace, was superbly balanced and could throw an opponent off balance at will with either a body swerve of drop of the shoulder.

Paine never needed more than a yard of space in which to deliver a centre and his crosses were invariably delivered at the right pace and height for his forwards to attack.

His goalscoring record also showed that he knew when to move in from the flank and confirmed an ability to make it count when he did so.

The Southampton team continued to develop around Terry Paine and the introduction of an exciting young centre forward, Martin Chivers, provided the fans with another ready made hero. The team was built to attack and while they found promotion to the first division elusive, goals were conceded at one end almost as fast as they were scored at the other, these were exciting, hugely entertaining times to be a Saints fan.

In 1963 Paine’s profile was raised once more as he helped his club to the FA Cup semi finals. Having put up with nine postponements before seeing off York City in the 3rd round Southampton went on to win a place in the last four where they were only beaten by a Denis Law goal for Manchester United at Villa Park.

The disappointment Paine must have suffered with this defeat was quickly softened as he was handed his first senior England start by Alf Ramsey at the end of that season. Paine provided crosses from which both Jimmy Greaves and Bobby Charlton scored in a 4-2 victory away to Czechoslovakia on his debut and he also featured in another excellent away win against East Germany.

Paine had made an impressive entry into the England team but he was unable to really cement a place in Ramsey’s side. Playing in the second division must have had some affect on his standing as an international prospect and the next three years, leading up to the World Cup in England, would have been difficult for the player.

There seems little doubt that Terry Paine was happy at Southampton personally and his loyalty was unquestionable. Professionally, however, his ambition to make the England World Cup squad would have been overwhelming. As Southampton failed to manage promotion on two further occasions Paine once again became the subject of transfer speculation. Tottenham were rumoured to be interested and it was reported that Sunderland placed a bid of £70,000.

Perhaps if Spurs had tabled that bid Paine might have been tempted to leave The Dell but it was hard to imagine him uprooting to the north east. Southampton rejected the bid and did everything they could to show their desire to keep their man. Once again Paine remained a Saint.

It was not just the fact that Paine was playing in the second division that made it difficult for him to nail down an England place. There was competition for places provided by the likes of John Connelly, Peter Thompson, Ian Callaghan and the emerging Alan Ball. Then, as the finals approached, Ramsey’s mistrust of wingers really began to surface and this made Paine’s position doubly uncertain.

Initially his international career continued to blaze a trail. Paine scored the opening goal in the highly prestigious game against The Rest of the World which celebrated the centenary of the Football Association. Following up a parried Jimmy Greaves shot Paine put England ahead on their way to a 2-1 victory. In the next game the winger showed his goalscoring instinct by netting a hat trick in an 8-3 Wembley drubbing of Northern Ireland.

This made it a record of played five won five for Terry Paine in an England shirt and he had shown up to advantage in every game. The next two games, however, seemed to make a far greater impression on Ramsey in his estimation of the Southampton winger.

The England attack struggled during a 1-0 defeat away to Scotland and then Paine came in for general criticism after a 2-1 home win over Uruguay.

Ramsey had made a change at centre forward for these two games with the mercurial Johnny Byrne replacing the bulldozing Bobby Smith. Byrne and Greaves made a quicksilver combination but they could make little of the string of centres sent over by Paine from the right flank.

Paine had been picked as an orthodox winger and played as one but was made a scapegoat when his centres came to nought. It was at this point that Ramsey seemed to begin to doubt the value of wingers in his team and Paine found himself in and out of the side from then on.

The highlight of Terry Paine’s other international appearances came in May 1965 when he scored the only goal of the game as England recorded a fine win away to West Germany but his place in the final World Cup squad remained a matter of speculation up to the last moment.

On the domestic front the 1965-66 season was another excellent one for Paine. He scored sixteen goals himself and his outstanding service from the wing helped the rapidly developing Chivers to a total of thirty as Southampton finally clinched a place in the first division as Division Two runners up behind Manchester City.

Despite Ramsey’s increasing reluctance to select wingers Paine had done enough to keep his place in the squad chosen for the 1966 World Cup finals and the Southampton man was therefore to be one of the twenty two men the whole of England was looking towards to bring them the glory they craved.

Paine’s personal World Cup was not particularly glorious. Having sat out the grim opening game, a goalless draw against Uruguay, he was chosen instead of Connelly for the next game against Mexico. Having been concussed early on the winger contributed little to England’s 2-0 win and was replaced himself by Ian Callaghan for the final group game with France.

Callaghan also failed to make an impression and was subsequently replaced by Alan Ball as the knockout stages got underway. Having got his place Ball would stay in the side for the rest of the tournament and there would be precious little opportunity for Paine or any other orthodox wingers during the rest of Ramsey’s tenure as manager.

Ironically Ramsey was forced into another change as the competition reached the quarter final stage as Geoff Hurst came in to replace the injured Jimmy Greaves. Hurst, a big, powerful forward, was someone who could have made use of any decent crosses but just as he came into the side Ramsey dispensed with his wingers altogether.

Although Ramsey’s “Wingless Wonders” went on to do the job in hand and gain England her one World Cup triumph the continued rejection of genuine wingers from the national side, and the trend it encouraged within the English game, was surely a bad thing in the long run.

Terry Paine had won nineteen caps as a second division player with Southampton but he would win no more as he began to ply his trade in the top flight.

Southampton were one of the clubs who continued to play their football in a carefree manner in the aftermath of England’s World Cup success and Paine’s wing play remained vital to their cause as they struggled to retain their hard won status.

To make full advantage of the fast, accurate centres Paine could be relied upon to supply The Saints signed another powerful striker to partner Chivers and the club scored a bullseye. Ron Davies arrived from Norwich City and took the first division by storm. Although Southampton had to battle against relegation all season in 1966-67 the Welsh target man was the top flights’ leading scorer with thirty seven goals. Davies proved himself worthy of comparison with the best ever headers of a football as he rose time and again above his markers to send Paine’s crosses goalwards.

Paine himself continued to provide his fair share of goals as well and chipped in with a vital contribution of eleven as The Saints narrowly survived their first season in the first division.

The following season was also a struggle and the Paine/Davies combination was even more important to the teams’ cause after Chivers had been transferred to Tottenham. The club had unearthed a fine youngster in Mick Channon to step into the departed forwards’ boots but it would be a few seasons before he was a real force.

Paine continued to dash down the right flank, taking all the punishment the opposing full backs could dish out, and whip over the centres from which Davies could inflict such damage. The centre forward scored twenty eight league goals the following season as Southampton again stayed clear of the drop.

Paine was now approaching thirty, however, and his advancing years, coupled with the tactical changes being widely implemented in English football, meant that it now suited Southampton to move the man who had become almost an institution on their right wing into a more central position.

Wingers were being cast aside all over the land but Paine was far too valuable an asset to simply dispose of. Although he had always fitted into the category of orthodox winger Paine had an astute footballing brain which allowed him to slip into the Southampton midfield without difficulty. He was still a creator but rather than making chances with his crossing ability he now began to open up defences with clever, incisive passes down the sides or in behind opposition centre halves.

The ease with which Terry Paine took to his new central berth placed an ironic slant on his removal from the England set up. Ramsey had ditched Paine for operating as an out and out winger as he lost confidence in wide players and looked to create a more solid, reliable team and now Paine was proving himself a player who could comfortably operate in both roles.

Although this style of play did not utilise the strengths of Ron Davies as much as playing wingers did the centre forward was a good enough striker to continue scoring regularly. The rangy style of Mike Channon was perfectly suited to the alteration, however, and he now began to really flourish. Channon would be the last in a line of great Southampton strikers who could be thankful to Paine for the consistent quality of his service.

The decision to move Paine inside revitalised the team and in 1968-69 Southampton not only had no relegation worries they ended the season in 7th place and thereby qualified for Europe. Having joined the club over ten years earlier when they were in Division Three South qualifying for Europe must have given Paine immense satisfaction and, by now obviously an ex international, the opportunity to perform on a wider stage would have excited him as much as any of his colleagues at The Dell.

The Saints made an unsteady start on their first European venture and only narrowly overcame the Norwegian part timers of Rosenborg Trondheim. They lost by the only goal in Norway but battled to a 2-0 win at home to go through with Paine scoring the winning goal.

Paine was also on target in the next round scoring his sides’ final goal in a dramatic 3-3 draw away to Vitoria Setubal in Portugal before the second leg was won convincingly 5-1.

This set up an all English third round tie with Newcastle but this ended in a frustrating defeat on away goals. Having held out for a goalless draw on Tyneside the Saints would have fancied their chances at The Dell but went out after a 1-1 draw.

On the domestic front Southampton were struggling once again and found themselves involved in another relegation battle. Despite winning only six league games all season the club managed to remain in the first division thanks to a large number of draws but the attacking philosophy which had dominated the clubs’ football ever since Terry Paine’s arrival was now completely cast aside as manager Ted Bates drastically remodelled his side.

In place of the open, attacking football, which had been such a feature at The Dell for over a decade, Bates looked to toughen up his defence and also brought several midfield enforcers to the club. Paine was still the man who was to provide the craft but the new look Saints were generally designed to graft with players like Jimmy Gabriel, Brian O’Neil and Hugh Fisher expected to provide the midfield energy while tackling anything that moved.

This shift in emphasis turned Southampton from one of the countries’ favourite sides, among the neutrals, to one widely branded as dirty. The changes didn’t seem to affect Paine who continued plugging away in the Saints’ midfield, always providing an outlet for his teammates and providing in turn the best of service into his forwards.

At first the more physical approach worked well for the club and Southampton qualified for Europe again in 1971. This time the club would fall at the first hurdle after being handed a tough first round UEFA Cup draw against Atletico Bilbao of Spain. After winning the first leg at The Dell 1-0 Southampton went out on a 2-1 aggregate and this would be Paine’s last taste of European football.

By this time Paine’s presence in the Southampton team was basically taken for granted. It seemed hard to imagine The Saints running out without him. Now well into his thirties he seemed as vital as ever to the clubs’ prospects with his neat, tidy and often penetrative passing, his motivational qualities and remarkable endurance. Paine continued to give and take the knocks and was rarely away from the hub of the action but continued to be available for selection virtually every single week.

Injuries, suspensions and loss of form were things that happened to other players but never, apparently, to Terry Paine.

By now basically every Southampton record had fallen to the evergreen Paine. He set new club benchmarks for appearances, goals and international appearances and while the latter two records have since been beaten his incredible total of league games is unlikely to ever be surpassed.

Paine’s time at Southampton, unfortunately, ended on a disappointing note. At the end of the 1973-74 season the club were relegated to the second division and their great servant was given a free transfer. At thirty five years of age the move was understandable but the very fact that the club would now be operating at a lower level suggested that they might have been better advised retaining his services for another year or two.

As it was Terry Paine was left with a total of 713 league appearances for the club. That’s an impressive enough statistic in its’ own right but consider this; from the time that Paine made his league debut for the club in 1957 to the time he was released in 1974 the club played 735 league games. Paine played in 713 of those. Incredible.

To miss so few games is remarkable for any player but for a winger who was quickly known by opponents everywhere as his clubs’ most influential attacker, and marked down for close attention therefore, it is an astonishing record.

After so much hard work, and with plenty of business interests away from football, it might have been expected that Paine would now hang up his boots and enjoy a well earned rest. This was not to be the case, however.

John Sillett, another product of Hampshire, was in charge of league newcomers Hereford United and recognised Paine as a player whose experience, not to mention ability, would be useful in helping the club come to terms with life in Division Three. The move proved to be an inspired one as Paine’s guile combined with the raw goalscoring prowess of another recruit, Dixie McNeil, to turn Hereford into a formidable third division side.

In Paine’s first season at the club Hereford managed a secure mid table position but the season afterwards the club carried everything before them as they blazed a trail to the Division Three championship. McNeil was the obvious star of the show with 35 goals but the classy composure of Paine still stood out as he patrolled the midfield and busily dictated play in game after game.

Albeit at a lower level McNeil was fit to take his place among the other wonderful strikers Paine had served with such distinction during his long career and these two years provided the fans of Hereford with many unforgettable memories.

Hereford’s rise to the second tier of English football had been rapid and the club was probably unprepared for the challenge ahead. Paine himself had reservations about his ability to move back up to this level at the age of 37.

There was talk of retirement but the club were keen for him to carry on. Paine played in the early games of the campaign, which brought only one win and a couple of fearful hidings, before announcing his retirement after the game at Southampton, an emotional homecoming which ended in a 1-0 win to The Saints, in the middle of October.

The club again persuaded Paine to continue and the veteran remained a squad member until the end of the season but he was unable to prevent the Hereford’s eventual relegation back to the third division.

Appropriately enough his final league appearance still came against Southampton as he played his part in a 2-0 Hereford win at Edgar Street but this time that really was it as far as Paine was concerned and a truly remarkable career had reached an end.

It is impossible to mention Terry Paine without thinking of all those hundreds of appearances and perhaps remember only the incredible staying power of a man who would have driven a team of Duracell bunnies to distraction and exhaustion.

It is important to remember at the same time that he was far more than someone who simply clocked up a lot of miles on the clock, however. Terry Paine was one of the countries most creative footballers for over a decade whose career spanned two very different generations of English football, both of which he was completely at home in.

First as a fast, tricky winger in the traditional mould he was an outstanding talent before becoming a midfield general capable of competing with the best as the game entered a new era.

All in all the local boy done good.

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