Ivor Broadis

Ivan Arthur "Ivor" Broadis (18 December 1922 – 12 April 2019) was an English professional footballer.

During a career spanning nineteen years from 1942 to 1961, Broadis represented Carlisle United, Sunderland, Manchester City, Newcastle United and Queen of the South, gaining 14 caps and scoring eight goals for England at international level. Broadis played at inside forward; after retiring from playing in 1961, he pursued a career as a football journalist. He was the oldest surviving England international footballer until his death in April 2019 at the age of 96.

Early days Broadis was born in Isle of Dogs, Poplar, London and attended Coopers' Company's School. During the Second World War he completed 500 flying hours in Royal Air Force Wellingtons and Lancasters, although he was never on a bombing mission. During the war he had guested as an amateur for Tottenham Hotspur among other clubs. It was at Tottenham that someone misread his real name (Ivan) as Ivor, and so he inadvertently became known henceforth as Ivor Broadis.

Club career

Carlisle United (first spell) At the end of the war Broadis was posted to Crosby-on-Eden. "Until after the war I'd never been so far north in my life, I thought I'd need a dog team to get up here," recalled Broadis. Broadis is the first manager to transfer himself to another club when he sold himself to Sunderland in January 1949. He consulted his wife before the move, as Blackburn Rovers were also interested. As Broadis told the BBC, "Carlisle got £18,000 for me. It was an incredible amount in those days".

Broadis continued to live in Carlisle, even after his move to Sunderland, and trained with Carlisle United under new manager Bill Shankly. One day Broadis arrived late for training. Shankly's version of what he said to Broadis: "What do you think you're doing? Who do you think you are? If you do the training we do you can train with us and we'll play five-a-side and you'll run your guts out as an example to everybody else". Broadis clearly enjoyed his time at Queens, later saying, "The two seasons I spent at Palmerston Park were the best of my career'. Broadis scored 20 goals in his 63 league games for Queens. Broadis' performances prompted the offer of a contract from top division Hearts. Broadis decided that he would end his playing days with Queens, however, before moving on to the next step in his career.

International career Broadis earned fourteen caps for the England national team, scoring eight goals. In both Broadis' England games at Hampden Park he played in front of crowds over 130,000. In his three games against Scotland (twice against future Queen of the South team-mate George Farm), Broadis was unbeaten (two wins, one draw). Broadis scored three goals against Scotland, all with Farm in goal for the Scots.

Broadis played at the 1954 FIFA World Cup. Playing in all three England games, Broadis scored two goals, both against Belgium. Broadis was thus the first Englishman to score twice in a game in the World Cup finals, 30 minutes ahead of Nat Lofthouse who also scored two in the same 4–4 draw. He was awarded the Freedom of the City of Carlisle on 8 October 2018.

Career statistics Scores and results list England's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Broadis goal.