Frank Whitfield Beattie (17 October 1933 – 19 November 2009) was a Scottish football player and
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities ...
. He spent his entire senior playing career with Kilmarnock, making 422 league appearances between 1954 and 1972. He was captain of Kilmarnock when they won the
Scottish league championship
The Scottish League Championship (currently the Tennents League Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic rugby union league system within Scotland. Operated by the Scottish Rugby Union, the championship was founded in 1973 as the fi ...
Stirling Albion
Stirling Albion Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Stirling. The club was founded in 1945 following the demise of King's Park after World War II. The club currently competes in Scottish League Two as a member of the ...
.
Early life
Frank Beattie was born in St Ninian's,
Stirling
Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...
on 17 October 1933. He started playing football at an early age for his school St Modan's in Stirling, and later moved up to juvenile level with Dunipace and Cowie before joining Bonnybridge Juniors. During his short time at Bonnybridge, scouts from several Scottish clubs were looking at him, and, in October 1953, and just six weeks after signing for Bonnybridge, Beattie signed for Kilmarnock.
Kilmarnock
Brought to Kilmarnock by the then manager
Malky MacDonald
Malcolm MacDonald (26 October 1913 – 26 September 1999) was a Scottish professional association football, footballer and Manager (association football), manager, best remembered for his time as a Utility player#Association football, utility pl ...
, Beattie spent the first season playing for the reserve team. His favoured position was inside-left, but he first played for Kilmarnock in an unfamiliar role on the right of the attack during his debut against St Mirren in a
League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
tie at
Love Street
"Love Street" is a song performed by the American rock band the Doors. Sequenced as the second album track on '' Waiting for the Sun'', its lyrics were written by lead singer Jim Morrison and as with other songs, it was dedicated to his girlfrien ...
on 4 September 1954. This did not impact on his performance, because he scored the goal to give his side the lead at half time. The game ended in a 3–2 defeat for Kilmarnock and Beattie was dropped for the first League game of the season the following week. He made his Scottish Football League debut against Partick Thistle on 9 October 1954. Like the game at Love Street, Beattie scored the only goal of the first half but again Kilmarnock lost the game. He did do enough to keep his place in the team for the next two games, but struggled to stay in the team during his first full season. That was the only season that he played in a Kilmarnock team that was threatened by relegation.
At the start of Beattie's second season with Kilmarnock he was still not a regular starter, and played in only one of the opening ten League Cup and league games. When He did get his chance in the team he took it, missing just one of the 33 subsequent matches that season. One of the games he played in was Kilmarnock's victory against Celtic at
Parkhead
Parkhead ( sco, Pairkheid) is a district in the East End of Glasgow. Its name comes from a small weaving hamlet at the meeting place of the Great Eastern Road (now the Gallowgate and Tollcross Road) and Westmuir Street. Glasgow's Eastern Necrop ...
. Kilmarnock finished that season in 8th place, their highest position for twenty years. Beattie still struggled to hold down a permanent place in the team but this was mainly down to the fact that he was a very versatile player. It was only after the appointment of new manager Willie Waddell in 1957 that Beattie eventually nailed down a position in the team at right-half; after that switch of position, he never appeared in the forward line again.
In Beattie's first full season at right-half in 1959–60, Kilmarnock enjoyed their most successful season up to that point, finishing as runners-up in the Scottish Football League for the first time in their history, mounting a sustained title challenge, but eventually finished four points behind eventual winners Hearts. Kilmarnock also finished runners up in the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Rangers. For their efforts Kilmarnock were rewarded with a trip across the Atlantic to play in the International Soccer Tournament. Kilmarnock played very well in America beating
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...
and FC Bayern Munich en route to the Final where they were beaten by Brazilians Bangu. The following season they got the League Cup Final where once again Rangers stood in the way – Rangers went on to win the match 2–0 which meant that in the last six months Kilmarnock had finished runners-up in four competitions and Beattie had two losing finalist's medals. During this season he played a few games at left-half deputising for
Bobby Kennedy
Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, a ...
.
The following season Kilmarnock finished second in the league, just one point behind Rangers and were again rewarded with a trip to America to compete in the International Soccer Tournament, but this time was not as successful as before. With Bobby Kennedy leaving the club in the summer of 1962, Beattie was moved to left-half permanently. In the 1962–63 League Cup, Kilmarnock once again got to the final where the played Hearts, who took the lead midway through the first half. Beattie almost scored the equaliser but was denied by Gordon Marshall. With just thirty seconds left, Kilmarnock had a free kick which was floated high into the Hearts box where Beattie outjumped everyone to seemingly head home for an equaliser, but the referee had already blown for a free kick to Hearts. At the end of the season Beattie had managed to play in every single one of Kilmarnock's 52 games and also won the Player of the Year award.
Beattie was awarded with the captaincy in November 1963 and his first game as captain was against Rangers in the league which ended in a 1–1 draw. For the fourth time in five years Kilmarnock finished runners-up in the league, but this time they were allowed to play in Europe.
The 1964–65 season was the greatest season in Kilmarnock's history and Beattie played a key role as captain. The club was drawn against
Eintracht Frankfurt
Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...
in the
Fairs Cup
The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup, Fairs Cities' Cup, or simply as the Fairs Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. It is often considered the predecessor to the UEFA Cup (no ...
in their first ever European game (Eintracht had lost to Real Madrid in the final of the European Cup just four years earlier). Kilmarnock left
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
with a 3–0 deficit to overcome in the home leg. The game at
Rugby Park
Rugby Park, also known as The BBSP Stadium Rugby Park for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium situated in the Scottish town of Kilmarnock. It was first used in 1899 and is the home of Kilmarnock F.C. Rugby Park has also been used for co ...
was one of the most incredible matches ever witnessed in the ground's history: Kilmarnock fell further behind after just four minutes but by half-time they led on the night 2–1. In the second half ''Killie'' scored again and then leveled the tie on aggregate before scoring the winner with two minutes left to play. During the game the supporters invaded the pitch three times as the excitement mounted. Kilmarnock's run in Europe was ended by Everton. The next game they played after being beaten by Everton was against Rangers, which they drew 1–1 thanks to Beattie's only goal in his 53 games that season.
Going into the last game of the season, Kilmarnock still had a chance of winning the title but they would have to beat Hearts (who were top of the league) by scoring at least two goals and to not concede anything, because the league was decided by goal average instead of goal difference. The game was a tight affair but Kilmarnock took a 2–0 lead within thirty minutes, prompting Hearts to bombard the Kilmarnock goal; however the visitors withstood the barrage to win the title by one point. This also meant that Kilmarnock would play in the European Cup for the first time. Beattie became the first Kilmarnock captain to bring a national trophy to Rugby Park since Mattha Smith in 1929.
In Kilmarnock's first game in the European Cup, Beattie played at centre-half against Albanians 17 Nentori Tirana. Kilmarnock won the tie 1–0 on aggregate. In the next round they played Real Madrid but lost the tie. The next season was to be Kilmarnock's best season in Europe as they reached the semi-finals of the
Fairs Cup
The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup, Fairs Cities' Cup, or simply as the Fairs Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. It is often considered the predecessor to the UEFA Cup (no ...
, getting knocked out by
Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...
. The following two seasons Beattie played less and came on as a substitute for only the second time in his career in a match against
Raith Rovers
Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leagu ...
: Kilmarnock were down 4–0 at half time when he was brought on and by full-time it was 4–4.
Beattie broke Mattha Smith's club record for most league appearances by playing against Celtic; during the match he and
Jimmy Johnstone
James Connolly Johnstone (30 September 1944 – 13 March 2006) was a Scottish footballer who played as an outside right. Known as "Jinky" for his elusive dribbling style, Johnstone played for Celtic for 13 years, and was part of the 'Lisbon ...
collided just fifteen minutes in – Beattie broke his right leg. At the age of 36 most people thought that his career was over. Walter McCrae did not think so and signed him up for the following season. Even though Beattie did not feature that season he was awarded with a testimonial match. He made his come back from injury against
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in a reserves match. At the end of the season his testimonial took place, with Celtic the team chosen as opponents. The result was 7–2 to Celtic, with a young Kenny Dalglish scoring six goals. Beattie made his last appearance for Kilmarnock against Motherwell, pushing him over 600 appearances for Kilmarnock.
After his retirement, Beattie ran a newsagent in his home village of
Cambusbarron
Cambusbarron is a village in Stirling, Scotland. In the 2001 census, it had a population of 3,224. There is evidence of settlement at the site since the Bronze Age, and several forts dating from the Iron Age have been found near the village. One ...
. He took over as manager of local amateur side Cambusbarron Rovers in 1976, and two years later led the team to victory in the
Scottish Amateur Cup
The Scottish Amateur Cup is a nationwide knockout tournament supported and organised by the Scottish Amateur Football Association. The Scottish Amateur Cup is contested by hundreds of football clubs every year. The first and second rounds are re ...
.
Death
After suffering from Parkinson's Disease for 10 years, Beattie died on 19 November 2009 at the age of 76. During the
SPL
SPL may refer to:
Association football
* Saudi Professional League
* Scottish Premier League
* SportPesa Premier League, Kenya
* Singapore Premier League
* RoboCup Standard Platform League, matches between autonomous robots
Computing Program ...
match played between Kilmarnock and Hearts on 28 November, a minute's silence was held in his memory.Scotsman obituary the Scotsman
On Sunday 22 August 2010, ahead of the first home match of the season against Motherwell, Kilmarnock invited the family of Frank Beattie to Rugby Park to witness the renaming of the West Stand, to be referred to from then on as the ''Frank Beattie Stand''.
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1959–60
*
Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...