Jimmy Logan: How Notts County’s FA Cup final hat-trick hero finally got a headstone
Having started his career at Ayr, Logan turned out for clubs including Sunderland, Newcastle and Aston Villa in a colourful career.
But it was at Notts County where he reached his zenith, scoring regularly before his cup final heroics at Goodison Park.
“It was as if his entire career peaked on that day, that’s how it looks to me,” says author Dave Fells, who wrote the book Jimmy Logan: The Life and Career of a Notts County Legend.
“He scored goals wherever he went, but he was in and out, and he’d fall out with people. But on that day, it all just came together for him.
“When I read up on the Bolton players, they all seemed like big, strong boys and were not averse to chucking their weight around. It was hot and Logan and [Harry] Daft on the wing were very fleet footed and the other guys were suffering in the heat.”
Logan left the East Midlands after the cup success, but was tempted back when Loughborough came calling in 1896. It was during that 10-match spell for the Second Division strugglers when tragedy struck.
Loughborough were playing a double-header against Crewe Alexandra and Newton Heath, but arrived in Manchester for the second of the two matches to discover the kit was not there with them – forcing them to play in the street clothes they had travelled in.
The match was played in torrential rain, so the players were forced to go home in the same drenched clothes, with Logan developing a heavy cold.
He got off his sick bed to score in a 4-1 victory over Crewe to round off the season, but then relapsed and suffered with pneumonia, which eventually killed him.
Fells, though, suggests there was more than simply the illness at play.
“Going back to previous reports, sometimes when it said there was a fast-paced game, it was said that Jimmy couldn’t maintain his form or keep up, which suggested sometimes that he wasn’t fit enough,” he adds.
“I sent all the information I had to Professor Clyde Williams at Loughborough University, who specialises in sports science, and he said there were clearly a number of weaknesses in Jimmy’s cardiovascular system.”
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