John Cartwright

John Cartwright (born 5 November 1940) is an English former professional footballer who played as an inside forward. He later became a coach. Career Born in Brixworth, Cartwright went to Parmiter's School in Bethnal Green. He was spotted by Wally St Pier while playing for East London and London Schoolboys and signed for West Ham United. He was part of the youth team that won the Southern Junior Floodlit Cup in 1956–57, and played in the 1958–59 FA Youth Cup Final, under the stewardship of Ted Fenton. He played in both legs of the Youth Cup final, which the Hammers lost 2–1 on aggregate. He had set up West Ham's first-leg goal, a long cross which Andy Smillie headed past Blackburn goalkeeper Barry Griffiths. Cartwright played in three youth international matches. The first was a challenge match against Luxembourg on 2 February 1957 at West Ham's own Boleyn Ground. He then played against the Netherlands in the UEFA International Youth Tournament on 14 April 1957, and against Ireland in the British Youth Championships on 11 May 1957. It was through Ted Fenton that Cartwright got into coaching at an early age, as Fenton encouraged all the players at the Academy to take their coaching badges so that after playing they had something to fall back on. He gained his junior coaching qualification in 1958, while still playing for the youth team. He added the senior qualification in 1961, the year he left West Ham. He had also witnessed the influence that players such as Malcolm Allison had had on team tactics and motivation, later describing it as "a form of communism at the club. The players really ruled it. In short, a dictatorship of the football proletariat".