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BBC Programme Celebrates Brennan
Written by Newcastle Utd
The extraordinary story of legendary United defender Frank Brennan is to be aired on BBC One in the North-East on Monday night
The extraordinary story of legendary Newcastle United defender Frank Brennan is to be aired on BBC One in the North-East on Monday night as part of a special feature on the Inside Out programme.
The programme, which starts at 8pm, will explore Brennan's successful ten years as a player at St. James' Park and acrimonious departure from both the Magpies and professional game in 1956, before he is posthumously inducted into the Newcastle United Foundation Hall of Fame among some of the Club's greatest ever figures.
The powerful six-feet three-inches tall centre-half became a revered figure on Tyneside after making 349 appearances for the Club, lifting back-to-back FA Cup trophies as a Magpies player in the early 1950s alongside greats including Joe Harvey and Jackie Milburn.
While his on-field achievements had already propelled him into United folklore, it was the popular Scot's departure from the Club following an infamous dispute with then-owner Stan Seymour in 1955 that truly set his story apart, with Seymour unhappy that the player's local sports shop was competing with his own.
Almost 60 years on from Brennan being dropped for the 1955 FA Cup final and his subsequent departure from St. James' Park, his family - including son Jim Brennan - have made an emotional return to the home of the Magpies with the BBC to celebrate his life and to see him formally recognised in the Newcastle United Foundation Hall of Fame.
Kate Bradley, head of the Newcastle United Foundation, said: "The Foundation's Hall of Fame acknowledges those who have made an extraordinary contribution to Newcastle United Football Club and the city and, as the Inside Out programme will testify, Frank Brennan truly did that.
"His departure from the Club was a particularly unhappy memory for him and remained so for his family following huge successes on the pitch so we are delighted that his remarkable story is being told and to be contributing to it in the positive manner his memory deserves."
Inside Out is on BBC One in the North-East and Cumbria at 8pm on Monday and will be available online via the BBC iPlayer.
To find out more about the Newcastle United Foundation and how it is changing the lives of more than 50,000 young people and their families every year, please visit www.nufoundation.org.uk.
