Many great keepers have been between the sticks at Manchester United over the years. The likes of Harry Gregg, Alex Stepney, Peter Schmeichel and Edwin van der Sar immediately string to mind. But none of those keepers have ever been catapulted into the spotlight as suddenly as David Gaskell.
On a late October night in 1956, Gaskell, aged 16 years and 19 days, became the youngest player to play for Manchester United, donning the gloves in place of the injured Ray Wood in the Reds’ 1-0 victory over Manchester City in the FA Charity Shield.
Gaskell, who had signed for United as a trainee a year before, wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near Maine Road, where the fixture was being played. He had spent his day as part of the Old Trafford groundstaff, sweeping the terraces and cleaning boots for first team players, including his housemates Duncan Edwards and Billy Whelan. The game was on TV, and Gaskell felt tired after a hard day’s work.
However, he decided to make the trip to Maine Road, and was rewarded with a most unlikely surprise. With Wood’s injury, Gaskell made his way onto the pitch, having borrowed a player’s boots. He ran past a bewildered Edwards, who had been covering in goal for Wood, and Edwards reportedly said: “What the f****** hell are you doing here?”
The game will be remembered more for Dennis Viollett scoring the solitary goal to hand United victory, but Gaskell also played a vital role, making several saves. After the game, he sportingly handed his winners’ medal over to the injured Wood, but his place in United folklore was secured. A year later, he was given a league debut in a 4-3 home loss against Tottenham Hotspur.
By the early 1960s, Gaskell had become a fixture in the United side, often going in and out of the team due to incumbent Harry Gregg’s numerous injuries. This allowed Gaskell some of the limelight, and the peak of his career would ultimately be the 1963 FA Cup Final, where he was in between the sticks for United’s 3-1 victory over Leicester City, giving Sir Matt Busby his first trophy since the Munich disaster in 1958.
And it could all have been a very different for Gaskell. His passport had been stamped with a visa for the trip to Belgrade for United’s European Cup tie with Red Star Belgrade, but with the signing of Gregg, the 17-year old was left behind and spared the fate of many of his teammates he had made his debut with. Edwards, Whelan, Roger Byrne, Eddie Colman, Mark Jones, David Pegg and Tommy Taylor all perished.
The signing of Pat Dunne in May 1964 meant that Gaskell was relegated to third-choice keeper. Despite both Gregg and Dunne leaving in 1966, the arrival of Alex Stepney and emergence of Jimmy Rimmer meant that Gaskell remained third-choice, and a loan spell at Wigan Athletic followed before he left permanently in the summer of 1969, having run down his contract while playing rugby for his local town Orrell on Saturdays. Spells at Wrexham and South African club Arcadia Shepherds followed before his retirement.
Gaskell made a total of 118 appearances for United, and remains the youngest-ever post-war player for the Reds to this day. He may not be the most famous of names, but he deserves some recognition alongside some of the great keepers that have stepped foot inside the Theatre of Dreams.
Comments.
Loading comments…