Crowd-pleasing old-fashioned winger with the Gunners
JOE HAVERTY, who has died aged 72, was an effective, popular left winger for Arsenal and the Republic of Ireland during the 1950s – a period when Arsenal’s pedestrian team badly needed a touch of colour. For his fans, as one bleak season at Highbury followed another, he was a kind of consolation.
Born in Dublin, he was an Ireland youth international and a member of the St Patrick’s Athletic team that reached the final of the 1954 Cup, after which he joined Arsenal in July 1954. The 1954-55 season had just begun when he was given his debut in the First Division at Goodison Park, a midweek evening match against Everton, in which his partner was another small, lively figure, Derek Tapscott. But he did not win a regular first-team place in his first two seasons at Highbury, playing just half a dozen games in the first and eight in the second.
They were, however, eight matches of some consequence, since he helped the Gunners to a strong late run, in which they gained 15 points out of the last possible 18. Already an Ireland youth international, he won his first full cap at the end of that season for his country against Holland. In all he would play 32 times for Ireland.
The fact that he was a mere 5ft 3in was no disadvantage to him. He became a regular choice in the Arsenal team of 1956-57, making 28 appearances, in which he scored eight goals. He was especially effective that October in the demolition of Manchester City, against whom the Gunners scored seven goals. In the following month in Dublin, he played his finest game for Ireland, delivering a coruscating performance against Germany, crowned by the scoring of Ireland’s decisive second goal.
He went on to play for Ireland in the World Cup qualifying competition in season 1956-57, against Denmark in October 1956 and twice against England the following May. But trouble with his back eventually affected his game. In the 1961-62 season he went north to Blackburn Rovers and there followed a long peregrination; to Millwall, Celtic, Bristol Rovers, back to Dublin at Shelbourne and Shamrock Rovers, finally playing in the North American Soccer League.
On retirement, he would, in time, become a scout for Arsenal, much valued by his compatriot Liam Brady, by then a coach with the Gunners.
Of Haverty, Brady said: “I used to watch him in the League of Ireland and the Irish team, from when I was about 10, to when I went to Arsenal, at 15. Other fans always tell me what a crowd-pleasing player Joe was at Highbury. He was an old-fashioned winger, small in stature but very quick. He really enjoyed his time at Arsenal and constantly talked about it. He was an excellent scout for us.”
In 2000, Haverty was inducted into the Football Association of Ireland’s Hall of Fame. For the Gunners, he played 114 League games, in which he scored 25 goals. His wife and three daughters survive him.
Joseph Haverty: born February 17th 1936; died February 7th 2009