Kevin McHale won the Totty Cup THREE times* (1949, 1950 and 1951) with Darfield Council school.
*We only know of one other player to win the Totty Cup 3 times – Roberts Griffiths – who was in the same team as Kevin McHale.
Kevin remembers that the school team were trained by Mr. S. Turton and Mr C. Wroe (not teachers, probably parents). They would sometimes train the team during the last hour of school on a Friday. The headteacher of the school was Kenneth Kilner – whose brother, Roy, played cricket for Yorkshire.
A notable teammate of Kevin at Darfield was Keith Rennie, who was later spotted by Blackpool and asked to attend a trial. Fellow Darfield lad, Gordon West accompanied Keith to the trial and was persuaded to fill in as a goalkeeper (he usually played as a forward). Gordon excelled in goal and had an outstanding career. More at https://tottycup.co.uk/gordon-west/
Kevin made it into the Don & Dearne representative team along with schoolmate and goalkeeper, Billy Brough. This team faced Liverpool SFA in the Quarter-Finals of the English Schools FA Cup at Denaby United. Kevin opened the scoring after 2 minutes before two of his team-mates were injured. This was before substitutes & the 9 boys battled to a 2-1 defeat to the Merseyside team that included Johnny Morrissey.
Whilst at Don & Dearne, Albert Clarke (as in Clarke Shield) took Kevin for an England trial at Birmingham. Kevin was selected as a reserve for England Schoolboys on 4 occasions. One of these was at Wembley, but an injury whilst playing for the Don & Dearne meant that Kevin was unable to attend. A plaque was sent to his school…
Whilst at Darfield Foulstone, Kevin recalls a big match on the ‘corner field’ where they beat a school team from Hull in a regional or national cup in front of about 2000.
Kevin wanted to sign for a team that would offer First Division football without being too far away. Huddersfield Town was the preferred option but they were relegated in 1956 after the Kevin’s decision had been made.
Kevin made his debut for the Terriers aged just 16 in a 3-0 home victory against Orient in a Division 2 match on 25th August 1956. Kevin broke the record for the youngest player for Huddersfield Town that had stood for over 50 years.
The next match was a 2-1 victory away at Leicester City and Kevin scored his first professional goal.
Kevin’s third match saw the 16-year-old up against England’s Johnny Haynes. A photographer captured a cheeky nutmeg from McHale.
On 13th October 1956 Kevin made the first of four England Youth appearances. This was a 2-2 draw against Switzerland at the Goldstone Ground, Brighton.
The most memorable England match was a 4-4 draw against Spain at St. Andrews, Birmingham. Kevin remembers hitting the bar in the last minute of this match with a shot from distance.
More detail on these England matches at the bottom of the page.
Before the year was out, a even younger player than Kevin arrived at Leeds Road. He had a slight build and wore wire-rimmed spectacles with a patch. This was Dennis Law – who Kevin was to strike up a ‘devastating partnership’.
After Dennis had had his ‘eye turned’ in hospital he made his debut on Christmas Eve 1956 at Notts County – beating Kevin’s youngest player record (held for just three months!) They were the youngest ‘wing pair’ in the Football League.
Formore detail on Kevin’s professional career, see his Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_McHale_(footballer)
England Under 18 appearances:
Credit: http://www.englandfootballonline.com/
13 October 1956 – England 2 Switzerland 2 [1-0]
Goldstone Ground, Hove (tbc) Connolly (2)
Wenger, Mafflolo HD England: M.Gibson, R.Feist, L.Ashurst, P.Redmond, M.Scott, B.Dellar, M.Connolly, J.Barnwell, K.McHale, D.Burnside, D.Dodson.
23 October 1956 – England 2 Hungary 1 [nk]
White Hart Lane, Tottenham (tbc) Setters, Bunce
Sztáni HW England: A.Collier, C.Beavon, G.Curtis, M.Setters, D,Lampe, J.Petts (J.Smith), R.Saxby, Peter Brabrook, K.McHale, A.Nicholas, F.Bunce.
26 September 1957 – England 4 Spain 4 [2-2]
St. Andrews, Birmingham (10,018) Sydenham, Jones (3)
Nanuco, Torre, Dean OG, Chuzo HD England: J.Dean, John Angus, G.Curtis, T.Caldwell, R.Holland, W.Houghton, K.McHale, D.Jones, I.Lawson, D.Burnside, J.Sydenham
15 October 1957 – England 4 Romania 2 [2-0]
White Hart Lane, Tottenham (8,819) Temple, Block (2), Bridges
Mateianu, Motroc HW England: D.Gaskell, John Angus, Tony Allen, D.Barber, M.Scott, K.McHale, Wilf McGuinnessᶜ, Derek Temple, Barry Bridges, Jimmy Melia, M.Block.
Don & Dearne School Football 