Keighley boy capped by England gives back to home town

Hellawell published his autobiography The Impossible is Possible during the pandemic and held a talk at Keighley Library last month.

Here is his story...

Not many footballers can say that they traded the streets of Keighley for the international stage and some of the world’s largest football stadiums, but Mike Hellawell is one of them.

Now 84, he often reflects on a 16-year playing career that saw him play for some of the England’s most recognisable clubs.

Born in Keighley in 1938, Hellawell was educated at St Bede’s Grammar School in Bradford before beginning his footballing career playing for Saltaire.

And it was from Salts that the right winger began his professional career, when he was scouted to join Queens Park Rangers in 1955 at the age of just 17.

He made his debut for the R’s in their 1-0 win at home to Exeter City in Division Three (South) on February 25, 1956.

He went on to make 44 appearances for the club the following campaign, scoring seven goals in the process to earn himself a place in the Third Division South selection team against their northern counterparts that April.

By the end of that season, Hellawell was swapping White City for Birmingham City, where he spent the majority of his career, notching 30 goals in 178 appearances from 1957-65.

And it was while he was at St Andrew’s that he enjoyed the most success, most notably when the club reached the final of the 1961 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup - a two-legged affair that saw the Blues take on European giants AS Roma.

The Italians took a two-goal lead in the first leg in the West Midlands, before Hellawell pulled one back after 78 minutes and Welshman Bryan Orritt grabbed a late equaliser.

However, it was Roma who lifted the trophy after a 2-0 win at the Stadio Olimpico.

The following year saw him playing in another two-legged final, this time the League Cup, when City beat local rivals Aston Villa, following up a 2-0 victory with a goalless draw to claim the trophy.

That success drew the attention of England manager Walter Winterbottom, who handed Hellawell two England caps in the winter of 1962 alongside the likes of Ron Flowers, Sir Bobby Moore and Jimmy Greaves, who would later win the 1966 World Cup.

Sir Bobby Moore, who played alongside Mike Hellawell for England in 1962, collects the 1966 World Cup from the Queen.

His first appearance was against France at Hillsborough, a 1964 European Nations Cup qualifier, while the second was a Home International game against Northern Ireland in Belfast.

After eight years at Birmingham, he joined Sunderland in 1965, where he was collected at the station and taken to Roker Park by none other than Brian Clough.

While on Wearside, he made 44 appearances, before joining Huddersfield Town a year later.

He then went on to play for Peterborough United, before drawing his career to a close at Warwickshire-based non-league outfit Bromsgrove Rovers.

Not just content with a stellar footballing career, Hellawell also showed promise as a cricketer, playing one first-class match for Warwickshire.

Following his retirement, he worked alongside Steeton manager Roy Mason at clothing company Damart, with the pair striking up a real friendship.

Steeton manager Roy Mason struck up a close friendship with Mike Hellawell after the latter’s retirement from football, when they worked together. (Image: NQ.)

“Mike is one of the nicest and most unassuming men you could ever meet,” Mason explains.

“I met up with him in person again for a coffee and a good chat shortly before the pandemic, and I also gave him a Steeton scarf.

“It’s great to see him be very supportive of what the club is doing at Marley, and non-league football in Keighley as a whole.

“From memory, he is the only player from Keighley capped by England and I can’t believe that the town hasn’t recognised his career in some way.”

You can purchase Hellawell’s autobiography The Impossible is Possible online for £6.