On 16th June 1982 England beat France 3-1 in their opening game of that year’s World Cup Finals. Bryan Robson scored twice, including in the opening minute, while in midfield Ray ‘Butch’ Wilkins kept England ticking over. England won all three of their group games but that was as good as it got. Two 0-0 draws in the 2nd phase saw them return home, not for the first or last time, empty handed.
One person who may well have been at home in England watching events unfold on his TV screen was Lloyd Maitland. Did he recall the night he lined up against a team that included Robson and Wilkins, and did he think about what might have been had events in his life taken a less unkind turn?
Lloyd had been part of a successful Huddersfield Town youth team and they reached the final of the 1973/74 FA Youth Cup. They lost the final over two legs to Tottenham Hotspur by an aggregate score of 2-1. The programme for the match against England (above) looked back with pride and a tinge of regret for what might have been: ‘About 15,000 people watched Town’s youngsters battling away for a first ever Youth Cup Final victory. What happened is now history but it’s worth recalling that the Cup went to White Hart Lane after two of the best ties this competition has seen.’
The programme goes on to explain the background for the match in prospect ‘custom being that the finalists of the previous year’s tournament face this season’s England hopefuls in a build up match for the Inernational Youth Tournament.’
Lloyd was still only seventeen at the time of the England XI’s visit, still over two months away from making history as Huddersfield’s first black player. He could easily have been lining up in the England team alongside Wilkins and Robson as he had trials with the England youth set up.
Lloyd’s life took a dramatic turn for the worse after the 1978/79 season. A prank played on him by some team mates went horribly wrong and they accidentally ran him over, crushing both his legs. It wasn’t just Lloyd’s legs that were shattered that day, any dreams he might still have had of playing for England were shattered too, indeed he never played professional football again and went on to earn his living as a plasterer.
Read the full story of Lloyd Maitland’s brief football career in ‘Football’s Black Pioneers’.