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future Inter-Cities Fairs Cups would be contested by individual clubs from London instead.
    Cantwell only played one game in the tournament, and that was the final itself, and he did not feature in the first leg that ended 2–2, instead appearing in the 6–0 thrashing in the return leg. His future Ireland playing and coaching partner Charlie Hurley also featured in the tournament, playing in the group stages in a 3–2 victory over Frankfurt.
    Between 1953 and 1960 Cantwell made 245 League appearances and scored sixteen League goals for West Ham. His performances began to get noticed and such was his level of skill and versatility that he caught the eye of one of the greatest managers ever. Matt Busby knew a good player when he saw one, and in November 1960 he shelled out £29,500, then a record for a defender, to sign Cantwell. Manchester United were in a state of rebuilding at that time, following the tragedy of the Munich air disaster, but the club was slowly moving forward again.
    In a seven year spell with United, Cantwell made 144 appearances and scored eight goals, playing alongside some of the greatest players ever to pull on the red jersey, including Denis Law, Bobby Charlton and George Best. The highlight of his time with the club was undoubtedly the 1963 FA Cup final, the first trophy won by United after the Munich disaster, making it an important building block on the road to recovery. Leicester were the favourites to win the match, but he led the club to a 3–1 win. Cantwell himself acknowledged the turmoil of those times when he commented on the number of captains the club had had that season, but the Cork player was the man of the day and even had time to cause some ructions of his own when he hurled the famous FA Cup in the air.
    That win was a turning point for United. The season after, they finished runners-up to Liverpool, and they went one better the season after, winning the League. At that stage, though, Cantwell was not a regular starter on the side, only providing cover for Tony Dunne, Bill Foulkes and Shay Brennan. They won another League title in Cantwell’s final year in 1967, although by that point he was playing even less and only made four appearances during the Championship-winning season. However, such was his stature at United that in the season they won the League and Cantwell was on the periphery of the team, he still retained his role as club captain.
    THE INTERNATIONALIST
    Cantwell made his Ireland debut against Luxembourg in October 1953, and over a fourteen-year period he became a permanent fixture in the team, playing in almost every outfield position. He eventually took over the captaincy in 1957. He was a natural leader, and as Mick McGrath, the former Blackburn defender, points out: ‘Noel was a great public speaker and not afraid to tell the committee that ran the show what he was thinking. He would often have a natter with Joe Wickham, who was an official at the FAI, asking him, “How come we can’t have lighter shirts like the England team?” Our shirts at the time were very heavy, and it did not help on the pitch, especially if it was raining. But it was all about money – or the lack of it. It was the small things that needed changing. For example, the England players would get a cap a game, and we would get a cap a season. They would write the fixtures you’d played in on the cap. Noel highlighted this sort of thing on behalf of the players.
    ‘There were a lot of hangers-on in the Ireland set-up at that time. The committee was made up of the local committees from Limerick, Cork, Galway and Dublin. But Noel was great. He wanted to see some changes. We were frustrated with the old socks and shirts and the lack of tracksuits. He wanted us to be professional, and he pushed for what these days would be considered the basics.’
    However, it was on the field that he was most invaluable, proving to be surprisingly assured in front of goal for a defender. In the 1960