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conceded, especially when the teams finish level on points. As both teams had won a game each it was decided that they would meet again in a play-off match. The play-off was to be held in a neutral venue – initially it was decided that the game would be played in London, but then it was decided to play the game in Paris. This move to Paris ensured that there were more Spanish than Irish in the stands, although the crowd had little bearing on the outcome. Ireland put on a credible show and came close, before losing 1–0.
    In all Cantwell won thirty-six full international caps for Ireland and scored fourteen goals. He made his final appearance for his country away to Turkey in a European Championship qualifier in February 1967. It was fitting that in his last game of international football for Ireland he scored a penalty in the final minute, although sadly for him he did not end his career with a victory, as Turkey won 2–1. The match also marked the end of Johnny Carey’s reign as manager.
    MANAGER
    During Cantwell’s time with West Ham, the club was a hotbed of future thinking, led by Ted Fenton. While his peers, managers and fans thought of Cantwell as a shrewd and intelligent footballer, he was not alone at West Ham, surrounded as he was by players who all understood how the beautiful game should be played.
    His time at West Ham was also the beginning of his integration into a group of players who were all destined to become managers. He played alongside John Bond and Malcolm Allison, who would later lead Manchester City to success, as well as Frank O’Farrell and Dave Sexton, who both went on to manage Manchester United.
    In those days, the coaching of the kids at West Ham was the responsibility of one or two of the senior players, most notably Noel and Malcolm Allison. In fact, the pair were instrumental in the development of a young Bobby Moore, encouraging the manager Ted Fenton to introduce him to the first team. Those early years allowed Cantwell to develop the skills that he would later hone at Coventry, where he helped to shape a squad of talented players.
    When training had finished for the day, Cantwell, Allison, Sexton and Bond would spend hours after training at a local café talking football and tactics, using the condiments of the café to work out their strategies. O’Farrell would also join them on their coffee trips, and he remembers this time as laying the foundations for their managerial careers: ‘I remember after training each day we would go to Casatori’s Italian café near the ground and talk football. This was around the time that the famous Hungarian national football team came to England and surprised everyone with their skills and tactical ability. Malcolm Allison was the main organiser of the get-togethers. He had done some national service with the English army and had seen the difference in the footballing skills between the footballers of Eastern Europe (where he was based) and their English counterparts. Dave Sexton, John Bond, Noel Cantwell and I would move spoons and salt cellars around and argue over tactics.
    ‘Ted Fenton, the manager of West Ham at the time, was very open-minded, and he would allow us to practise some of the tactics we came up with in training. In those days Noel was a very forthright character with a lot to say. He knew how to get his point of view across, too.
    ‘The conversations that took place between us were to inspire a golden period of entertaining football, with Allison the first to put his money where his mouth was when he inspired Manchester City to the League title, the FA Cup, the Cup-Winners’ Cup and the League Cup in a spell-binding burst of success between 1968 and 1970. Noel didn’t enjoy the same success as a manager. However, there was no doubting that he would get involved in management. In fact, the only surprise was that it was not with United, where he had ended his playing career.’
    Over the years, many observers of the game have