Sport: What the papers said about . . . Danny Blanchflower

'Danny Blanchflower was a footballer who gave the impression that the game was a higher art form which would be so much better if only mud and wind, and running and tackling and sweating, were not necessary.' The Daily Telegraph

'It's too much to expect in our self- seeking times, but his vision of the Glory Game ought to be inscribed on illuminated parchment and displayed in every club.' Daily Mirror

'The captain, the leader, the slender Irishman who didn't kick a football but caressed it with tender loving care. It was the time of wing-halves and inside-forwards. No back fours as such or strikers. Just footballers in a team that would live with the finest in the modern game.' The Sun

'There was no room for ugliness in his generous world. He played beautiful football. He loved beautiful women. And when he strolled through the gate at the bottom of his garden and on to the fairways of Wentworth he took you along with such easy charm that you felt it was a privilege to lose money to him.' Daily Mail

'Alan Mullery . . . was one of Blanchflower's successors at White Hart Lane. He was just as much a man of his time. English football pines for another Mullery. Just what it would make of another Blanchflower is anyone's guess. But much of it would probably not understand what he was talking about.' The Guardian

'Liberated spirits deserve better than the bleakness that invaded Blanchflower's middle age. But nobody who saw him play or enjoyed the privilege of his company will forget what he was. A great player, a romantic. A disciple of the Glory Game.' The Independent

'Counter-balancing Nicholson's severe pessimism, Blanchflower eased his team . . . with a stream of upbeat jokes. If the ego was enormous, so was the gluttony for work. The wit was equal with ball or words - a veritable Wilde.' The Times

'They took a footballing God to that great stadium in the sky when Danny Blanchflower passed away yesterday.' Daily Star