John Edward Thompson "Jackie" Milburn (11 May 1924 – 9 October 1988) was an English football player principally associated with Newcastle United and England, though he also spent four seasons at Linfield.

However, Wayman was dropped before a 4–0 defeat to eventual winners Charlton Athletic in a 1947 FA Cup semi-final and when he afterwards vowed not to play for United again, manager George Martin made the decision to switch Milburn to centre forward.

Despite his achievements, Milburn was reportedly a very shy and self-deprecating individual, whose modesty further endeared him to Newcastle United supporters,[6][11][12] though according to Tom Finney, this stemmed from an "innate inferiority complex".

[28] Milburn left school at fourteen and, telling his father that he was too claustrophobic to follow him into coal-mining, he found employment stacking shelves and filling sugar bags on eight-shillings a week, after an abortive spell as a pantry boy in London.

Milburn, along with his old schoolfriend Ronnie Coulson, began entering local sprint races to earn money,[32] clocking a 9.7 second personal best for the 100 yard dash.

[34] Milburn continued to play football for the Air Training Corps and, told one afternoon that a scout from Newcastle United was in attendance, he duly scored five in an 8–3 win.

[37] Milburn's team of fellow trialists ('The Stripes') played against a Newcastle United First XI featuring Albert Stubbins and Jimmy Gordon ('The Blues').

[38] The Sunday Sun reported that "United's second trial proved a triumph for Milburn, the Ashington inside-left, who was signed as an amateur earlier in the week.

Seymour, elated, invited everyone to the West End Club for a celebratory drink, later exclaiming that "I had secured my finest ever signing for ten quid and a couple of rounds of Newcastle Brown Ale".

[43] Milburn started at inside-forward in the number 10 shirt and later recalled that this was "the most memorable moment of my career, even those Wembley victories can't match it.

[44] A return fixture was played against Bradford City at St James' Park on 4 September 1943 and Milburn scored his first ever goal for United – with a left-footed strike inside the opening two minutes of a 3–2 win.

[45] Milburn publicly declared that he had no qualms with his move, stating that "I must make it quite clear that for the thirty shillings I receive per match...I consider Newcastle have the right to play me in any position".

[60][61] With Milburn deployed on the right wing supplying crosses for Shackleton and Wayman, United lost only three league games from the start of the season to Christmas Eve 1946 and led the table.

However, three consecutive defeats over the Christmas period checked their momentum and during the extremely harsh winter of 1947 Newcastle's form noticeably dipped and they fell out of promotion contention.

[70] Despite defeat at Charlton Athletic in the FA Cup[72] and the controversial sale of Shackleton to Sunderland in February,[73] a Milburn goal to beat Bury 1–0 in March kept Newcastle in third place.

Milburn later explained that he had been swayed by his international colleagues to believe that "big money could be made...outside of soccer if I moved to another club...on reflection, I realised what a foolish young chap I'd been".

[83] However, despite signing Bobby Mitchell and George Robledo in January 1949 and Milburn's continued good form (including a hat-trick at Aston Villa in a 3–2 win), United were knocked out of the FA Cup in the third round by Bradford Park Avenue and their title hopes were effectively ended when eventual champions Portsmouth left St James' Park with a 5–0 win on 6 April.

[89] Milburn was top-scorer once more with 18 league and 1 FA Cup goals and, according to Joannou, "he now had become accustomed to the centre-forward's trade, looked the part...and had become the countries new rising star".

[90] Milburn's goalscoring form, which included a hat-trick in a 6–0 win against Huddersfield Town, helped United to a ten-game unbeaten start to the season and took them to the top the table.

United recovered with four straight wins but when they travelled to White Hart Lane to face second-placed Tottenham Hotspur on 18 November they were beaten 7–0 and manager Martin resigned.

However, when Seymour told his players in the dressing room after the semi-final win: "whatever happens, you fellows who brought us this far will play at Wembley", he inadvertently encouraged a malaise which destroyed Newcastle's title chances.

However, five minutes into the second half Robledo played a through-ball to Milburn who broke the offside trap, raced clear and sidefooted home to put United 1–0 up.

[109] After a fractious pre-season which saw several players sold,[110] United began the 1951–52 season in very good form despite Milburn missing several matches due to pulled leg muscle.

[112] When fit again, Milburn asked to be selected for the reserves so as to not disturb a winning side, later explaining that "I thought it unfair that the forward line should be changed to accommodate me and Mr. Seymour accepted my request".

In a match described by The People as "the cup-tie of the decade",[105] Milburn scored what author Younger later called "a stunning hat-trick"[107] in helping United to a 4–2 win.

After the victory against Spurs in the 4th round of the cup, United played 16 further league games and accumulated 11 points; Sunday Times reporter Arthur Appleton recalled that: "The BBC asked me to record the sound of a Newcastle goal being acclaimed by the crowd.

[131] According to author Dylan Younger, he also acted as 'an unofficial advisor to Newcastle managers', including forming a close relationship with former teammate Joe Harvey.

It featured a host of stars including his cousins, the famous World Cup winning brothers, Jack and Bobby Charlton, and the great Hungarian player Ferenc Puskás.

The statue was 'found' in the garden of the sculptor who had created it, Tom Maley, who had held it after it was returned to him by Newcastle United to cast in bronze – an arrangement which was cancelled when the club was sold to Mike Ashley in 2007.

He was also the subject of a 53-minute documentary, "A Tribute to Jackie Milburn: Tyneside's Favourite Son", produced by Tyne Tees Television, and later released in 1989 by Video Gems on VHS.