He was also named the inaugural Professional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year at the end of the 1972–73 season, and featured in the film Escape to Victory alongside many of his Ipswich teammates.

After retiring from playing he descended into unemployment and alcohol abuse, and contemplated suicide, before finding purpose once more and a new career in later life, as a football commentator on television and radio.

[5] The elder Thomas played amateur football as a goalkeeper and once had a trial with Aston Villa, but turned down an offer to join the club as he could earn more working for the Coal Board.

[6] After he was forced to give up work due to a back problem,[7] the family suffered financially and were often short of food,[8] leading to the young Beattie taking fruit and vegetables from local allotments.

[7] In later life, he recalled, "There was often only food on the table when Dad had backed a winning horse, or else won a game of darts, or dominoes down at his local pub.

[11][10][12] He left school aged 14, and subsequently worked as a machine fitter and delivery boy in factories, a warehouse, a dry cleaner and then a furniture company.

[13] At the age of 15, Beattie was playing for Blackfriars on Sunday and for a club called St Augustine on Saturdays, when he was spotted by a football scout and offered a trial with Liverpool.

[17] He also stepped in to prevent domestic violence between his parents: "I became extremely upset when I found out that Dad was spending the money that I had been sending home on drink and Mum was going without.

[21] Beattie was also part of the 1972–73 Texaco Cup-winning team, which defeated Norwich City 4–2 on aggregate over two legs,[21] and he was named the inaugural winner of the Ipswich Town Player of the Year award.

[21] He played in aggregate victories over Real Madrid (1–0), Lazio (6–4) and FC Twente (3–1), before the side lost on penalties to Lokomotive Leipzig, Beattie having scored his first European goal in the home leg.

[22] Early in the 1974–75 season Beattie was involved in mild controversy against Stoke City when his tackle at Portman Road broke John Ritchie's leg.

[32] Towards the end of the season, he began to suffer from severe back pain, something he blamed on an injury incurred as a child while helping his father carry sacks of coal.

[35] Beattie's season was prematurely curtailed by a self-inflicted injury:[36] stoking a bonfire at his home, he decided to add petrol; the ensuing flare-up gave him serious burns to his face and neck,[37] leading to him missing six matches.

[16] Before the injury, Ipswich were challenging for the league title, but, in Beattie's absence, the side lost four of their last six matches and missed out on winning the championship by five points.

[16] He played in 34 games for Ipswich that season, scoring 5 goals, and was selected for the PFA Team of the Year for the third time in a row, along with teammates Mick Mills and Brian Talbot.

[34] Beattie was fit to play by the start of the 1977–78 season,[38] but a knee injury sustained in a league match led to him withdrawing from the England squad to face Luxembourg.

[39] Having had three weeks' recuperation and a cortisone injection, he was restored to the Ipswich squad in time to play in the third round UEFA Cup home leg against FC Barcelona.

[42] Although Ipswich's form in the league was poor, they were safe from relegation by the time they faced West Bromwich Albion in the FA Cup semi-final at Highbury, a game for which Beattie was given the all-clear.

However, his defensive role in the two-leg victory over the Czechoslovakian team Bohemians, in the second round of the 1980–81 UEFA Cup, for which he was awarded man of the match, proved vital to Ipswich's season.

[66] Dropping into non-League football, Beattie signed for Barry Fry's Barnet, joining another ex-England international, Steve Whitworth.

[76][77] Collins was sacked early in the 2003–04 season,[78] and Beattie left the club, subsequently opting to coach school children in the United States.

[81] Beattie's senior England debut came under Don Revie, a starting role in a 5–0 victory over Cyprus at Wembley in April 1975, especially notable for Malcolm Macdonald scoring all five goals.

[86] Called up to represent England at under-23 level against Scotland under-23s at Pittodrie,[87] Beattie was "put on the right train by his manager Bobby Robson", yet failed to arrive in Manchester.

[16] Media coverage at the time ascribed Beattie's lapses to pressure; factors cited included his then four-week-old daughter, his rags-to-riches climb and a virus.

[86] Subsequent reports that he then missed training for Ipswich, allegedly preferring to stay in bed when passed fit by the club doctor, fuelled the story further.

[16] According to Groves, Beattie smoked 20 cigarettes a day for the duration of his playing career; he also missed part of pre-season for Colchester because he "strained too much" while defecating, resulting in a pulled stomach muscle.

[93] They married in 1974, and soon afterward she appeared in Radio Times in a "Footballers' Wives" feature; at that point the couple were still living in a "modest" club-owned house.

[95] His playing career injuries gave Beattie difficulties in later life: by the time he was 53 he was "unable to walk more than half a mile", owing to the arthritis in his knees.

[96] Former Ipswich and England player Terry Butcher paid tribute to Beattie, calling him "the complete footballer" and describing his left-footed shot as an "Exocet".

[84] A campaign for a permanent memorial to Beattie to be placed outside Portman Road, along with the existing statues of Robson and Ramsey, was started soon after his death by Ipswich Star and East Anglian Daily Times editor Brad Jones.