By Will Foster

There’s not many figures in the history of Luton Town who can link together Bobby Robson, Malcolm Macdonald, The Oak Road Shop and Diego Maradona. But then, Harry Haslam was never particularly ordinary.

He was born in Manchester in 1921 and began as a robust, attacking full-back in the Manchester United youth set up. He would join Rochdale as an amateur after the war and then embark on a short career in the Football League with Oldham, Brighton and Leyton Orient.

It wasn’t long before he’d moved into scouting and coaching. An early influence was England international full-back Jack Tresadern, who hired Harry as Chief Scout at Hastings United and who he suceeded as Tonbridge manager in 1960 after Tresadern’s passing.

Sandwiched between this was a spell as manager of Barry in the Welsh League, where Haslam was perhaps most famous for signing a handful of Nordic internationals who were looking for games before the 1960 World Cup.

At Tonbridge, inspired by his time at Old Trafford, Haslam set about replicating the Busby Babes youth model. He inaugurated a Juniors and Colts side which quickly signed up 40 local players from the strongest youth teams in the area. It was no surprise therefore that it was Haslam called by Knole Juniors’ George Piper with word of a 17-year-old full-back that was worth a look. Haslam agreed, and signed the young Malcolm Macdonald for Tonbridge in time for the 1966/67 season.

A left-back, Macdonald’s route into the first team was blocked by Vic Akers, who would go on to play for Cambridge and Watford. ‘You’ll play right back son,’ Haslam would tell his new player, ‘that’s your position for the new season. If you don’t like it, tough. Look at it this way – I’m teaching you to kick with your right foot!’

Harry’s importance in the career of ‘Supermac’ cannot be understated. He became a friend of the family, telling Malcolm’s Mum, ‘I’ll try everything in my power to get him in as a full-time pro, and then we’ll see how it goes.’ For his part Macdonald was happy for Haslam to guide his career, including the suggestion of trying out a few games in the forward line!

Haslam would remain in charge at Tonbridge for 522 games over eight years before taking up the role of Chief Scout at Fulham in 1968 under a young Bobby Robson, himself taking a first real job in management. He took Macdonald with him to Craven Cottage, though the time in London would prove to be miserable for all three. Haslam would leave when Robson was sacked after only 10 months in charge, and soon Macdonald found himself frozen out after getting himself on the wrong side of club legend Johnny Haynes.

It was Harry that Macdonald would call for advice when he became desperate to leave. Haslam’s advice was simple, if somewhat risky. He told his protégé to demand a meeting with chairman Tommy Trinder and say, ‘if you don’t let me go, I’m going to stick Johnny Haynes up against a wall and beat the living daylights (a less polite word was actually used) out of him.’

The plan worked. And as it happened, the club most interested in Macdonald was Luton, where Haslam had joined Alec Stock’s backroom staff! The meeting to obtain his signature was delayed after Stock’s car suffered a puncture, hence the reason for Haslam arriving in a grease covered shirt after changing the wheel at the roadside.

In Alec Stock, Haslam had found a kindred spirit – one similarly unafraid to challenge conventional football wisdom. Harry’s first role at Kenilworth Road was suitably unusual  – ‘Entertainments Manager and Chief Scout’ – and he was based in what was then known as the ‘Luton Town Sports Shop’ on the corner of Oak Road. He took both parts of the job very seriously and was at the forefront of a number of commercial initiatives, such as the Hatters’ Club and the Bonanza Girls hired to sell raffle tickets.

These were good times at Kenilworth Road. Buoyed by the financial backing of Tony Hunt, who’s V&G insurance company was booming thanks to the novel idea of offering ‘no claim discounts’, and by the goals of a certain Malcolm Macdonald, Town were promoted into the 2nd Division in 1970. In the background Haslam was starting to make an impression in the scouting side of his job too, his signings including a 19-year-old from Hendon by the name of Peter Anderson.

However, being Luton, turmoil wasn’t far away. Following a 1-0 win at Portsmouth in April 1971 news began to break of a collapse in V&G shares. It would result in the resignation of Tony Hunt and the club being placed in recievership. Forced to sell his best players, including Macdonald, Alec Stock soldiered on for a year before the toil on his health became too much and he resigned with a a single match left of the 1971/2 season.

Fortunately the club had a seemingly perfect replacement in house. At 51, and after years in the non-league game, Harry Haslam was going to become a Football League manager at last.

Below: Haslam joins the club in 1969, flanked by Len Hawkins (left) and Alec Stock.