thats a great piece Tvoc ,thankyou

The other guy in the picture (carrying Shoey off) is Wally Smith the then colts u17`s coach I was playing for the intermediates u19`s at the time but we had no game that day so was in the southstand watching the game.

Mike had to reach for the line to score the try and Colin Dixon was coming across covering and made contact with Mikes head I think he was trying to kick the ball we will never know.

It robbed Leeds of a great player if not one of the greatest imho

RIP Shoey

Although too young to have seen Mick play personally, i find it very touching to read these such heartfelt comments from those of you that were old enough to have seen him play

R.I.P Mick

Mick was a class act, Shoebottom-Seabourne, Hardisty-Hepworth just drip off the tongue. What a great tribute to Sam that his is the first name you think of in association with Mick.

I was at the other end on the fateful day.

Shamful foul play by Dixon, we know immediately that Shoey was seriously injured.

Stand-off as my favourite position was inspired by Mick. He will be proud of how Danny Maggs has followed his great Leeds tradition

RIP Mick

my old man still waxes lyrical about shoey he reckons he was way ahead of his time, incidently in the book "shoey the lionheart" it says derek turner (leeds coach) and one of the toughest players to play our great game was in tears in the changing room. if you haven't read the book, i'd give it a go really well written by phil caplan www.amazon.co.uk/Shoey-Lionheart ... 0752432923

my old man still waxes lyrical about shoey he reckons he was way ahead of his time, incidently in the book "shoey the lionheart" it says derek turner (leeds coach) and one of the toughest players to play our great game was in tears in the changing room. if you haven't read the book, i'd give it a go really well written by phil caplan www.amazon.co.uk/Shoey-Lionheart ... 0752432923

Dixon was hated everytime he turned out at Headingley after that fateful day. The debate as to if his act was deliberate or not will always rage on. I for one thought he could do nothing about the try being scored and he could have avoided contact.

This incident was also, in my opinion the reason we lost at Wembley to Leigh - sod all to do with the magic of Alex Murphy. The team and club had its mind elsewhere. It also robbed the Great Britain team, the Leeds club and rugby league as a sport. When my dad told us that he would never play again, there were tears in his eyes. It was as if he had been killed. A terrible lost all round.

The only blemish on John Holmes playing career was when he got sent off against Hull KR at Headingley when he smacked Dixon. Personally, I think we all would have done the same.

Another snippet from the YP article that sums the man up

The incident cost Mick so much more than just his brilliant rugby career at the tender age of 26. It also cost him his trade (his livlihood in those part-time days) and his marriage as he turned from a happy go lucky type to someone who would suffer from fits of depression and as he remarked himself he was difficult to live with during his long, long recovery.

The broken jaw suffered in the 'accident' (as Mick called it) was a set-back but the relapse after he was discharged from hospital led to life-saving brain surgery that left him with partial paralysis and an inability to speak. The determination to recover and to play again drove him on. His first word after months of trying was 'bus'. You can only imagine how frustrating that must have been to a once supreme athlete at the top of his game. It kept coming out wrong but when he finally was able to say it correctly he marked it down as his number one success and proof to himself that he would beat it.

And he still dreamt of a return to the game before the specialists advised that such a possibility was beyond reason.

Mick Shoebottom - to me - Simply the Greatest.

Truly inspiring stuff TVOC, cheers mate.

I was privileged to be seated next to him at an ex player's dinner many years ago. At the ex player's dinner they give an annual award to one of their number. That particular year Mick was the recipient. His was truly humble but the reception he got from all those great player's in the room that night was very touching.

Sadly, I am too young to have seen him play.

He was the greatest to me, as well, and always will be.

1 May 1971 is etched on my brain as the darkest day in Leeds' history because it robbed us of the greatest player I've seen in blue and amber.

(I acknowledge and have no wish to minimise Chris Sanderson's death at Salford six years later but Shoey's immediate retirement and subsequent ill health affected everyone who had anything to do with Leeds).

12 months before his 'accident' (2 May 1970) Shoey scored 4 tries as Leeds defeated Hull KR 47-5 in a Championship semi-final at Headingley. On that day he was simply unplayable.

He then went on the Lions tour - one of three stand-offs alongside Roger Millward and Alan Hardisty (imagine that sort of choice now ?) - and switched to full-back for the deciding test which GB won 21-17 in Sydney. The footage of his long run to set up a try for John Atkinson is priceless.

Mick Shoebottom had every attribute and was the ultimate warrior. He was versatile enough to represent GB at stand-off, scrum-half, centre and full-back, would have prolonged his career as a loose-forward, never took a backward step, tackled way above his weight, feared nothing and was the heartbeat of a great Leeds team, loved by team-mates and supporters alike. What a loss !

you've explained a lot there.In the 80s early 90s on our way to away games we used to stop in hunslet to pick up amate who lived round there,and we used to go in The Red Lion[think thats the name]and Mick used to come in and sit alone in a corner very quiet,we all used to show respect acknowledging him saying "alright Mick, ow do Mick"but we did'nt force our way onto him.I remember seeing him smile as we were having fun,and taking the p1$$ out of each other,I have heard when he was healthy he was the most mischievous lad,so tragic!.I also attended they day they buried his ashes at Headingley,all the great player's of his era were there,including the successful 1970 lions capt Frank Myler,and of course his brother who was in a wheel chair,I remember Alan Smith spending a lot of time with Micks Brother at the ceremony.RIP MICK you were the greatest and a true lionheart

I agree with you. I never forgave Dixon because even if it was not deliberate, you just do not kick out at someone diving head first for the line in the hope you connect with the ball.

Wasn't it also Salford you were playing when the other lad sadly died in the early 70's?

yes it was 1977