A love for Sheffield Wednesday that rejected Eric Morecambe: the beautiful, tragic story of Mick Prendergast

It was the summer of 1972 and a handful of lads from Sheffield Wednesday had jetted off to Arenal for a well-earned off-season break having achieved a mid-table finish in the old Second Division.

Prendergast, a humble man devoted to Wednesday, the catholic church and the community of Denaby Main, made the call and returned to his friends.

He said nothing, but had the conversation prized out of him by those present. He’d spoken to comedy legend Eric Morecambe, then at the height of his fame.

Among those on the holiday was wide-eyed 16-year-old Dave Barker, a then-Owls trainee goalkeeper, whose heart skipped a beat at the sound of Morecambe’s name for two reasons; the celebrity of it and the fact he was then a director at Luton Town.

Telling The Star of Prendergast’s hushed phonecall, Barker said: “There were no mobile phones back then, but there had been interest in Mick from some southern clubs.

“Back then you had to queue in the street to use the phone, you had to chuck all your money in quick and punch in the number. He found one and Luton had offered £100,000 for him. He was speaking to Eric Morecambe.

“I thought that was it, he’d be going to Luton. But he carried on at Hillsborough.

“He was just a nice lad, a really funny lad, but he liked it at home. As soon as the game was over, that was it, he was on his way to Denaby.”

It’s an example of fierce loyalty to Sheffield Wednesday that comes up time and again as The Star speaks to a handful of friendly folk who knew Prendergast best. His story is one tinged with sadness and comes today on the tenth anniversary of his death at the age of just 59.

A battering ram of a centre-forward, his career was one plagued by injury, though that didn’t stop him scoring 59 goals in 207 appearances across nine years in some of the Owls darkest times, from 1969 to 1978.

Other instances of rejecting Chelsea and Crystal Palace are revealed, but all concede there will have been more; humble ‘Prendo’ made little fuss of his talents. As Wednesday tumbled down the league ladder, the offers were batted back with more regularity, each one as firmly as the last.

“There were some big clubs that came in for him, but he’d never tell you any of this,” said Paul Prendergast, a lifelong friend incredibly of no relation.

“I used to go and watch Wednesday with him when we were nine or 10 years old. We’d get the bus together and watch Ron Springett, who would later play at Mick’s testimonial.

“Wednesday came for him when he was 14 or 15 and there was no change in him. Even when he was playing well and everybody wanted to talk to him after a game, he’d stop and he’d talk to everybody, he was never big-headed. And he carried Wednesday for a long time.”

That influence on the Owls’ fortunes was never more keenly felt than in one of the biggest games in the club’s history, a Third Division relegation decider against Southend that ironically also came on this day in 1976. Prendergast scored and Wednesday stayed up by the skin of their teeth; another relegation would have been unthinkable.

David Sunley, Prendergast’s long-time strike partner along with Brian Joicey, remembers a wholehearted player who loved his club.

“He was a tough player and he had some very good skills,” he said. “But I can’t remember a season at Hillsborough that he didn’t have a nasty injury, they’d put him out for weeks. It cost him an even better career.

“Mick was the same in training as he was in a game. That’s part of the reason why he was always getting injuries. He gave everything.

“He was a happy-go-lucky person and he knew how lucky we were to be playing football.”

Those injuries took their toll. As the Owls became more dependent on key players Prendergast began taking injections to get his body through a blood-and-thunder lower league season. After a season spent hobbling around at Barnsley, he retired a broken man at the age of just 29.

His close friend and namesake Paul remembers feeling concern at the strain his body was taking.

“Towards the end of his career, you’d see him after games and to be frank he should have been in a wheelchair,” he said. “The next day you’d have to carry him. The next week, he’d get injected again and they’d play him.

“He was disappointed with the level of support he got after he stopped playing, he felt a bit let down. But he’d never talk about it. The family don’t go anymore and that’s a shame.”

Bad luck continued to cost Prendergast. Having gathered some money from two Wednesday testimonials and from the PFA, he bought a bookies in his beloved Denaby Main for £18,000. Two years later it was demolished in a compulsory purchase order and friends say he received less than £4,000.

He remained a well-known member of the community until his tragic death from an alcohol-related illness 10 years ago today. Over 300 people attended his funeral.

“There wasn’t anybody in that part of the world that didn’t know Mick,” Paul said. “His funeral was heaving, people were stood outside.

“We took turns to carry his coffin, everybody wanted to carry him. He was so well-liked. I miss him so very much.”