Scotsman John White was one of the best footballers of 1960s. With skills for passing and ball control combined with his running ability, he could find space off the ball and arrive in the opposition penalty area unexpectedly, earning the nickname “The Ghost” among fans at Tottenham’s White Hart Lane. His career was cut short when in July 1964, John was struck by lightning and killed at 27 years old.

As well as playing for the Scotland National team (22 appearances and 3 goals) he was part of the 1961 Tottenham Hotspurs team which became the first in the 20th Century to win The Double (The Football League First Division; now the Premier League, and the FA cup) and a part of the 1963 team which was the first British team to win a European trophy when they won the 1963 European Cup Winners Cup Final against Atletico Madrid.

The Ghost of White Hart Lane is a one man play spanning John’s life and his son Rob’s journey to discover the man he never met. Taking personal and career highlights, out of time order, to explore from John’s humble beginnings, growing up in Musselburgh, just outside Edinburgh, through to football fame and his tragic death.

Sharing John's cheeky sense of humour, the play mixes intimate and unique moments with the human experience of grief and loss, comparing parallel times in both men’s lives, almost 30 years apart.

John White was posthumously inducted into the Tottenham Hotspurs Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Scottish Football Hall of Fame in 2005 and 2024 marks 60 years since his death.

The Ghost of White Hart Lane was commissioned by Rob White and is written by Martin Murphy, inspired by Rob’s Sunday Times best seller, The Ghost of White Hart Lane - In Search of My Father the Football Legend, co-written with Julie Welch.

The Ghost of White Hart Lane will play daily at 13:25 at Underbelly, Dairy Room for the Run of Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August.

https://underbellyedinburgh.co.uk/events/event/the-ghost-of-white-hart-lane

Scottish “Ghost” of football inspires haunting play at Fringe.

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