Given his short spell with the Arsenal there is little out there about him but it is certainly a surprise to see even his wiki page is light on detail. An almuni of a West Ham side that was known as the academy for the number of thoughtful players and coaches it produced, Cartwright achieved little as a player but made a name for himself with his work at Crystal Palace. He also spent three years in the Middle East with Kuwait and were he to return there today would probably find the infrastructure little changed.
But it is his time with the Arsenal that is of the greatest interest. It was 1985 and we were going into our centenary season. Don Howe was the manager at the time having replaced Terry Neill in December 1983. Howe was reknowned as a coaching guru as well as an Arsenal man through and through and having seen the promise of a fine start to the 1984/84 season fade away to huiliation after humiliation, Oxford and York City away, he may well have decided to take a step back from the training and have someone else take up the slack.Cartwright was a well respected figure having worked with an exciting young Crystal Palace team that was dubbed the Team of the 80s and while I don't recalling having an opinion about him either way I was like other Arsenal fans willing to give him a chance. Surely if he was good enough for Don Howe?
1985 was despite my rose tinted glasses not the best of times for English football. Heysal and Bradford hung heavy in our memories and psyche and attendances were low as fans feared getting a kicking at a game was not worth the expense of a day out watching your favourite team. Not me. I was at the peak of my Arsenal match going experiences and when we played Southampton on a balmy Tuesday night at Highbury I carried with my cheese and onion sandwiches that blind optimism recognised by fans around the world at the first home game of the season.
In the match programme that night Don Howe introduced Cartwright to us all. 'Our new coach ...has worked very hard with the players in pre season training,' he says in his notes. 'His arrival has given me a chance to stand back and watch...John and I both want the ball played forward early, to build our attacks quickly so we can knock the ball around in our opponents half.'
In those days we didn't have Gary Neville or Arsenal Fan TV to tell us what to think but I remember feeling a little concerned. We had Charlie Nicholas and Tony Woodcock up top. Hardly the best duo to go long to. To be fair David O'Leary wrote in his autobiography he knew Cartwright wanted the teenage bean pole striker Niall Quinn to start the season up front but Howe was reluctant to drop either of the established pair.
It was a funny time at the Arsenal. We had experienced internationals like Nicholas, Woodcock, Graham Rix, Viv Anderson, Kenny Sansom, Steve Williams and Paul Mariner while younger players like Martin Hayes, Quinn, David Rocastle and Gus Caser were knocking at the door. Even from the terraces we sensed cliques in the dressing room.
Cartwright was given a page in that opening day programme to introduces himself to the faithful. He said he had been involved in a battle to change attitudes since he arrived as he called for getting the ball forward quicker. An interesting choice of words by the new arrival.
In the excellent Rebels For The Cause by Jon Spurling it seems Cartwright didn't take to kindly to the old pros and the players responded in kind. Williams called him a bastard on more than one occasion while Sansom also let rip after imbibing a bit more than he should have. Nicholas said he learnt 'bugger all' from the experienced coach.
David O'Leary, perhaps with an eye more on tact than headlines, said he got the feeling Cartwright would have been happy if Nicholas, Woodcock and Rix were never in the side. However Nicholas, for all his faults, was the nearest thing we fans had had to a terrace legend for years and the club were loathe to go against the support in that particular case.
While the old hands rebelled at Cartwright, the younger players took to him. Paul Davis had been a target for the boo boys in previous seasons, fans disappointed he hadn't taken over the Liam Brady mantle probably said more about our desperation for quality than Davo's own talents but he credits Cartwright with the turn around in his form. 'John has been a big help. He likes to talk to players individually and he gives you a lot of confidence about what you can achieve.' Can I claim some influence in Davo's return to form? That first home game I was in the heart of the North Bank and before kick off me and my mates started chanting 'Paul Davis Paul Davis. He looked up and waved. It was a chune that hadn't been heard for a while.
Treading the middle path, O'Leary said he found Cartwright a nice man 'but I think he made enemies. He told it as it was.' Davo and Rocastle both appreciated Cartwright's efforts he added.
At the end of November Cartwright was given another column in the programme for the Birmingham City game, a game where their keeper David Seaman played an absolute blinder. After spending the previous months telling us how important it was to get the ball forward quickly he was now saying it was time to build from the back! I was confuded. Now I admit my experience in the Frimley Subbuteo League and my less than legendary deeds on the playing fields of Aldershot and Farnham didn't really qualify me as a coaching guru but why change horses mid stream? why play long for two strikers who lacked aerial ability for four months then change your mind just like that?
Cartwright says it was the plan all along. 'Last season we'd been too complicated, he said (a dig at Howe?), I want us to have plenty of variety. But it was important we got the direct approach sorted out first - then start to play out from the back.'
'Sometimes you have to belt the ball quickly up front, Other times you need to play it around before you can create a gap.'
Such a big deal had been made about going long, why the sudden turn around? Admittedly he had been denied the only experienced striker with aerial ability for most of the season with Mariner injured much of the time, and Quinn was not felt to be ready despite him actually playing, and scoring, in the next home game.
The experienced players continued to be upset by Cartwright and his methods and it was reported some of then went to speak to vice chairman David Dein to voice their concerns. Despite being fifth going into the Easter games the club were reportedly actively looking for a new manager with Terry Venables high on their list. He however rebuffed their advances, annoyed at the way the club had gone behind Howe's back and in the programme for the Watford game a curt message from the chairman in the programme told us Howe and Cartwright had been released from their contracts.
At the end of the season Cartwright met O'Leary at the Football Writers' Association dinner. 'What was the point in staying? I knew I was on a hiding to nothing once Don went.'
Today Cartwright is involved with the British Council and still has a reputation for saying it how it is. His Arsenal entry on his CV is but a brief one but while he is thought to have upsent a few players all he was doing was starting a process that was continued by George Graham when he swept in to the marble halls ahead of the 1986/87 season. The old guard were on their way out. Reputations and high salaries were not enough to impress Graham and Woodcock, Mariner were gone before a ball was kicked in anger under the new regime.
Williams, Sansom and Nicholas didn't last much longer as Graham set about moulding a team around the bright young talents of Rocastle, Davis, Adams, Hayes and Quinn as he set about finishing the work Cartwright had started.
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