A few more footballers caned at school:-
John Barnes caned at a strict Jesuits school in Jamaica, and Dwight Yorke in Tobago.
Also Viv Anderson, the first black footballer to play for England, ex Nottingham Forest, Man Utd, and Arsenal player, who went to Fairham Comprehensive in Nottingham. While he was still a Forest player, he visited his old school with a TV crew and some of the kids were able to ask him a few questions. One asked him if he was ever caned, and he replied “Yes, plenty of times”. This was shown on a Saturday lunchtime football show; I can’t remember it’s name.

Richard, where did you find out about Ian Botham? I don’t know about Tony Adams, but he is the right generation and temperament – he must have done. Nice thought! Just read your other text re. slipper or plimsoll. Good to know that there is someone else out there who has felt a real slipper on his arse – you’re right, it doesn’t hurt as much, but the sound is just as exciting!

Botham info from his autobiography. He is favour of the slipper alonmg the lines of “we got it, it hurt like hell but it kept us in line.”
Seem to remember hearing Glen Hoddle slippered by his Dad
And Nick Faldo’s dad was a military policeman with a pretty foul temper! Says it all?

Not a footballer, but a legendary cyclist from Texas who has won 5 Tour de France’s on the trot, and must be exceptionally fit, Lance Armstrong.His autobiography has recently been released, and he tells us that he was paddled by his stepfather fairly often and hard.

Botham – slippered at school
Alec Stewart almost undoubtedly slippered/caned – went to my school!
Chris Tarrant – caned in assembly / in front of whole school (on the backside)
Anyone know if Tony Adams ever copped it?

Richard, I believe that Ian Botham mentions that he was caned at school, not slippered. That probably happened too, of course, but I don’t remember any reference to it.

I’ll bet those old-time soccer players such as Dixie Dean, Nat Lofthouse and Stanley ‘the wizard of the weave’ Matthews were always getting caned for playing football behind the bike sheds. They wouldn’t have grumbled though, as long as they made the squad.

The magic of Stanley Matthews lives on at this forum. We have our own ‘Wizard of the Weave’ who writes under the name of …

G. Boycott described a scool caning he had for eating chips in the street. He said it was very painful and afterwards he sat in a washbasin full of cold water in the school toilets.

The composer Britten is quoted on the subkect of corporal punishment in his biography by Humphrey Carpenter. A few examples:

“I can remember the first time that I heard a boy being beaten…and to find that it was sort of condoned and accepted was something that shocked me very much.”

“You got beaten on the slightest pretext, with a hell of a palaver. For really extra special beatings the whole school was assembled…We always said that Sewell liked beating boys, but we were much too frightened to complain.”

He also wrote about his schooldays in the 3rd person in an essay, which includes: “He behaved fairly well…so that his contacts with the cane or the slipper were happily rare (although one nocturnal expedition to stalk ghosts left its marks behind).”

G. Boycott described a scool caning he had for eating chips in the street. He said it was very painful and afterwards he sat in a washbasin full of cold water in the school toilets.

I also sem to remember reading the liberal use of slipper at Botham’s school, and how he thought it a good thing!
Incidenatlly,Nick Faldo on his website describes in his Early Years section how he was frequently “in trouble…” eg Boy was I in trouble but I never got the chance to explain my side of the story to Dad!” Given his Dad was a military policeman from the East End there’s little doubt that the slipper or probably the thick belt were in regular use in the Faldo household. Good thing, I reckon! He’s a stroppy lad and I’d personally pay good money to give him a bloody good seeing to!!!

“Take down your trousers and we will cane your bare bottom. It really was like that in those days” Actor Patric McKnee describing Nivens'(and his own) school days in a recent television programe.
David Niven was born in 1910, McKnee must be about a dozen years younger, but they came from a similar social background an were friends an colegues in adult life.