My years living in Ipswich coincided with Beattie's best seasons. He was definitely the best English defender I ever saw. He had no weaknesses in his game. He had to retire very early because of injury, and then - as is so often the case - he went off the rails for quite a while.
Things then improved again for him, and he has been a regular contributor to local radio in the Ipswich area. He died at the weekend, aged only 64! Very sad.