Entertainment For Lively Minds
Can you still name your favourite football team 1 - 11?
If I can be allowed a football moment. I was watching Scotlands dismal performance this afternoon and was taken back to the early 70's when as a very young child I abandoned England and followed Scotland. Probably because England weren't very good but mainly because of Peter "Hot Shot" Lorimer of my team, Leeds Utd and his reported 70mph free kicks. It was when I fell in love with football, it was a time when the same 11 played every week in numbers 1 to 11. There were no "niggles in the groin" that kept them out for weeks, loyalty was a given and the managers really were the bosses and woe betide players that stepped out of line. Maybe I'm having a rose tinted glasses moment but MY Leeds Utd team was a proper football team and lined up like this. Can you remember yours?
Sprake (1)
Reaney (2) Madeley (6) Hunter (5) Cooper (3)
Lorimer (7) Bremner (4) Giles (10) Grey (11)
Jones (9) Clarke (8)
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Can still name (give or take the odd error)
The Cup Final Winning Teams (and runners-up with minutes thought) from 1970 to 1986)
England 66 (who can't? (unless you're not English and/or have no interset in Football))
My own team - Reading - can pretty much do from about 75/76 to present day.
Maybe I should've got out more as a kid, rather than revising the Encyclopaedia of British Football.
Got the same "midly autistic" thing with Number 1 singles and albums (this was due to the constant reading & re-reading of The Guiness Book of British Hit Singles & Albums)
Sadly, I can also do Iron Maiden catalogue numbers (up to about 1990).
Oh to have a team like this now!
Horn (1)
Joyce (2) McCarthy (6) Evans (7) Chambers (3)
Banks (5) Glavin (4) McHale (10) Barrowclough (11)
Parker (8) Aylott (9)
Yes
But surely, Dave, they lined up
Sprake
Reaney Cooper
Hunter Madeley Bremner
Grey Giles Jones Clark Lorimer
My team too
but i always think of Madeley as sub Charlton as centre half (5) and Hunter as outside left (number 6). Also I preferred Harvey to Sprake.
Harvey
plus Jordan, Gray, McQueen, Bremner, Lorimer - all Scots.
A Man Utd team of the 70s could have included Buchan, Morgan, Law, Albiston, Houston, Macari, as well as Jordan and McQueen - all Scots again.
We didn't lose 3-0 to a Welsh second eleven in those days!
Six foot two, eyes of blue...
plus, big Jim Holton, of course
I nearly went with Harvey
as he was also Scotlands keeper in the '74 World Cup and for some reason this image from my sticker album is etched firmly on my memory. Sadly he was slightly later than Sprake along with Joe Jordan, Gordan McQueen and Frank Grey.
David Harvey is now a postie in Orkney
This is a good documentary about the 1974 Scotland world cup team - possibly the best team to ever leave these shores....
A pedant writes
It was more likely to be:
Sprake (if you must)
Reaney Madeley (wearing 5, but more likely to be Charlton) Hunter Cooper
Bremner Giles
Lorimer Gray (with an 'a')
Clarke Jones
Norman Hunter almost always wore number 6. Lorimer played on the right, and Eddie Gray on the left.
I know, I was there.
me too
seems to be a few of us about.
Were you there for this?
Barry Davies as well, perfect.
I bloody was
Brilliant. Only a week or two after we stuffed sc*m (sorry, Man U) 5-1
Sprake
Was always worth watching; you never knew when he was going to throw the ball into his own net.
Scouse wit
Apparently he did this once in front of the Kop; they responded with a chorus of "Careless Hands"...
Defending
While not wishing to decry the attacking skills on display, some of that defending was woeful wasn't it? My lad's U11 team do better week-in, week-out.
Another pedant intercedes...
My recollection is:
1 Sprake (later it was Harvey)
2 Reaney / 5 Charlton / 6 Hunter / 3 Cooper
7 Lorimer / 4 Bremner / 10 Giles / 11 Gray
8 Clarke / 9 Jones
Super sub: 12 Madeley "He was the Rolls Royce of players, he could play in absolutely any position" Don Revie.
The main squad also included Mick Bates and Rod Belfit, but they were generally only used if one of the above was unavailable. Later on others came into the side, such as Trevor Cherry, Terry Yorath, Joe Jordan and Gordon McQueen.
All of the above were international players.
At their peak they were a simply sublime football team. Just watch the link to the legendary thrashing of Southampton above.
I was talking to my father a couple of years ago about that match and he claimed to have been there. However I clearly remember watching World of Sport with him that afternoon - the football scores came up at the bottom of the screen while the wrestling was on. Jackie Pallo and Mick MacManus were tying each other in knots...
"Simply sublime"?
I would tend to side with Cloughie's estimation.
leeds 70s
Leeds were my favourite team - but my favourite player was with one of the biggest rivals, and out-Madeleyed even Madeley - he could be a 1-11 all by himself, because, if I'm not mistaken, he did actually take to the field at various times in every single shirt and position, including the goalie's. And he was ... ?
Brian Greenhoff?
Manchester United's Mr Versatility? He certainly played up front and as an emergency keeper once or twice. And did he not end up at Leeds after falling out with Dave Sexton?
utility men
That's not who I'm thinking of - blimey, maybe there's a lod of them. Maybe you could make up a 1-11 of players who actually played 1-11.
He might only wear one number,
but the current champion is surely John O'Shea, who has played in every position for Manchester United, including goalie.
Leeds in the 70's
i love leeds fans
It's odd
If you watch any football from the 70s the tackling, and fouling, is just fearsome, and yet clubs were able to field the same eleven almost every week.
To take one example, the treatment Kenny Dalglish used to take was terrible, yet he hardly missed a game.
Compare to nowadays when rotation is the norm, and players miss games with what would have been considered in the 70s to be just a knock.
Of course they did inject them with cortisone at the drop of a hat in those days, but is there more to it than that?
Tackling etc
A couple of years ago I read that a modern referee had watched reviewed the 1970 Chelsea/Leeds Cup Final.
By his estimation, by the end of the game there would've been about 5 players left on the field
Mainly in white shirts
I can hold a grudge.
Chelsea fc
A lot of leeds here it seems. Anyway i was too young for all that. Here is the super chels before we got REALLY good, I don't know how the Irish are so upset, we were very stoic about
the Champions league this year.
Heres our 88/89 promotion side (5-3-2)
1. Roger Freestone, (we bought Dave Beasant in Jan, spending money even then, eh!)
2. Steve Clarke
3. Tony Dorigo
4. Graham Roberts
5. Super Ken Monkou-player of the year.
6. Super Joe McLoghlin, i know we might overuse the super, but it suits our accent and Frank really is.
7. Peter Nicholas
8. John Bumstead
9. Kerry Dixon
10. Gordon Durie
11. Kevin or Clive Wilson
99 points 96 goals, hah!
Money
Players in the 60s and 70s needed their appearance money and their win bonuses because their basic still wasn't huge, even after maximum wage.
Nowadays, players agents rarely, if ever, bring up the subject of bonuses at initial contract meetings. It's all about the basic. So if you dont play, you dont get hurt in the wallet.
I suspect
Ryan Giggs will have a greater chance of being able to walk when he turns 60 now, than if he had played in the 60s.
The tempo is much higher today than it was in "the good old days", so I suspect the players of yesteryear wouldn't be able to play as many games today.
Fair point but
pitches are better - no Baseball Grounds any more - training is more scientifc, nutrition is better, no tackling from behind, no hard men a la Smith / Hunter etc, travelling is easier.
A lot of squad rotation is down to keeping players happy by giving them a game sometimes amid those huge squads. Why do they have such huge squads? To stop other teams getting good players and being a threat. In "the good old days", guys who are happy to pick up a fortune for not playing at Villa, Everton etc would have needed to play to earn their money. They would have gone to play for the teams that were mid-table, raising their standards and pushing them closer to the top teams. They might not have been able to beat Liverpool overthe 42 game season, but they could beat Liverpool on the day, and that might have cost Liverpool a title.
Your point re Giggs is absolutely spot on. My work brings me into contact with a lot of former players from the 60s, 70s and 80s and the state of their health is appalling. The numbers with knee, hip replacements, with deeply knackered backs etc is awful, injuries they've carried since playing days. That's what came from playing with injuries numbed by cortisone. That those days are gone is one of the real plus points of modern football.
Isn't it just the number of games nowadays?
I wouldn't be surprised if Wayne Rooney plays at least twice as often in a "normal" season as Bobby Charlton ever did. To reach the Champions League final last year, Manchester United had to play nine matches. The team that won in 1968 got there in only four.
And most top teams are now made up almost exclusively of internationals, with national sides also playing twice as often as they used to.
Bobby Charlton
started 57 games for Manchester United (one of 7 seasons where he started more than 50 games for United) and 11 for England in 1969/70. He was 32 at the time.
Wayne Rooney started 39 and made 10 subs appearances for United last season and played 9 England games. Rooney is 24.
Er...
The 1968 European cup final was Manchester United's ninth game.
They beat Hibernian, Sarajevo, Gornik Zabrze and Real Madrid, all over two legs, and Benfica in the final.
Oops
It should be eight/ten to reach the final, you're quite right.
But I'm a bit puzzled, then. It's always the "punishing schedule" that is blamed for so many top players being injured so often. Is it because of so many more international games? Or could it be that our memory of "legs of oak" Roy of the Rovers players of the past that is playing fast and loose with the facts, especially with strikers? I see Denis Law was fit to play barely half the matches in two of his seasons at Old Trafford ('67-'68, missing both the European Cup semi-final and final, and 69-'70). In both cases it was a recurring knee injury that had plagued him since 1965. Peter Osgood at Chelsea, and Jimmy Greaves at Spurs - famously missing the '66 World Cup - also missed at least dozen or so matches in one or two seasons at their peak.
Thanks for the correction, anyway, Inky.
Nostalgia
I suspect our memory tells us things were tougher/harder than they actually were. I re-watched the 1986 Cup Final last night, and there was barely a tackle worthy of the name in the entire 90 minutes - the players certainly stayed on their feet a lot more than they do today.
Compared to today's game it was also incredibly slow, and I'm sure twenty years previously it was slower still - to the point where you probably could play for an entire season whilst not 100% fit. I doubt that's possible today.
"Whilst not 100% fit"
If you ask pretty well any player, past or present, about being 100% fit, they will tell you the only day they were / are was the first one of the season. If you only played when you're 100% fit, you'd maybe get 5 games in a season.
I'm sure you're right
But I suspect you could be more injured in the good old days and still play - especially with all those cortisone injections.
Not entirely sure
The game was slower, but so were all other sports. Just because the Olympic 100metres in 1976 was so much slower than Usain Bolt doesn't mean those sprinters weren't at their absolute maximum. Same is true of football, it's just athleticism has moved on so far since then.
The emphasis on pace nowadays means far more strains and muscle injuries than in the past perhaps, but back then, contact injuries tend to be a lot more fearsome.
As I've said elsewhere, the big difference is money. You simply had to play back then to make your money. Cortisone was the gateway to making that happen. Sadly, the long term impact has been dreadful for so many.
"back then, contact injuries tended to be a lot more fearsome."
That's the bit I'm really not convinced by - to me that feels like nostalgia. Everyone seems to accept that rugby players get injured more these days because they're more professional/fitter/bigger/faster/stronger, so I wonder why the same wouldn't apply in football? Going by the '86 final - which may not be typical, of course - the game was much less physical than it is today. Much less.
But you sound like you're in a better position to judge than me - and I'm basing my "theory" on a one-off ninety minutes.
Changes in the laws of the game
The dramatic changes have made a difference, especially getting rid of the tackle from behind. That was the one forwards feared, I'm told, because they weren't braced for impact, and they couldn't do anything to get out of the way.
Equally, it was a lot harder to get booked or sent off in the 70s for instance - there was hardly ever such a thing as a straight sending off. Defenders knew it, so they would regularly commit gratuitous fouls to scare the cente forward to death, knowing they wouldn't get dismissed, or even booked a lot of the time.
Football may be more physical now in the sense that there are more tackles at greater pace, but nowadays there tend to be a greater proportion of fair tackles - at least in intent - because of the consequences of the early bath. Pro footballers tell me that it's not the ferocity of the tackle that does the damage, it's the way the tackle is made - over the ball, studs up, the angle you come in at, the intent. There was a lot more deliberate fouling back then because you could get away with it, hence contact injuries tended to be worse.
Cup Finals as a whole tend to be a poor reflection of the way the game generally was. It tends to be played in warmer weather, on a Wembley pitch that did sap the energy because it was only used about a dozen times a season in those days, teams tended to play more slowly to conserve energy and, back then, they were generally on their best behaviour as this was the only club game that was ever screened live and it was the season's showpiece.
Saying that, I'm going to completely go against that argument by telling you to get hold of the 1970 Cup Final replay and see if you still think it was less physical.
Greaves did not miss
the 1966 World Cup through injury - he missed the quarter-final and semi-final with injury but was fit for the final, and it was generally assumed he would return to the team. Ramsey decided that Hurst fitted the unit better and took the decision to persist with him. Smart move as it turned out.
Strikers, by and large, are the ones who have always suffered more injuries, in part because they're the ones who get the real physical treatment from defenders, but also because they tend to be the ones who play on the edge, they're the quicker ones, often the slighter ones. Just as sprinters tend to break down more often than middle or long distance runners, so are strikers more prone to strains, hamstring injuries etc because of the nature of what they do.
Equally fashion has a part to play. Remember the broken metatarsal craze of a few years back? Largely down to the fashion for boots that didn't protect that part of the foot properly. Boot manufacture has moved on again and so you get far fewer of those these days because the problem has been addressed.
When I were a lad, I'd get my dad to tell me about
the Liverpool teams of the 60s and 70s:
Lawrence, Lawler, Byrne, Milne, Yeats, Stevenson, Callaghan, Hunt, St. John, Smith, Thompson.
Clemence, Lawler, Lindsay, Smith, Lloyd, Hughes, Keegan, Cormack, Heighway, Toshack, Callaghan.
Clemence, Neal, Kennedy, Thompson, Kennedy, Hansen, Dalglish, Case, Johnson, McDermott, Souness.
Thanks to squad rotation, and Rafa's inability to name an unchanged side, I'd struggle to name the first eleven for Liverpool over the past few seasons.
Phil Neal
played 365 consecutive matches for Liverpool before missing a game through injury. 365! That is astonishing. I wonder if anyone else has even come close to a record like that?
Oh dear
My reply was supposed to be to sting - but some posts have appeared timed earlier than mine, but they weren't therewhen I posted. I am also unable to edit mine. Take it from me, that my formation is right ;o)
Although I must add, that I believe this famous line up only played together once - but I would need to research this further.
I'll go with your Leeds team
but I still think Strachan, McAllister, Batty and Speed may be their equal in midfield.
Shaka Hislop
Andy Bernal Darius Wydowyck Keith McPherson Dylan Kerr
Michael Gilkes Mick Gooding Simon Osborne Phil Parkinson
Jimmy Quinn Stuart Lovell
That was probably my favourite Royals line-up over the years although the record breaking 106 points and 99 goals in one season (2005/06) team was half decent too.
Agreed
This was the best Royals line-up (including Lee Nogan)
Two-Nil up at Wembley at Half Time (could've been 3-0 but for Stuart Lovell (never did trust anyone from Chiltern Edge)- we're on the way to the Premier League (even if we might have to go to Swindon for home games, because Elm Park is not fit for Premier League football)
"Fabian de Freitas is coming on", said my mate,"I saw him in the semi-final - looked a bit good!"
Good? Changed the bloody game
Mark McGhee had left, the team pulled together finished second (they would've been promoted in any other year, but not this one).
Lost at Wembley, half the team leaves, a taxi driver takes over, relegation soon follows, and then Tommy Burns turns up.
We got to the Premier League in the end (with some style), just 12 years later.
Biscuitmen...
That may be the best Royals team, but when it comes to the Biscuitmen, the best lineup would have to be spearheaded by Percy Freeman and Robin Friday.
I am not alone...!
How about that bloody Wembley Play-Off final eh?
Any other year we would have gone up automatically anyway as we actually finished 2nd in the League!
Just our luck (or was it a conspiracy?) that they decide to cut the number of teams in the top flight that very year.
As for Robin Friday - bit before my time I'm afraid although I would have loved to have seen him play.
Do you two go to games? I'm a season ticket holder but am willing to give it away for a couple of pints of Rebellion as we are so utterly shite at the moment!
Haven't been for yonks
and like yourself, not overly bothered about going at the moment.
Fair weather supporter? No, I went fairly regularly from about 884/85 to a couple of years ago.
Just not overly bothered about going anymore (wrong side of town, time available, not worth watching at the moment)
884/85
Is that B.C. or A.D.?
What a Team............
F. Haggerty
R.Haggerty
Tompkins
Noble
Carrick
Robson
Crapper
Dewhurst
McIntyre
Treadmore
Davitt
Barnstoneworth...
United.
P 19, W0, D0, L18...
...one game cancelled due to bereavement.
One For Robbie
Siddall,Tartt,Bromage,Hunter,Sproson,Cegielski,Fox,Ridley,Newton,Greenhoff,Armstrong.
And one for A-ha
Banks, Marsh, Pejic, Bernard, Smith, Bloor, Conroy, Greenhoff, Ritchie, Dobing, Eastham......
1988 Centenary Year double winners
Bonner, Morris, McCarthy, Whyte, Rogan, Miller, McStay, Aitken, Burns (RIP), McAvennie, Walker.
Standard 4-4-2 as advertised with Stark, Grant and McKnight receiving honourable mentions.
Wheels came off shortly after, eh, Dougie J?
Armagh 2002 - my favourite team of all time
Armagh's 2002 All Ireland gaelic football championship winners:
Tierney,
McNulty, Bellew, McNulty,
O'Rourke, McGeeney, McCann,
McGrane, Toal,
McKeever, J McEntee, McConville,
McDonnell, Clarke, Marsden
(Subs: O'Hagan for J McEntee, T McEntee for McKeever)
Greatest day of my (sporting) life.
Armagh 2002 - my favourite team of all time
Ye have a sight more chance than Louth of bagging Sam again...come to think of it Barnstoneworth Utd. is a better bet than the Wee County.
1974
Stewart
Yeates
Chambers
Doyle
Greenwood
Manning
Lea
Butler
Mahoney
Millar
Brown
Home draw with Chester, Sunday match with a 2pm kick off due to the power cuts, start of a love affair that's still raging.
Ally Millar
You don't get players like that any more do you.
Southampton's opening game '87-'88 season
Vs Hammers
First Saints game I went to. They won 4-0.
I seem to remember..
Derek Statham
Russell Osman
Kevin Bond
Gerry Forrest
Graham Baker
Jimmy Case
Danny Wallace
Rod Wallace
Paul Rideout
I'm buggered if I can remember the goalie's name. I can picture him. Who the other winger was escapes me. Matt Le Tiss came on as a sub and scored a snorter. Excuse me whilst I check with Mr Google.
Curious. John Burridge was, I think, the goalie. Can't come up with the rest. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places.
Opposing Dave Ross's team
was the 1969 / 70 champions:
West
Wright Labone Hurst Newton
Kendall Ball Harvey
Husband Royle Morrissey
A Grand Old Team...
My dad would offer up this one:
West
Parker Wilson
Gabriel Labone Harris
Scott Vernon Young Stevens Temple
Whereas I would have to go for
Southall
Stevens Mountfield Ratcliffe Van Den Hauwe
Steven Reid Bracewell Sheedy
Sharp Gray
Now that's a team!
No room for Inchy?
Gray was a half season wonder. Albeit a very good one!
I think you mean
a one and a half season wonder.
He scored in the FA Cup final in 1984 and in the Cup Winners Cup final the following season.
Would have been in the treatment room?
Sadly injured for the best part of the CWC season as I recall. In any event, Gray would edge it for his part in the cup final, Bayern and the CWC games.
Managed to call my first son Andrew Graeme in honour of the front two. Never properly explained the reasoning behind this to the wife.
Not so much treatment
31 starts in League and all cup games plus 6 sub appearances in a season where we played 62 games in total.
Derek Mountfield
Is good mates with my next-door neighbour. He always comes down for Pompey / Everton games.
(Action) Figure United (mid 90s)
Tombstone Tackler
Butch Brian Knobbs Undertaker Luke
British Bullgog The Terminator Razor Ramon Jerry Sags
The Berzerker Hulk Hogan
Subs: Ric Flair, Macho Man Randy Savage, Tatanka (until head injury), Pirate (until leg injury), Donatello, Mr T, Batman, Robin et al.
This is the 1978 Forest team
This is the 1978 Forest team from memory
1 Shilton
2 Anderson 5 Burns 6 Lloyd 3 Barrett
7 Gemmill 8 O'Neill 4 McGovern 11 Robertson
10 Woodcock 9 Withe
Needham might have filled in at 5, 6 or even 8; Bowyer at 8, Clark at 3 and O'Hare more or less anywhere. Plus Chris Woods did famously fill in as number 1. I don't remember whether we had anyone else that year (apart form John Middleton who went to Derby) - I don't think so
David Needham
Still have a big soft spot for him and Peter Shilton........
I assume you are referring to Wembley 1980?
Bradshaw
Palmer Hughes Berry Parkin
Hibbitt Carr Daniel
Richards Gray Eves sub:Brazier
Didn't Needham play for Notts County...?
... then go to QPR then on to Forest after about 3 months? For some reason I always recall my dad saying that County would never sell Needham to Forest so he took a roundabout route (also seem to recall it was a lot of money - £30k or something - that QPR got for him). Thhis was held up as an example of the underlying nastiness creeping into the game - et in arcadia ego etc etc
1987 Spurs team
Ray Clemence
Gary Stevens - Gary Mabbutt - Richard Gough - Mitchell Thomas
Chris Waddle - Paul Allen - Glenn Hoddle - Ossie Ardiles - Steve Hodge
Clive Allen
Dream Team
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR: 1981 FA Cup Winners
1 Milija Aleksic
2 Chris Hughton
3 Paul Miller
4 Graham Roberts
5 Steve Perryman (c)
6 Ricardo Villa
7 Osvaldo Ardiles
8 Steve Archibald
9 Tony Galvin
10 Glenn Hoddle
11 Garth Crooks
12 Garry Brooke
Manager:
Keith Burkinshaw
Yes!
Although I would go for one of Billy Nicks teams:
1. Jennings
2. Kinnear
3. Kmowles (nice one Cyril!)
4. Mullery
5. England
6. Beal
7. Gilzean
8. Perryman
9. Chivers
10. Peters
11. Coates
12. Pearce
13. Pratt
14. Daines
15. Naylor
16. Neighbour
Then and now
As the first poster says, his memories go back to when he was a young child for his favourite team. Mine too. Whilst still a reasonably avid follower of the game I would now struggle to name a team after about 1982.
Do kids nowadays, with all the varied interests available to them, still follow the game with the same intensity as everyone above clearly did in their youth? I suspect not, but would be delighted to be told otherwise.
Middlesbrough 1973-4 Div 2 Champions
Won it by 15 points (only 2 points for a win), promoted on last Saturday in March, champions on first Saturday of April
1 Jim Platt
2 John Craggs
3 Frank Spraggon
4 Graeme Souness
5 Stuart Boam
6 Willie Maddren
7 Bobby Murdoch
8 David Mills
9 John Hickton
10 Alan Foggon
11 David Armstrong
sub Malcolm Smith (home), Peter Brine (away)
The Greatest Team Never To Have Won The League (TM)
1. Phil Parkes
2. Dave Clement
3. Ian Gillard
4. John Hollins
5. Frank McLintock
6. David Webb
7. Dave Thomas
8. Gerry Francis
9. Don Masson
10. Stan Bowles
11. Don Givens
12. Mick Leach
As a 6 year old at the time, still vividly remember Dad listening to the vital end of season game at Molineux on the radio where Liverpool played Wolves some 10 days after everyone else had finished their fixtures, leaving QPR on top of the League. Liverpool needed to win to take the title. When I went to bed, Dad was booming as Wolves had scored. When I woke up, Dad had gone to work early and Mum confessed that my Dad spent the last hour of the evening inconsolable as Liverpool ran in three very late goals....
Goal of the season
Terrific team, but what about
Bobby Robson's Ipswich side of the early 1980s?
1 Paul Cooper
2 George Burley
3 Mick Mills
4 Russell Osman
5 Terry Butcher
6 Frans Thijssen
7 John Wark
8 Arnold Muhren
9 Paul Mariner
10 Eric Gates
11 Kevin O'Callaghan
Just guessing
But wasn't Gates 11 and Alan Brazil 10 ?
Yes, that must be right. Brazil needs to be in there anyway
O'Callaghan on the bench then.
Lambert, Viljoen, Hunter, Beattie, Whymark,
You never forget your first loves.
(The first) David Johnson's gentleman's outfitters "Jonty's" is still going to this day. It once had the honour of being the most ram-raided boutique in the Eastern counties. Truesay.
Who couldn't love Laurie sivell?
Shortage of ATM's or fashion conscious villains?
What a wonderful image. Of course, it being so flat in the eastern counties the ram raiders would get a nice long run up
More QPR
No QPR Side will ever live up to the 75/76 team, but the side that beat Chelsea 6-0 on Easter monday 1986 will always have a special place in my heart.
Barron
Dawes
Fenwick
Wicks
Mcdonald
Fereday
Allen
James
Robinson
Byrne
Bannister
Sub- Rosenior
Goals Bannister 3, Byrne 2, Rosenior 1
Oh no........that side carries "baggage"........
and not just Robbie James (RIP). That same side that spanked Chelsea, played Liverpool off the park in 3 games that season then capitulated to Oxford United in the Milk Cup Final. Forever tainted...
From 1983....
Hucker
Neill
Dawes
Waddock
Wicks
Fenwick
Gregory
Fillery
Allen
Sealy
Stewart/Flanagan
Let's remember...
...the Oxford United side who played so well that day
Alan Judge
Dave Langan
John Trewick
Les Phillips
Gary Briggs
Malcolm Shotton
Ray Houghton
John Aldridge
Jeremy Charles
Trevor Hebberd
Kevin Brock
I can't.......
I feel a little bit sick.........
If I close my eyes I can still see the barrage of programmes, hats and drinks being valiantly hurled off the upper tiers of Wembley's crumbling terracing when Jeremy Charles tapped in......
Milk Cup
I'd conveniently forgotten the Oxford debacle. The side from a few years later with Ferdinand,Sinclair,Parker,Wegerle,Sinton and Ray Wilkins, was pretty tasty as well.
Remember it well (i.e. QPR 75/76 as posted higher up)
Most of my family were traumatised at the time (by Liverpool sneaking it) and I don't think the male members have recovered. My match day programmes of that season are still stained from salt tears from subsequent heart broken perusals. Wonderful team and a lovely buzz about the club then - on moving to the North East a few years back I was amazed that several colleagues remember that team and also many of the team members - then again it is a religion up here. Also feels like half of that team are geezerish commentors on the game.
Also also recall (possibly incorrectly)that it all started for that team when Rodney Marsh left QPR for Citeh but this may be to merge two or three seasons in my head. I was only very young when Rodney went and obviously we were all addled by three day weeks, power cuts, post imperial malaise and the long depressing hang-over from the Beatles splitting up. (Apart from the music the seventies were pretty awful - or maybe the music was better because of the seething unpleasantness of the times - I'll have to absolve QPR from responsibility though)
Yes
This QPR team was the one I was going to name.
May he RIP, but I'm still fuming over an interview Emlyn Hughes gave about 15 years ago saying (cue very squeaky voice).....'We knew they'd bottle it'.
How can a team who were about 6th in February, and then went on a run of 13 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat in their last 15 games be seen to have (cue very squeaky voice) 'bottled it'?
English football would have been better off if Rangers had won the league instead of the bore-fest that was Liverpool FC during the 1970s and 1980s.
Norwich
Grrrr................
The classic starting 11 of today
Jurgen ARS
Jan VAN TUSCH
Gary HARRIS (Capt.)
Fabio BUTTOLA
Didier RUMPA
Paul DERRIÈRE
Lars HINDPARTSEN
Declan O'REAREND
Diego BOTTI
BUMINHO
Zoran POSTERIOROVIC
Arsenal, perchance?
Managed by Arsene, of course.
Champions League Final
versus Athletico Penis
Nobbio
Dik Koch Smeg Testico
Ballack Dicko Limphard
Spermatozoa (in the hole)
Bellendovich Schtiff
And, as usual,
A. Penis got hammered.
Talking of made up teams
I invented a team purely for the entertainment of my children based on a character "Bobby Striker" who's claim to fame was to have played "dahn the 'ammers with Joey Cole, Frankie Lamps and Davey James" (it's all in the Cockney accent) 1 to 11 the team went.
1 Rob Van Der Strikesaven (Dutch)
2 Bobi Strikersen (Swedish)
3 Boban Strikovic (Bulgarian)
4 Bobo Strikovski (Russian)
5 Rab McStriker (Scottish)
6 Bobby O'Striker (Irish)
7 Bobiano Strikaldo (Portuguese)
8 Roberto Strikerini (Italian)
9 Bobby Striker (English)
10 Strikinho (Brazilian)
11 Robere Strikere (French)
I would make up stories for each character like the game where tough centre back Rab McStriker "played for 70 minutes withoot me heed". As I said it's all in the accents and when your kids are small and your licence to be silly is endless this served as many a bedtime story. Probably politically incorrect and the boys never quite understood why Rob Van Der Strikesaven visited his cafe for " shome coffee, shome cake and shome reelacsh" before every game but they always laughed anyway.
The greatest Title winning side and that´s official
Arsenal 03/04
J.Lehmann
A.Cole
S.Campbell
M.Keown, I think ?
Lauren
P. Vieira
F.Ljungberg
R.Parlour
R.Pires
D. Bergkamp
T.Henry
A contradiction
between your assertion and your handle.
Memories...
A great team indeed, but surely Gilberto Silva was in midfield rather than Ray Parlour? And Toure definitely played at the back, not Keown. In fact, as the season wore on Arsene brought Keown on as a sub in a range of bizarre positions - including right wing in the last game of the season against Leicester - to get him up to the ten appearances he needed to be given a medal.
you´re probably right
.i was doing it off the top of my head and how could I forget the mighty Gilberto Silva in midfield. That was some midfield !
No way, Jose.
Problem is that the average Joe in the street couldn't differentiate from one Premiership season to the next so, whilst they may have been alright and even though it's only five years ago, no one outside Arsenal remembers them for that specific season.
Such is the tragedy of an over-saturated sport.....Dennis Potter was right.
The first division years
Cashley
Sweeney
Gillies
Rodgers
Merrick
Gow
Tainton
Mann
Ritchie
Cheesley
Whitehead
Not forgetting Garland, Mabbutt, Hunter, Shaw ...
The last artisans to win the league
Flowers
Berg
Hendry
Pearce
Le Saux
Ripley
Sherwood
Atkins
Wilcox
Sutton
and Shearer
That was a remarkable team to lift anything, only Berg went on to win another title (scotland doesn't count). And the wheels only started to come off when Batty replaced ex-Scunthorpe legend Marko van Atkins.
Not as artisan as it is billed
a) Scotland DOES count
b) Certainly did when we put you out in the UEFA Cup in 2003 as well as Liverpool.
c) In the year that Sutton played, albeit losing, in the final.
d) Wasn't this quite an expensive team for its time and not as artisan as you would make out. Uncle Jack's cash bagged a pair of multi million pound strikers some culture on the flanks and in midfield.
Not that expensive
Come on Paddy - any player who leaves England for the Old Firm has a 50-50 chance of winning the league, which is why it doesn't count. And that Celtic game was 9 years later, where we were so awful in that second game I could have wept. Sutton did well up there.
It was an expensive forward line for its time, and Flowers and Le Saux were the best in their positions at the time, but Pearce, Wilcox and Atkins cost next to nothing. Ripley cost a mill, Berg, Sherwood and Hendry much less than that.
They were a great side who don't get the credit they deserve.
Yep
Sorry, got up on the HH before going to bed an overreacted.
You are right about the Rovers side in 1995 and was it all down to the last flowering of King Kenny's tactical nous? He was never the same again.
leeds and liverpool
To go back to the start of this thread - l used to (still do) hate those Leeds and Liverpool teams (yes - l do support Manchester United).
The 1970's and 1980's were pretty dire for a Manchester United fan.
Yes,
but the lads did stop the Scouse from winning Our Treble in 1977 :-); in fact it shows how far things have turned around when 'pool treat the United games as their Cup Final and play out of their skins, returning to mediocrity immediately afterwards :-)
And they were...
Stepney
Nicholl
Buchan
Greenhoff (B)
Albiston
Coppell
Macari
McIlroy
Hill
Pearson
Greenhoff (J)
Sub : McCreery
Doesn't matter how many cups have been won since, that's the 11 that I'll not forget
Interesting line up
Lots of technically good players but you could never put out a team like that now, 9 of them are dwarves. They would concede about 3 goals a game from set pieces. Looking at the great teams in this thread it kind of confirms that football is going in the wrong direction today.
Ipswich Town UEFA Cup Winners 1981
Paul Cooper, Mick Mills, Russell Osman, Terry Butcher, Steve McCall, Frans Thijssen, John Wark, Arnold Muhren, Paul Mariner, Alan Brazil, Eric Gates.
A marvellous line up that had by then seen the passing of greats like Kevin Beattie and Trevor Whymark.
Managed by Bobby Robson.
Never bettered!
1994 league and fa cup winners
peter schmichael
paul parker
denis irwin
steve bruce
paul ince
gary pallister
andrei kanchelskis
roy keane
mark hughes
eric cantona
ryan giggs
All that was missing...
...was David May. The big summer signing of 1994 and the only player to finish runner up two seasons running. Fair play to him, he "earned" his collection of medals and trophies.
Who could forget his signature song?
"David May, Superstar
He's got more medals than Shea - rar" :-)
The team...
1 Mulhearn
2 Book
3 Pardoe
4 Doyle
5 Heslop
6 Oakes
7 Lee
8 Bell
9 Summerbee
10 Young
11 Coleman
Sub: Connor
That was 1968. Switch Dowd for Mulhearn, Booth for Heslop, and change Lee and Summerbee's numbers, and you have 1969. Swap Corrigan for Dowd, Mann for Coleman, Booth for Young, and you have League Cup 1970.
1 Corrigan
2 Keegan
3 Donachie
4 Doyle
5 Watson
6 Oakes
7 Barnes
8 Booth
9 Royle
10 Hartford
11 Tueart
And that's 1976, the last time we won anything. At least I was there. And, good grief, I didn't have to look any of this up.
haha, Willie Donachie - mentalist
That's a name from the past
.
Wasn't his nickname Bab? As in Donachie Bab
April 1970
Bobby Clark
Henning Boel
Tommy McMillan
Martin Buchan
Jim Hermiston
Derek McKay
George Murray
Davie Robb
Arthur Graham
Jim Forrest
Joe Harper
Nya Ullevi, Göteborg, Sweden - Wednesday, May 11, 1983
Jim Leighton
Doug Rougvie
John McMaster
Neale Cooper
Alex McLeish
Willie Miller (captain)
Gordon Strachan
Neil Simpson
Mark McGhee
Eric Black
Peter Weir
Supersub - John Hewitt
Willie Miller was my hero growing up..great days, sadly a distant memory.
Manager
A Mr. Ferguson frae Govan - whatever happened to him?
Stuttgart 88
Packie Bonner
Chris Morris, Chris Hughton, Mick McCarthy, Kevin Moran,
Ray Houghton, Tony Galvin, Paul McGrath,
Frank Stapleton, John Aldridge, Ronnie Whelan
73
Montgomery
Malone
Todd
Watson
Guthrie
Kerr
Hughes
Halom
Pitt
Horswill
Porterfield
Tuart
By heart I remembered 9 of them.
They were good by after winning the cup cashedin on Watson and Tuart and never were the same.
25th May 1967 The Lisbon Lions
Ronnie Simpson RIP
Jim Craig
Tommy Gemmell
Bobby Murdoch RIP
Billy McNeill
John Clark
Jimmy Johnstone RIP
Willie Wallace
Stevie Chalmers
Bertie Auld
Bobby Lennox
Jock Stein (Manager)RIP
The greatest fairytale in British football
Never got to see them, met most over the years at supporters club events. Truly legendary. It's a pity Celts get pilloried for restating that key fact about this very homegrown team. If you saw them Steveo, fair play to you.
Below video might even bring a wee tear to the eyes of Dougie J and Billyous.
Lovely stuff, Paddy
Jinky was special. I have to admit to having a soft spot for the Lisbon Lions (© Celtic F.C.). I wouldn't have felt that way at the time (I was only 9 yrs old, anyway), but having lived away from Glasgow for over 24 years, I've managed to lose all the "baggage" that goes with growing up there and supporting one half of the Old Firm. I also don't think the "30 mile radius" fact can ever be overstated. A remarkable achievement that will never be repeated.
You wouldn't happen to have a decent photo of the team, would you? (or know where I can find one) All I've found online are small, low-res stuff like this...
I'll scan some in
Billy, best pics I have are in books.
However, the best one, in a frame, is of Stevie Chalmers and Tommy Gemmell immediately after the final whistle holding Celtic teddy bears. Gemmell (despite being 37 the time) looks about 12 year old and Chalmers like an Italian movie star.
I'll scan what I have and send them on to you, if you fancy.
My favourite story is of them lining up in the tunnel before the match and Jinky says Big Jock is trying to relax them all.
He turns round and points to the dark glasses wearing, legendary Argentine manager of Inter, Helenio Herrera (he invented catanaccio doncha know), and says to the lads: "Here, who does yer man think he is? Cesar Romero?"
Pure Glasgow pish taker.
Thanks, Paddy
I'd really appreciate it. I'm trying to put together photos of some of my sporting heros and, believe it or not (for a Rangers fan), the Lisbon Lions are amongst them. Ali, Seb Coe, Lasse Viren and Valeri Borzov are also in there, so they're in good company.
My favourite anecdote is when Ally McCoist won his first cap for Scotland. Derek Johnstone turned to him and said "that's you now got TWO caps --- your first and your last".
I grew up with the late 70s/early 80s Arsenal team
1. Jennings
2. Rice
3. Nelson
4. O'Leary
5. Young
6. Price
7. Brady
8. Talbot
9. McDonald/Stapleton
10. Sunderland
11. Rix
There were a couple of others, but this is the core team that competed in the famous treble of 78/79/80 FA Cups.
Pat Rice was TERRIFYINGLY hard
Though not legendary for it. I remember him flattening somebody in an FA cup final. Being a ginger myself (not quite a orange or freckly) I remember recognising the red mist coming down on him some time before it actually happened. Never could bring myself to love Arsenal but soem wonderful players there, especially Brady
Pat Rice...
it goes without saying that he was particularly hated on the Lilywhite side of North London. Especially after an embarrassing capitulation mastermined by Brady et al one Christmas at the Lane when after the Arse scored their third in a 5-0 mauling (I left the ground at this point) he ran along the side of the pitch waving at the Spurs fans.
How he got out of N17 alive that day still remains a mystery to me.
Loved the expression on his face when Lennon scored the equaliser in that dramatic 4-4 at their souless mini Wembley last year.
Admiral
I bailed from football in the 80s. But was mad for Admiral kit around 76/77.
I've got the full Admiral catalogue somewhere I must scan it in. There are few pics here
http://planetmondo.blogspot.com/2008/05/favourite-shirts-admiral-ringer....
The kits, of course the kits
that's a whole new thread. Absolutely agree Admiral were the best.
What a team and what a kit even came with the little numbered tags to keep your socks up.
Now then...
Cooper/Dibble
I Brightwell Gayle Redmond Hinchcliffe
Gleghorn McNabb Lake White
Morley Moulden
Glory Days
Two teams that are permanently seared onto my brain are
IRELAND v England - Euro '88 Sunday, 12 June
Packie Bonner
Chris Morris
Chris Hughton
Mick McCarthy
Kevin Moran
Paul McGrath
Ray Houghton
Ronnie Whelan
Frank Stapleton
John Aldridge
Tony Galvin
Big Niall Quinn came on for Stapleton and silky Kevin Sheedy for came on for tired Tony Galvin
and the Manchester United FA Cup Final team v Everton 1985
"Whiteside shoots... it's there! And Norman Whiteside has done it AGAIN."
Gary Bailey
John Gidman
Arthur Albiston
Norman Whiteside
Paul McGrath
Kevin Moran
Bryan Robson
Gordan Strachan
Mark Hughes
Frank Stapleton
Jesper Olsen
And the no.12 was Mike Duxbury who came on for poor Arthur at half time.
Glory Days - the likes of which we'll never see again
Mike Duxbury
Now there is a player I disliked.
I remember United winning at Spurs one time, probably 1986. It was a midweek game, finished 2-1 if memory serves. Anyway, after the game he ran up and down the touchline in front of the Shelf basically doing his best to start a riot. Most people just laughed at his ridiculous barnet though - a Chrissy Waddle mullet but without the class.
chislers
Don't forget his buck teeth!
Beat you to it
Beat you to it
http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/content/can-you-still-name-your-favourite-...
Heady days indeed...
Leeds fans anonymous
Didn't expect when signing up here to start by making a post about football, or to find a thread dominated by the 1970s Leeds team. In the week I finally watched The Damned United there must be some synchronicity at work.
They were 'my team' too, despite me living in Devon, and like daveross I supported Scotland because of the Leeds factor.
My team would be Harvey, Reaney, Madeley, Bremner, Charlton, Hunter, Lorimer, Clarke, Jones, Giles, E Gray.
Cooper was injured by the time I started following them, Charlton retired soon after, replaced by McQueen.
Hello everyone, by the way.
Welcome
to the small enclave of Leeds fans on this blog.
Just to observe
That by and large the answer to the original question posed in this thread would appear to be "No".