Entertainment For Lively Minds
"Don't be stupid, no player is worth that."
Posted by Mark JF on 17 December 2010 - 4:15pm.
Ralph Coates died today. Not a household name but an honest-to-goodness, hard working, miles better than average player for Burnley, Spurs and Leyton Orient. Plus England on 4 occasions. He was signed for Spurs by the great Billy Nicholson and "Don't be stupid, no player is worth that" is what Ralph is said to have said when Billy Nick announced he was going to fork out £190k in 1971 money for him. (That's about £1.8m in 2010 cash.) I wonder if there are many Premiership players with that level of modesty / humility / reality left in the game? RIP Ralph.
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Ralph Coates
Always sad to hear of a good, honest pro passing away. Sadly, I expect he'll be remembered more for his hair than his talent by the majority of casual football fans.
True, dat
I immediately thought of the hair.
Ralph
Indeed. Remember him this way …
http://open.spotify.com/track/2HU3PhdkQs0NbICCpRohxn
He was one of those rarities
A one club man. I always have respect for players that are loyal.
This kissing the badge and pissing off the next week gets on my thru'pennies!!
(When I say one club I meant he didn't bugger off somewhere else for the money!)
a pedant writes
Burnley, Spurs and Leyton Orient actually. Sorry.
I remember seeing him play for Burnley in the late '60s.
another pedant replies
I take your point. As I said in my edit he wasn't a mercenary like today. He plied his trade and was loyal to his employers and was one of those players when returning as the opposition was given a warm welcome.
you know a bit like Cashley Cole when he occasionally turns up at the Emirates!!
What a shame
He was a real footballer.
Reminds me of
when I was reading the Big Sam thread. I'm still amazed that the same guy whose football card I could never swap in the school playground (because he was a big ugly centre half who played for Bolton now gets paid millions to leave footbal clubs
Ralph Coates
R.I.P leaving a trail of defenders lying and strands of hair flying in his wake
I remember reading...
...lotsa years ago- it may have been in the Hunter Davies book about his year he spent with Spurs- that at the end of every training session, the first team squad had to juggle the ball over the breadth of White Hart Lane, without the ball touching the ground. Now, apparently Mr Coates could not master this skill, much to the chagrin of his fellow team mates, until he discovered a new technique. He would balloon the ball 20 yards up, 30 yards in, then then catch it on the volley and boot it over the sideline. Job done. One end of the pitch to the other, ball did not make contact with the grass!
He was out on the pitch at half time ...
... just a few games ago. Saw him score the winner against Norwich in the League Cup final 1973. Also remember him getting a cracker against Liverpool to win the game one wet Wednesday night at WHL when we were fighting relegation. He was always smiling, Ralphy.
RIP Ralph
There remain one or two current players with a similar down-to-earth mentality - Ronaldo and Tevez (kidding!).
Actually, I'd suggest Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes as model, loyal, one-club professionals.
Definitely
Although I believe Scholes has always planned to finish his career at his beloved Oldham Athletic, once United let him go.
I'm never quite sure...
...that 'one-club' should be used as a mark of a 'gent' and a good sort (of course for Giggs and Scholes that is true).
It can also show a lack of ambition or people who are perfectly happy to hang around getting paid not to play.
Many players have managed to be 'legends' at more than one club, but that doesn't make them any more mercenary or less loyal, necessarily.
Anyway, RIP Ralph Coates.
Lack of ambition
was probably a factor in Le Tisser's case. But that doesn't bother me. We can't all be strivers and go-getters. Some people are just happy where they are.
Good point
I would cite Matt Le Tissier as a good example of this. A truly fantastically-gifted player who left some great memories, but you have to wonder what he might have achieved with better quality players around him. Would he have thrived, literally kicking on to achieve true greatness? Or would he have been intimidated by the presence of equally good players or the pressuresand expectations of a bigger club?
One of the great debates...