Tony Thorpe Interview

EXCLUSIVE: Tony Thorpe: “My biggest regret was leaving Bristol when I did”
“We underachieved as a football club.

We had a top six Championship side in my view. We were that good, we really were. I don’t know why it didn’t happen. I think the players let Danny Wilson down. I feel we let the club down by not making it. That was down to the players, not the management.”

There’s clear sadness in the voice of former Bristol City striker Tony Thorpe as he recalls how close Danny Wilson’s exciting team came to promotion from Division 1 with the turn of the new millennium.

For fans of a certain age, this was the team that made them fall in love with City. For older fans it was the team that came so close to fulfilling what has become almost the ultimate dream of a modern football club – a successful team, half of whom were Bristolian and had come through the youth ranks, who played fast-flowing, attacking football, scored lots of goals and entertained whilst winning games handsomely. It was a mostly young team with a host of players who looked certain to go on and play at the higher level for many years.

But ultimately, the first word of that description – “successful” was the key one that, crucially, was slightly lacking.

Thorpe was the spearhead of the attack of that particular side for a couple of seasons, scoring 42 of his 62 Bristol City goals with his clever movement, guile and a more than handy knack of finding the net.

When you recall his good technique, positional awareness and movement, it makes a little sense to understand that he started out as a midfielder when coming through Leicester’s – his home town club – youth system. A bad injury in Brian Little’s first season as manager of The Foxes meant he wasn’t given much of a chance at senior level but, fortunately for Thorpe, the previous Leicester manager David Pleat had seen enough of him as an apprentice to take a chance on him in his new role, back at Luton Town.

“We had some great players. Kerry Dixon, Mitchell Thomas, David Preece – for me to go into that as a young kid it was good to be around a lot of experienced guys. I was only an hour from home but was young and a bit homesick and they helped.”

Being on the small side for a footballer, it’s no surprise that Thorpe has always thrived best playing for ‘footballing’ teams, and he credits Pleat with being ideal for his development in that particular, with a nod towards most of his time at Ashton Gate as well.

“Luton played the game the right way, very similar to my time in Bristol. It suited me, as a technical player and with a poacher’s eye for a goal it clearly worked, with nearly 150 goals for the two clubs”.

His form at Kenilworth Road attracted the attention of none other than legendary former Liverpool and England striker Kevin Keegan, then manager of Fulham. Although it was a short-lived spell, it gave Thorpe experience of working for and playing with some of England’s best forwards and he clearly doesn’t hold any grudges for his stay being a short one.

“Kevin was there, but even as I joined I felt he was looking beyond me a bit, looking to spend bigger money on a bigger name. But that experience, playing alongside Peter Beardsley, Paul Bracewell – Chris Coleman was my captain – it was great, I learned a lot. I quickly felt though that it wasn’t the right fit but he gave me a great opportunity and I’m grateful”

Whilst we were all watching Michael Owen’s solo goal and Beckham’s red card against Argentina, a prolific football league striker was making the decision to move to the South West. As often seems to be the case, ex-players speaking highly of Bristol as a city and City as a club swayed Thorpe’s decision in the summer of 1998.

“Kevin told me a few clubs were in for me and one was Bristol City. I went away on holiday to think about it. I’d never been to Bristol, other than to play football, but I spoke to a couple of people who had played there and they told me how great the city was, how much I’d enjoy it – the club had just been promoted to Division 1 (now the Championship) and it seemed a great opportunity”

Thorpe moved in 1998 for a then huge fee of £1m, and said that researching our typical style was a part of his decision. John Ward was the manager and hopes were high following a brilliant promotion the previous season, especially following the signings of Thorpe, Soren Andersen and new club record signing Ade Akinbiyi. It was to prove a false hope for City, and partly also for Thorpe.

“Soren Andersen hit the ground running, better than I did if I’m honest, and played a few more games alongside Akinbiyi. John’s a lovely man, I had a lot of time for him and Terry Connor too who was his assistant. But it was a stuttering start for me, I didn’t really get going.

When Ward was somewhat surprisingly sacked following a win against Bolton, the previously unheard of Benny Lennartsson came in as the new coach and promptly lost his first two matches 5-0 (at Bradford) and 6-1 (at home to Wolves). It was a short-lived spell that Thorpe had relatively little impact on, but he backed up the thoughts of Louis Carey in a recent interview on the One Stream in Bristol podcast when discussing Benny’s short reign.

“Louis couldn’t have summed it up better. The one-on-one coaching was great, but he struggled to bring it together and make it work as a team and couldn’t get his ideas over to us. He was a really nice guy but struggled with the language and what we were trying to achieve. His ideas were good. I felt a bit sorry for him, it was a shame. He meant well but didn’t have the tools in terms of his language to make it work, especially when you’re trying to change things whilst struggling against relegation. He needed help and at the time he obviously didn’t get that help.

After the Swede’s ill-fated spell, Tony Pulis was next in line and, having come to City with the hope of playing in a good footballing side, it was a move that instantly worried the 5’9” striker, although Thorpe’s good nature and empathy of how the game works shines through once again.

“My first thought was ‘****, I’m in trouble here, I am not a Tony Pulis kind of player!’. The first game I played for Tony I scored two and we won 5-1, then I scored in the next game too, and then he left me out and never played me. What more could I have done to earn a chance? But that’s his prerogative, he had a style and a way if playing and I didn’t fit into that”

Despite the managerial unrest, City had some success in the second half of the season, then under the guidance of the three caretaker managers Tony Fawthrop, Leroy Rosenior and the late Dave Burnside. A feel-good spirit had returned, capped with a 4-0 home win against Exeter in the Auto Windscreens Trophy, which booked City’s place in the final at Wembley for the third time.

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City lost 2-1 to Stoke in the final at Wembley
More than 75,000 fans flooded to the capital from Bristol and Stoke – a then record for the competition – and Thorpe remembers it well, albeit not all in a positive light given the eventual result.

“The caretakers had galvanised the club, and they brought some good young players through like Colesy (Danny Coles), Matty Hill. Tommy Doherty is one of my favourite players, and they mixed well with some of the more experienced ones like myself who had a few years under our belts. It was very different having three coaches but I thoroughly enjoyed playing for them – it was just a shame we didn’t really turn up on the day.

We’d actually played them a couple of weeks before and I had scored two, and had scored two more the weekend before too, so in the final I was watched closely and looked after. I didn’t have a good game to be honest, I was pretty average on the day, which was disappointing as my form was really good.

But the day out, having 40,000 Bristol City fans turn out was immense, I’ll never forget the day. It’s probably the biggest occasion I’ve ever played in”

The summer of 2000 saw former Premier League manager Danny Wilson arrive, and he continued the work Fawthrop and co. had put in, keeping faith with the young crop and implementing a style of play that couldn’t have suited Thorpe more.

“It was a young, exciting team full of locals. We just never really got it going. We should have been in the top six all the time and we just couldn’t get there. I don’t really know why, it just never happened.”

When I recalled some of the standout results, a number of 4-0 wins came to mind, but also some 4-0 defeats, a 4-3 and a 4-4 draw thrown into the mix, Thorpe agreed there was a problem they never solved.

“We were the sort of side that could go and beat Cardiff away comfortably, a very good side, but then lose at home to Colchester the next weekend. We weren’t consistent enough.

We had leaders, the likes of Louis who gave the club everything and is one of my favourite players of all time. We had Keith Millen, Mike Stowell – some good leaders with experience and then the likes of Peter Beadle and Lee Peacock who were great characters.”

There has always been a lot of talk of a drinking and social element at the club during this period, and Thorpe confirmed there was an element of that, but explained “we had a lot of young players. In that environment, at that time, we went out a lot. There was a drinking culture, but we never abused it. We never drank the day before the game. 60% of the team were young guys and it was natural for them to want to go out a lot.”

Possibly the most notable game in that period was a Christmas Cracker Bristol Derby, which was somehow allowed by the police to be live on Sky on the Friday evening before Christmas.

“That was one of my favourite games I’ve played in. I’ll never forget how loud it was, live on TV, Christmas had everyone excited – it was amazing and then I got the winner which was even better! I’ve scored some decent goals for City but that wasn’t one of the best. It was a good, close-range header but the occasion and atmosphere makes it so memorable.”

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Tony Thorpe celebrates after scoring a hat-trick at Northampton
In the summer of 2002 Thorpe had allowed his contract to run down and eventually left the Westcountry to return to Luton, to live closer to home and it’s a decision he has clearly thought about a lot.

“I’d given the club four really good years. Joe Kinnear and Mick Harford wanted me – they didn’t offer me any more money, City had offered me a really good deal to stay, I just felt I wanted to move back closer to home. It was nothing to do with Bristol City or the people there, just my personal view. It was one of my biggest regrets looking back. Definitely a regret, even though I went to Luton and did well. It wasn’t a bad decision, it felt right, but was just maybe one I should have thought about a bit more.”

A year later and Thorpe’s career took him to west London and a couple of years with QPR, managed by a certain ex-Bristol Rovers cult hero…

“I loved playing for Ollie (Ian Holloway). Sorry! I couldn’t speak more highly of him. We got promotion that year. He was so passionate about what he wanted to achieve and he was a very good coach.”

The rest of Thorpe’s career drifted a little, with short spells at number of clubs.

“Swindon was the worst move I ever made. It was never going to work, I shouldn’t have gone. My career struggled a bit after that. I had a couple of injuries and lost a bit of pace – not that I ever had a lot of pace! I started to not really perform well at places like Grimsby, Stevenage, Colchester but I wasn’t really interested in dropping down through the leagues and it showed. I never had a real passion for coaching and couldn’t see myself as a manager. I play the odd charity game and do a bit of scouting, but that’s me done. I’ve got three boys aged 20, 15 & 7 and I spend a lot of time with them now. We watch Leicester sometimes, and travel to Bristol, Luton and QPR to watch my old teams”

Given the timing of the interview, we naturally spoke about the vacancy at Ashton Gate and Thorpe’s view is he’d like a younger person to be given the opportunity.

“Someone like Chris Hughton will definitely give them experience, knowledge and work with the players, get them organised – but will he play the expansive football that City fans love?

So, maybe you give it to a younger manager, perhaps someone with newer ideas and a bit more determination to make an impact. Or do you go for someone with great stature like Steven Gerrard? He’s had great pressure being at Rangers, as a player, maybe he’d be a better choice than someone like Hughton. It’s a great name to be linked with the club that’s for sure.

As a club, Lee Johnson has done an absolutely amazing job but I just felt he’d taken them as far as he could over four years. Now they have the problem of deciding the direction they want to go in. I’d like to see someone newer and fresher. You’d expect, given the squad and with a couple of additions, for them to be in and around the top eight again next season.

Whoever they get in, fans should realise they probably won’t get promoted first time as that doesn’t often happen.”

We finish up with a few more memories of Danny Wilson’s team and Thorpe’s teammates.

Danny was the best manager I played for at Ashton Gate. If you asked me to name the best player I couldn’t name one. I’ll name four; Tinnion, Louis, Scotty and Tommy Doherty.

What a team it was. Mickey Bell bombing down the left – jeez we had some good players – with Tinnion too, then Scotty and Louis on the right. It was easy football for me as a striker. You couldn’t wish for four better players at that level. If Tommy had some legs and could have got around the pitch more he’d have been a top, top player.

At the back we never quite got the strongest of back fours through a whole season. We had players in and out and people like Billy Mercer who had injuries. I remember going to Blackpool on the last day of the season and losing 5-1 – how did that ever happen? We were far better than that.

Scotty Murray was the banter king. He’s a good lad – a real nuisance – but a great lad! And what a great player to play with. The worst dresser was definitely Mark Shail. Shaily was a terrible dresser!

As we wind up, we talk a bit more about his home of four years and it’s clearly a place very close to the heart of our once star striker.

“I love Bristol, I go back 4-5 times a year. I’ve got some great friends there. Scott Murray’s a good friend, Louis Carey is still a close friend. As a City it’s just amazing, I love it! As a club it’s changed dramatically – it’s a great club. It’s definitely at the stage where the city and the club is geared up to become a Premier League club.”
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A great interview took me back, Scotty ,Tinman, Louis, Tommy Doc, TT and Danny Wilson, topsy turvey times but I loved them, looking back.