Just picked up a programme from our 2-0 win over 1p5wich in 2008. Who've we got...? John Kennedy, Luke Chadwick, Ryan Bertrand (look at him now - was one of our better players...), Stefanovic... Only Rudd, Martin and Lappin remain. 1p5wich have got Lisboe, Rhodes (thank you Keane for letting him go), Counago, Ivan Campo! When did Beckham nearly sign for us, Supers?
I think we had him on trial as a youngster Hucks, but Fergie got in before we offered him a contract. Or at least that's the version of events I've heard
JWM - how can you call Flem "dirty". Did you never see "Chopper" Jefferson who used to play for you ? His tackles were so late they got charged waiting time.
Yeah Derek "Chopper" Jefferson was a right bloody animal and Duncan Forbes was no shrinking violet either! Didn't the referees book Forbes before the game started to save time?
Yep - the old fellas used to walk around the ground with a board with the Golden Goal time on it and the minute in which Big Dunc was booked as people use to lay bets on it lol !
Back in those days every team had a couple of real Hardmen who were employed to stop the more skillfull players from playing! Apart from Leeds who filled their team with dirty bastards! Just a quick memory, I was at the FA Cup semi final replay (2nd) when we played Leeds back in 1975. A certain Johnny Wark made his debut as a 17 year old at CB. Alan Clarke came over and spat in his face only for big Alan Hunter to come over and basically tell clarke that if he ever did that again he would sort him out! Great days and filled with memories of some great characters!
Indeed JWM - Norman Hunter, Nobby Stiles, Tommy Smith, Ron Harris, Billy Bremner, Dave Mackay, Ian Ure - these guys would be serving time for aggravated assault if they played nowadays.
But weirdly enough the game has suffered without some of these types of players. Can you imagine what Tommy Smith would have done if an attacker tried a dive in the penalty box! The striker would be too busy finding his teeth if he tried something like that! The game back then was harder but it was more competitive and the refs let a lot of the niggling little fouls go. Nowadays you only have to make "contact" for there to be a foul. I honestly think that Football has lost some of the physicality and now panders too much the cheaters and divers who feign injury.
I remember a certain yong player making his debut for Norwich against Forest. Their 2 hard men Burns and Lloyd 'made their presence known' and 'welcomed' the younster. A few minutes later there was a scream as Lloyd went down and a young Justin Fashanu walked away looking the innocent newcomer.
I agree that the game has lost something without that type of character JWM. When i was doing my referees course back in the early 80s, Jack taylor came to give us a talk. He said he loved refereeing the hard men games, for the simple reason, with the exception of a couple, that they were blatantly hard and didn't try to do it in a sly way.
I believe Jack Charlton once said in an interview, "I wasn't a good player, but I could stop those that were."
Maestro I remember games when GBH was committed every week. Joe Jordan elbowed Beattie and he lost his front teeth but just got on with it! In the second half Beattie kicked Jordan 3 feet into the air but that was how it was in those days.
Do you remember Man ure playing Luton In a cup tie at Old Trafford JWM. Jordan went in a bit on the keeper. Aleksic (sp) I think it was. Ended up with a fractured jaw. Also didn't Bob Wilson get clobbered by Martin Chivers in a derby game? Think he ended up with a broken leg, but carried on playing becuase he didn't realise it was broken.
Never saw this bloke play, but by God I wish I had. 'Billy Whitehurst Known to the Hull faithful as Billy ‘Tightshirt’ one fan described the former bricklayer’s performances as ‘90 minutes of blood, thunder, brute force and mayhem’. Whitehurst was a real firebrand, and was once rumoured to be supplementing his wages at Oxford United by engaging in bare-knuckle fighting with local gypsies.' (Quoted from 2011, Sabotage Times article about fat strikers featuring our very own GH).
It has to be, purely based on one incident: Harold Schumacher. Took Battistons head off and didn't have a care in the world.
OK if we are going for hard men the I think Graham Souness springs to mind. Not tough as in strong and powerful but quite willing to do what he had to do. If we are talking tough as in Biffa Bacon characters then pound for pound it has to be Dave Mackay.
