Hull City’s Golden Generation: An Interview with Ben Burgess

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In the first in a series of interviews with a number of Hull City’s most influential players of the last few decades, HCST talk promotions, cruciate ligaments, and Ashbee ‘smashing in to opponents’ with ‘Big’ Ben Burgess – the Tigers’ top goal-scorer in their historic 2003/04 promotion campaign.

Following shorts stints at Australian side Northern Spirt, Brentford, Stockport and Oldham, after coming through the youth ranks at Blackburn Rovers, Burgess was signed by City in March 2003 by manager Peter Taylor. ‘Big Ben’ went on to form a formidable striking partnership with Australian Danny Allsopp as City finished 2nd in Division Three in 2004, contributing to the Tigers’ first promotion in 19 years.

For many Hull City fans the 03/04 season represented the start of the club’s ‘Golden Decade’ – the beginning of the Tigers’ journey to the top tier of English football. After decades of underachievement and disappointment, the 03/04 season represented a sea change, not only on the pitch, but also in the mood around the club and the City as a whole. This is a view shared by Burgess.

“My first year at Hull was one of the best of my career. Playing in front of over 20,000 passionate fans every other week is a great experience, regardless of division. I fell in love with Hull and we bonded fantastically as a team.” Burgess explains.

“There was me, Boaz, Delaney and Alton Thelwell who lived within about 100 metres of each other. We spent all our time together and became very close which helped on the pitch.”

During his time at City Burgess played alongside the likes of Ian Ashbee, Andy Dawson, Ryan France, and Boaz Myhill, all of whom went on to represent the club in the top flight. While the potential of some of these players, notably young goalkeeper Bo Myhill, was clear to see from the outset, few predicted the likes of Ashbee, Dawson or France playing at the top level of the game.

“I knew Boaz was destined for great things. He’s the best keeper I’ve played with and he was doing so well at such a young age at Hull. The others I knew were great players but nobody could have dreamt of the success the club and themselves would go onto have. It was testament to how hard each of them had worked to reach the top of their profession.”

He recalls, “Ash was an inspirational captain and almost dragged the team through some games on his own. People hated playing against him and watching him smash into the opposition would lift everybody.”

Like Ian Ashbee, who had a short stint playing in Iceland prior to joining the Tigers, Burgess served his footballing apprenticeship playing abroad. After coming through the youth ranks under managers Brian Kidd, Tony Parkes, and Graeme Souness at Blackburn Rovers, ‘Big Ben’ spent time on loan in Australia, turning out for the Sydney based side Northern Spirit FC, during the 2000/01 season.

“The experience was wonderful and unique. I was only just 18 and had played a couple of first team games under Graeme Souness, but then he decided I could go on loan. He said my options were Rochdale or a team in Sydney who were owned by Glasgow Rangers at the time.”

“I had my own apartment and car and had to learn to fend for myself. I had a great time there and even managed to get the U21 player of the year for the League.”

Short stints at Brentford, Stockport and Oldham followed before Burgess signed for Peter Taylor’s Hull City in 2003. Burgess admits that Taylor’s presence, along with the apparent ambition shown by the club during this period, played key roles in his decision to sign for the Tigers.

“He [Peter Taylor] was the major factor in me signing. The previous season I’d played against his Brighton team for Brentford and was impressed with his style of play and how he was as a person. He also had a fantastic reputation as a coach” He explains.

“I was not enjoying my time at Stockport County under Carlton Palmer and was craving a manager to believe in me, and a club that was ambitious. We finally got the deal done on deadline day and as soon as I’d spoke to PT and was shown around the ground I was really excited.”

Just three months after signing, fellow striker Danny Allsopp joined Burgess at the KC ahead of the 03/04 season. Burgess and Allsopp hit it off immediately, scoring 33 goals between them in the league, leading to what many City fans consider the best Hull City strike partnership since Chilton and Wagstaff.

The 6’3” target man recalls, “Peter Taylor obviously thought we had elements of our game that would complement each other but even I was surprised how quickly we gelled. I just knew instinctively where Danny would be and he would make fantastic runs to get onto my flick-ons and through balls. His finishing was brilliant and off the pitch we got on just as well.”

Unfortunately, ‘Big’ Ben suffered a serious cruciate ligament injury against Huddersfield Town during the second-to-last home game of the 03/04 season, subsequently missing much of the side’s 04/05 League One campaign. This injury not only affected Burgess’ Tigers career, but also his footballing career more generally.

“Without doubt that injury affected my whole career. Up until that point I’d started every game for Hull and started over 50 games the season before at Brentford. Subsequently I struggled to play midweek games due to not being able to walk from the Saturday fixtures.”

He adds, “It’s hard to say whether I would have played at a higher level but the fact that I could only train twice a week certainly didn’t help me achieve my potential.”

Burgess left City in 2006 after struggling to recapture his regular place in the Tigers’ starting XI, choosing to join League One Blackpool for an initial fee of £25,000. He went on to earn two promotions with Blackpool, including promotion to the Premier League after a play-offs victory in 2010.

“I was lucky to go to a team like Blackpool who had the early foundations of a great team and a similar team spirit to the one I’d left behind at Hull” Burgess explains.

“The club itself and finances were a million miles from Hull but somehow through excellent managers and determined players we went on a similar journey to that of Hull’s. The promotions were wonderful moments alongside some great teammates.”

After short spells with Notts County, Cheltenham Town, and Tranmere Rovers, Burgess hung up his boots for the final time in 2010. Since retiring he has trained both as a sports journalist and a primary school teacher.

“There are elements of the game that I do miss like the camaraderie and the great feeling you get when you achieve something special as a team” Burgess reflects.

“Conversely I do not miss being unable to walk for three days after a game or the constant rehab and solitude of being injured! I finished at the right time.”

Burgess scored 24 league goals in 70 appearances for the Tigers between 2003 and 2006, helping to kick-start City’s climb up the football league ladder. When asked about his fondest memories from his time at the Circle, Burgess recalls, “Scoring any goal at the KC was always a wonderful moment. The biggest highlights were the standing ovation on my comeback and then the sheer relief I felt when I scored my first goal since my comeback against Brighton at home in front of a packed KC.”

“I really enjoyed the feeling of standing in the tunnel before each game in that first season with teammates I loved and who I knew would run through brick walls for each other on the pitch.”

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Hull City’s Golden Generation: An Interview with Scott Wiseman

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This week HCST talk cleaning boots, Andy Dawson’s managerial attributes, and international duty with Gibraltar, with Hull-born Tigers Academy graduate, Scott Wiseman.

Hull-born defender Scott Wiseman joined Hull City at the age of just six years old, where he gradually made his way through all ranks of the youth-team set up under the watchful eye of Hull City’s Centre of Excellence manager Billy Russell. During an era where Hull City’s Academy produced very few professional players, Wiseman broke into Peter Taylor’s first team in 2003, making his first appearance against Kidderminster Harriers during the 2003/04 season. After a string of loan-moves Wiseman left the KC in 2007 and has gone on to have a successful career, playing for the likes of Barnsley, Preston and Scunthorpe United, as well as International football for Gibraltar.

Wiseman is a good illustration of the importance of timing in football. It could very well be argued that he was ironically a victim of the Tigers’ success during the period he was breaking into the first team, and that had it been a different generation he would still be wearing the famous Black and Amber shirt. A very modest Wiseman agrees.

“I don’t think it was that I was never given a chance at Hull. Unfortunately for the youth players when I was there, the club had a large cash injection for the first team so there were always at least two experienced players in front of the likes of me, so getting a chance was hard to come by.”

“By the time I returned from my loan at Rotherham, Peter Taylor had left for Palace, Phil Parkinson had come in and been sacked, and Phil Brown had never met me, let alone seen me play, so the writing was on the wall when I returned.”

Wiseman first joined the Tigers at the age of six, when the club was languishing in the fourth division, having never played top flight football. In many ways his time at City perfectly represented not only the rise of Hull City as a club, but also the evolution of modern football over recent decades.

Wiseman recalls, “I’d always been a Hull City fan as a boy, we used to get given a season ticket by the club for being in their Centre of Excellence and I used to love going to Boothferry Park. However, the club is a completely different beast these days from what I remember.”

“We used to keep the kit and balls in a white house on the main road near Boothferry Park, and we had to take it to the laundry at the back of the stadium so that it was ready for the first team. I don’t even think the Hull lads these days will even clean the pro’s boots! It’s a different world.”

The full-back is one of very few players of his generation to make it as a professional after coming through at City, and was singled out as a potential star by Billy Russell for a very early age. Indeed, the arrival of Peter Taylor in 2002 also proved key in Wiseman’s development, with appearances for England’s under-20 side coming in 2005 on the recommendation of Taylor himself.

Wiseman explains, “I don’t think anyone should underestimate the value and effect Billy [Russell] had on me and the lads at Hull. I don’t think I’ve heard a bad word said about him from a player, and in my eyes he’s not just a huge part of the youth set-up, but also a huge part of Hull City as a club. Even now, nine years after I’ve left, if I ask a youth player from Hull how Billy is they are full of praise for him.”

“Equally, I’ll always be grateful to Peter [Taylor] for what he did for my career from an early age. Most of all, he wanted men in his team, to be big and strong and know your responsibilities. So as a young lad coming through he made me very aware of what he wanted from me. This was something I greatly respected, and something I still remember to this day” he adds.

During his development at City, Wiseman played alongside a number of the club’s modern greats, including the ‘famous four’ who went on the represent the Tigers’ in all four professional divisions of the Football League – Ashbee, Dawson, Myhill, and France. Andy Dawson, in particular, played a huge role in Wiseman’s development, however, Wiseman, like so many others, never dreamt these players would represent Hull City in the Premier League.

“I used to look up to Daws as a young player, especially being a fellow full back, and you could always see he had the ability to progress. It was hard to see if anyone would cope with the top flight as they did, as you see so many players make the jump and fail, but it’s a testament to their individual characters that they stood up to the challenge for themselves and more importantly for Hull” Wiseman reflects.

Perhaps somewhat ironically, Andy Dawson, Wiseman’s role model during his time at the Circle, became his manager for a brief period earlier this year at Scunthorpe United following the sacking of Mark Robins. Despite missing long sections of the season through injury, Wiseman made 18 appearances for the Iron last season, helping the side finish 7th in League One, narrowly missing out on the Play-offs on goal-difference.

Wiseman explains, “Andy Dawson has been great this year, especially when the manager was sacked. It was a big ask as the lads were low on confidence but he was a massive part in picking everyone up and refocussing us for the end of season run we ended up having.”

“Personally it was a tough season. I carried an injury for pre-season which set me back and then ended up with having an operation in the new year, but I’m back fit now and looking forward to pre-season fit and healthy. The club itself have a great Chairman who has a big vision for Scunthorpe and has financially backed the club with the squad we have. Also, with a new stadium on the way, it should be an exciting time for the club within the next few years”

Interesting, Wiseman made the decision in 2013 to represent one of FIFA’s newest recognised nations, Gibraltar, on the international stage. Since then, he has represented the British territory seven times, being a regular starter in the side’s ultimately unsuccessful qualification campaign for Euro ’16.

“My grandparents were living in Gibraltar during the 60’s and my Mum and Uncle were both born out there, making me eligible on my mother’s side” Wiseman explains.

“I have loved every minute of my Gibraltar journey. A second chance at international football rarely comes along, so I was always going to take it. We have just been accepted into FIFA so going into the World Cup qualifiers next season will be fantastic.”

The 30-year-old full-back has one year left on his current contract at Scunthorpe, and has no plans to retire in the near future. However, Wiseman has started planning for when his footballing career does come to an end. Unlike many former pros, Wiseman has no desire to pursue a career within football as a manager or coach, instead choosing to go into business.

Wiseman explains, “As much as I love football, I’ll be going in a different direction. I already have a business call Zaddik.co.uk up-and-running. We sort bespoke mortgages, investments and wills. I myself am about to complete my mortgage advisor qualifications so will be focussing on the mortgage side and my partner sorts the investments.”

Wiseman made 16 first-team appearances for the Tigers between 2003 and 2007, and spent 15 years at the club in total. When asked about his fondest memories from his time at City, Wiseman reflects, “I will definitely always associate Hull with my debut against Kidderminster. It’s a bit of a bittersweet one I suppose! Bittersweet because, unfortunately Lee Marshall broke his leg after 10 minutes, however, this provided an opportunity for me to make my debut. I remember nothing of the game except the elation of the final whistle and realising I had played my first professional game.”

“I loved my time at Hull City. During my time there, the club was always run in a professional manner regardless of division or status. It’s magnificent to see where the club is today and it makes me feel proud to be from Hull.”

http://hullcitysupporterstrust.com/hull-citys-golden-generation-an-interview-with-scott-wiseman/

 

Hull City’s Golden Generation: An Interview with Lawrie Dudfield

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This week, HCST speak to former Hull City striker Lawrie Dudfield about record transfer fees, that partnership with Gary Alexander, and ‘stalking’ West Ham legend Tony Cottee.

After starting his football career at Kettering Town, Dudfield signed for Premier League Leicester City as an 17-year-old in 1998. Dudfield made two first team appearances for the Foxes before signing as Hull City’s record transfer in 2001, for £250,000. During his two years on Humberside he scored 17 goals in 59 appearances, memorably enjoying a fruitful strike partnership with Gary Alexander during the 2001/02 season. Unfortunately, despite a strong start, City finished the season in a disappointing 11th place in Division Three. Despite an ultimately frustrating year, many City fans hold fond memories of the 01/02 season, associating it with a definite sea-change in the club’s fortunes. This is feeling shared by Dudfield.

“The 2001/2002 season is without doubt my best and most enjoyable experience in football, personally. However, it is also tinged with great sadness that we never got promoted that year. The truth is we were good enough to go up but we failed to reach our objectives and that was highly frustrating.”

“I can’t really put my finger on it to be honest. I do feel like we maybe had a lot of young lads (like myself) who came from Premier League Reserve teams and were used to playing every 2/3 weeks and that maybe the rigors of Saturday/Tuesday each week in League 2 took its toll in the New Year but the truth is that would be an excuse. We simply weren’t good enough after Christmas and the real disappointment for me is that we ultimately failed to get promotion and even worse, we let Brian [Little] down culminating in him getting the sack” he recalls.

“The positive from that season was that after a few tough years on and off the pitch, that 01/02 team has been kind of associated with the beginning of the new Hull City era. I think people began to see that Hull City were a club that were going paces.”

It was manager Brian Little who made the decision to splash out on Dudfield in the summer of 2001. Little, who had previously managed Premier League sides Leicester City and Aston Villa, was a high-profile name in the fourth-tier of English football at this time, and this played a key role in bringing Dudfield to Boothferry Park. During his time at Leicester, Dudfield had been managed by Martin O’Neil, a manager whose style could not have been much different from that of Little. Interestingly, these vastly contrasting experiences helped to develop Dudfield as a player.

As the striker explains, “I’d never been to Hull before, but signing for Brian was a massive factor for me and it’s an honour for me that I’ve stayed in touch with him and speak to him three or four times a year. Brian is a proper gentleman and a real players’ manager.”

“[In contrast], Martin’s style was very much based on his own mentor Brian Clough – He had the Scare Factor, and I’m not just talking about me. We had big characters at Leicester – Stan Collymore, Neil Lennon, Robbie Savage, Steve Walsh, Matty Elliott, the list goes on, but they were all fully aware of who the boss was. He was a thinker and a real disciplinarian, but ultimately a huge inspiration to me personally. He gave me my Premier League debut at Leicester City and I’ll always be thankful to him for that.”

Despite becoming City’s record transfer, at a reported £250,000, Dudfield never appeared to let the price-tag weigh too heavily on his shoulders, scoring 14 goals in 39 appearances for the Tigers during his first season, as well as forging a formidable partnership with fellow striker, Gary Alexander.

Dudfield reflects, “The truth is that becoming Hull City’s Record Signing in 2001 never bothered me in the slightest. The only thing that it filled me with was immense pride, which still sits with me today. I was, and am, extremely honoured to have had that privilege of that mantle bestowed upon me. It never weighed me down at all. I was a 21-year-old playing first team football week-in, week-out for the first time and it was just a really good time in my life.”

“Without doubt the partnership with Gary Alexander was the best of my career and I think Gary would probably say the same. I always played as that second striker running the channels etc, whereas Gaz was an out and out goal-scorer, and we clicked from the first minute both on and off the field. We never worked on it – it just came naturally. Football is strange like that and I thoroughly enjoyed our period together.”

He adds, “we socialized off the pitch and became good friends and have stayed in touch and met up over the years. We still talk regularly and Gary has now taken his first steps into management at Greenwich Borough and I’m sure he’ll be a huge success. I plan to visit one of his games next season and catch up over a beer or two!”

Dudfield’s second season at Boothferry Park was admittedly less successful. Little was replaced by Jan Mølby towards the end of the 01/02 season, but despite making a number of inspired signings, Mølby was sacked within a year.

“I’d like to say it was an honour to have Jan appointed as manager as I’d obviously grown up watching him. He straight away called myself and Gary in and said that we were pretty much the only two he was looking to keep and I must say he made probably the most important signings that the club has ever made. Players like Ian Ashbee and Stuart Elliott were signed by Jan and they have obviously written themselves into the history books for their fantastic and well-deserved achievements.”

Dudfield explains, “The reality was that Jan wasn’t really a likeable guy to the players (almost the polar opposite of Brian). He was quite an arrogant individual and many players, including those either signed by him or who had even played for him before, weren’t bowled over by him stopping training on numerous occasions to let us know we “were sh*t” and he was still the best player in training! Don’t get me wrong he couldn’t move and was loud and brash but he was definitely right about being the best player still!”

“Nobody was overly happy and Jan didn’t care. It was a shame actually as I personally quite liked Jan, however, he made a lot of changes when probably only a few were needed. He deserves credit though for those signings and how good they became for Hull City.”

Dudfield fell out of favour with Mølby’s successor, Peter Taylor, and was subsequently sent out on loan to Northampton in 2003. Somewhat ironically, Taylor had also been the manager who sold the striker to City as Leicester manager just two years earlier.

“You know what, it’s funny actually. The truth is that Peter and I have and always have had a very good relationship! I liked him as a person and I’m sure he would say the same, he just didn’t, for whatever reason, take to me as a player! It started after I had made my Premier League debut for Martin O’Neill. Martin left to become Celtic manager and we all heard all the rumours but I was delighted when they appointed Peter as manager to replace him, as Peter had a history of working with young players. I really thought that would be my time. I remember he signed Ade Akinbye for £5 million and also Stan Collymore was still there. We played the first pre-season game away at Wycombe and we won 3-0 with Ade, Stan and myself scoring. I was on Cloud 9 but I never played a single minute of pre-season after that and was left off the clubs pre-season tour.”

The former striker recalls, “It was all very disappointing and despite making the bench a few times in the Premier League after that I knew that I needed to get out and have a fresh start. I went to Chesterfield and really hit the ground running and that’s where things started to take off for me. I was never happy to just sit there and take the money, so when Peter decided to accept an offer of £250,000 from Hull City my mind was made up to go and enjoy a fresh start.”

“As regards when Peter took over from Jan at Hull City, I knew straight away that my time was up despite being record signing. I towed the party line and said all the right things but the reality is Peter just never fancied me as a player and as a player you need a manager who believes in you. I must give Peter credit though, in 2007 I was at Notts County and we knocked a full strength Crystal Palace side out of the second round and I scored which was obviously bitter sweet for me. As I walked off at Half Time after scoring Peter made his way up to me, put his arm round me and said “Why do you always play well against me Lawrie” and I just smiled and laughed it off. At the end of the game having knocked them out he invited me into his Manager’s Office at Selhurst Park and gave me the match ball as a memento. It was a very nice touch and its things like that which always made me respect him even if we didn’t always see eye to eye with football.”

Dudfield is a self-confessed ‘football geek’, and in a recent interview with Amber Nectar, he admitted writing to hundreds of footballers as a child, asking for autographs and advice. Incredibly, many wrote back providing advice for the young Lawrie Dudfield.

He explains, “I was a ‘football geek’ of the highest order. I began writing letters to players around 12 years old. I had literally hundreds and then I started to write to foreign players as well and would be buzzing when I would see foreign envelopes come through the post form great players like Pagliuca, Lombardo, Michel Pruedhomme and Tomas Brolin! In fact, when I go into schools in Hull with my City Stars Company, I always use this as an example – When I was 14 I wrote a letter to Tony Cottee who was my hero. I would always write for a signed photo but also ask them some really silly questions that I wanted to know the answer to, just to get into the mind set of being a footballer. I would ask them what their favourite game was, best goal, who their roommate on away trips was etc.”

“Anyway, 12 months ago I moved house and my mum gave me a big bag and said that she’d had them for years and I needed to decide what I wanted to do with them. I obviously wasn’t going to chuck them away so began to read through them. One of the first letters that I found was this…”

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“And the reason that I bring this up is because Tony Cottee was my hero as a footballer growing up. 6 years after writing that letter this happened – I made my Premier League Debut against Everton coming on for Tony Cottee!”

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Since retiring Dudfield has worked as a Community Manager for Nottingham Forest, as well as running two football-based companies, operating both in the UK and abroad. However, it did not come easily for the former goal-scorer, and like many former pros, Dudfield struggled immediately after retiring from professional football.

“Since my retirement I spent 5 years working as the Community Manager for Nottingham Forest. Community was always a passion of mine as I very much saw this as an opportunity to give something back.”

“Don’t get me wrong there were tough and dark days leading up to this as I had to start in a part time voluntary position for 2 months leading to part time work (Maybe 2/3 hours a week) and then finally managed to get a full time position 9 months later. Those hours spent on £6 an hour were a real learning curve for me and put a real value on life after football for me. Around this time, probably the best decision I made was when I decided to undertake further education. Having not been “at school” for 17 years I decided to enroll on a BA Sports Management Course which ran through FIFPro, (World Players Union) and was basically a pilot project for 30 current and former players across Europe. After 3 and a half years of hard work I was delighted to be the only person from the UK to finish the course and obtain my Degree. This subsequently led me to where I am today”

“I have two companies, which I run on a day-to-day basis. Firstly Iconz Experience where I run UK Soccer Tours from Australia, the US and the Middle East. Predominantly this is aimed at children’s teams, however, in March this year I ran the Tampa Bay Rowdies Pre-Season Tour. On top of this, I set up City Stars in Hull which is a Community Organisation who send coaches into schools to run a series of projects based on Obesity, Languages, Mentoring, Anti-Racism and much more. My favourite project is our RESPECT campaign where I send current Football League Referee Carl Boyeson into Primary Schools to tackle lots of very current issues that our youngsters face. Community will always be close to my heart and the charity continues to go from strength to strength.”

Despite only spending two years with Hull City, and making just over 50 appearances, Dudfield remains a firm fans favourite at the club. As Dudfield alludes to, for many the 2001/02 season represents the start of the so-called golden generation for City fans, and Dudfield as an individual represents this special season.

“I’ve watched a club and a city grow over the last 15 years into something amazing. From a pipe dream to reality. My eldest daughter lives in Hull so I’ve never really left. Even though I’m based in Nottingham, I’m up in Hull 2 or 3 days a week and I love it. I’ve watched this city flourish into a vibrant place that is very soon to be the City of Culture and deservedly so. In fact probably the best day of my career was when I actually wasn’t even playing! I went as a fan to watch City v Arsenal in the FA Cup Final and as I walked up Wembley Way a number of City fans started singing my song and it was just so surreal. A truly amazing moment for me personally.”

He adds, “For whatever reason Hull City fans have always seemed to have taken to me and it’s something I can’t really explain, but something that makes me feel immensely proud. I took my daughter to the recent Play-Off final like I promised her I would, and it makes me proud but also smile and laugh inside when we see the occasional Dudfield shirt now even after all this time. My daughter pokes me and chuckles proudly and asks me all about what’s it like to play for Hull City. I always tell her the same thing. An absolute privilege and something that will stay with me for the rest of my life.”

http://hullcitysupporterstrust.com/hull-citys-golden-generation-an-interview-with-lawrie-dudfield/