I was a bit like Les Berry as teenager/twenty year old (CB/LB or RB) then in my thirties I was more like Steve Gritt playing CM/CB/RB/LB and Keeper basically anywhere we needed an extra body...... finished up playing in goal until one sunny sunday when a striker's knee rearranged by cheekbone and jaw.....
I was quite a decent player when I was at school and played at full back for my school and I was picked for North Kent schools. But I got worse the older I got. Played for a succession of Sunday League teams like OSA.
We seem to be a bit defender heavy on this board! The Not606 XI would have a worse scoring record than that of our current heroes!
Scored quite a few goals in Sunday league matches, mainly passing the ball into the net, so would definitely have to be Jimmy Greaves...
Blend of Church, Pritchard, and the Energizer Bunny. As a youth I started my own team just so I could get a game, but I ran it so well that when many others joined I was soon squeezed out of the XI, So I ended up with all the hassle and none of the fun.
Me too Ponders... I had a 2 week trial with our beloved Charlton. At the time I was 15 and playing mens first team semi pro football for Erith Town in the Kent Premier League. Our chairman got on the blower and recommended me to a couple of clubs. Former Luton (I think) manager Terry Westley was gaffer back then. Scotty Parker & Kevin Watson were in the youth set up when I was down there. Both of whom I knew well from my time playing alongside them in youth football for London Boys in Catford. Also in the youth set up was Anthony Allman, John Fortune, Charlie Macdonald & Kevin Hales (son of Derek Hales). There was also a tremendous player there called Yaz who I recognised as playing for Valley Valliants in youth football. He was as classy a CB as you're ever likely to see. How he didn't make it is beyond me...!! Charlie Macdonald was a brilliant CF with great movement. He was great with his back to goal and used to release the ball and spin off either foot unbelievably fast. He too play for Valley Valliants and was a real handful. Parker didn't train too much during that two weeks because if memory serves he was carrying a thigh strain. I gave a decent account of myself and felt I held my own. I sat down with Keith Peacock and Westley at the end of the two weeks and they said I was on a par with a couple of the second year scholars in my position (CB/sweeper). They wanted to send a scout down to have a shufty at how I acquitted myself in mens football. So, in a pre season friendly against Greenwich Borough and maybe a little eager to maintain my place in the Erith Town side I flew into a tackle that I had no right to contest and tore my medial ligament. Our physio at the time was former Charlton physio and one of the nicest men I've ever had the pleasure of meeting, Bill Gallagher. As well as the Charlton interest going up in smoke, I missed out on a two week England School's training camp at Keel University in Stoke. After the knee injury and a lengthy spell on the sidelines I kept picking up niggly little injuries and really struggled to regain the level of fitness required. That constant struggle coupled with the disappointment of missed opportunities resulted in me losing heart to be honest. Anyway, I enjoyed my football up until the age of 23 when I had to hang em up once and for all. 7 operations on my right knee including an ACL reconstruction and cartilage transplant meant I needed to knock it on the head or have my knee replaced by the time I was 30. I would love to have a crystal ball to see what could've been if I'd skipped out of that one challenge. I more than likely would've ended up like the thousands of other kids who "nearly made it" I suppose... who knows...? Anyway, I digress... which former Charlton player was I most like...? I like to think that I was a mixture of Simon Webster and Richard Rufus. I used to read a game pretty well, whilst relishing a physical battle, and I was pretty comfortable with the ball on the deck.
Thanks for that interesting account of your career, Franco. Knee injuries are a bugger, aren't they? Reading the game was always the great mystery to me. My moment of enlightenment came when one of my team-mates who was a good friend burst out laughing and said "You've got no f***ing football brain at all, mate!" He was right. After that I played in goal whenever possible, and was able to study the way some players were able to find space in attack and read the game in defence.
