[nico21horia]

Ruud Gullit

http://www.fanat.com.ua/info/gb/1987/gullit-1987.jpg
Birthplace: Sept 1, 1962, Amsterdam, Holland
Played for: Haarlem (79-82)
Feyenoord 82-85)
PSV Eindhoven (85-87)
AC Milan (87-93, 94)
Sampdoria (93-94, 94-95)
Chelsea (95-96)

Biography: Dutch League Championship and Dutch FA Cup 1984 (Feyenoord).
Dutch League Championships 1986 & 1987 Dutch Footballers of the Year 1986 & 1987 (PSV Eindhoven)
European Footballer of the year, 1987
World Club Championship and European Super Cup Winner 1990 (AC Milan)
European Cups 1989 & 1990 (AC Milan)
Italian League Championships 1988, 1992 & 1993 (AC Milan)
Italian FA Cup 1994 (Sampdoria)
English FA Cup, 1997 (Chelsea, as manager)
European Championship 1988
Two spectacular seasons at PSV prompted Silvio Berlusconi to take Ruud Gullit to Milan for a then
World record fee of £6 million. Crowned European footballer of the year, Gullit inspired Milan to their
first scudetto in almost a decade and starred in Holland's European Championship triumph that
summer, scoring the opening goal in the final against the USSR.

Gullit made a rapid recovery from a knee injury in time to play in the 1999 European Cup final
against Steaua Bucharest and scored the first two goals in the now legendary 4-0 victory before
being substituted. Gullit was to pay a heavy price for an early comeback and missed the majority
of the following season with another knee injury although ironically returned to play in a second
successive European Cup final.

Fully fit Gullit returned to form but Milan ended the 1990-1991 season in disgrace, finishing third in
the league and banned from European - trailing to Marseille the floodlights failed and Milan walked
off the pitch in protest.

Gullit and new Milan coach Capello never saw eye to eye. Following another series of injuries and
talk of conflict in the dressing room between Gullit and Baresi Gullit was sold for a nominal fee to
Sampdoria. Given a free role he was a spectacular success scoring 16 goals for the Genoa club, his
best tally in Serie A. He returned from self imposed exile to the Dutch national team weeks before
the 1994 World Cup only to walk out on his team-mates on the eve of the finals after arguments
over tactics with coach Dick Advocat.

Gullit rejoined Milan before dressing room tension surfaced again and he was sent back to Sampdoria.

Tempted by the London night life Gullit ended his playing career with glamour boys Chelsea as
sweeper, a position he played earlier in his career with equal success i.e. little. He went on to
manage the London club to FA Cup final victory before his ego got in the way again and he jumped
before being pushed. He had a disastrous spell in charge at Newcastle famously falling out with
local idol Alan Shearer and leaving the club rock bottom of the league before quitting in 1989.

At his peak between the mid to late 80's Gullit was unquestionably one of the best players in the
World and one of the most recognisable due to his long dread locked hair. Gullit had everything,
pace, power, vision and sensational technique. Equally effective in attack or on the right side of
midfield. More so than his dodgy knees his problems with team-mates, coaches and playboy
life-style prevented him from reaching even greater heights.

[nico21horia]

Diego Armando Maradona

http://www.biografiasyvidas.com/biografia/m/fotos/maradona.jpg
Birthplace: October 30, 1960, Argentina
Played for: Argentinos Jrs (ARG)
Boca Juniors (ARG)
Barcelona (ESP)
Napoli (ITA)
Sevilla (ESP)

Biography: Born on October 30, 1960 in the poor slums of Villa Fiorito in the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Diego grew up with soccer. He was nicknamed "El pibe de oro" (the golden boy): he started in Argentinos Juniors, then joined Boca Juniors and led the Argentina youth team to win the world cup in 1979. After the 1982 world cup in Spain, when he was already an idol, he joined Barcelona and played in Spain for two seasons. In 1984 he joined Napoli and won here two Italian Championships in 1986/87 and 1989/90, a Coppa Italia (1987), an UEFA cup (1989) and a Supercoppa Italiana (1990). In the mean time, he was the hero of Argentina's triumph in Mexico 1986 World Cup since he led the team to the final victory. Unfortunately, after failing a dope test in 1991 he was banned from the soccer fields. After the suspension, he went to Spain to play for Sevilla and then back to Argentina with Newell's Old Boys. Then, after a pair of coachings in Argentina, he came back to Boca Juniors.

In the World Cup of 1994 in the USA, Maradona was tested after the match against Nigeria and was found to have used "ephedrine", not permitted by FIFA. He was suspended from playing soccer for more than a year as punishment. Although Argentina came in with a strong team in the 1994 World Cup, everything went downhill and, without their captain, they were soon defeated.

After the suspension, he started playing again for Boca Juniors until 1997: on October 30, 1997, on his 37th birthday, he retired from football.

Oct.30, 1960: Diego Armando Maradona was born in Lanús, in the outskirts of Buenos Aires. He is the fifth of the eight children of Diego Maradona and Dalma Salvadora Franco.
Dec.5, 1970: Starts playing with the Cebollitas, the youth team of Argentinos Juniors
Oct.20, 1976: Plays his first match in the Argentine top division with Argentinos Juniors against Talleres de Córdoba, ten days before his 16th birthday, replacing Giacobetti at the beginning of the second half and wearing the shirt number 16.
Nov.14, 1976: Scores his first goal against Lucangioli, goalkeeper of San Lorenzo de Mar del Plata.
Feb.27, 1977: Plays his first match with the Argentina national team against Hungary.
May 1978: Cesar Menotti, the coach of Argentina, does not include him in the list of the 22 players for the world cup saying that Diego is too young to handle pressures.
Jun.2, 1979: Scores his first goal with Argentina, in Glasgow against Scotland
Sep.7, 1979: Leads Argentina to win the youth world cup in Japan scoring a goal on free kick as well in the final won 3-1 against USSR.
Feb.19, 1981: Joins Boca Juniors.
Feb.22, 1981: Makes his debut with Boca winning 4-1 against Talleres de Córdoba and scoring two goals.
Aug.16, 1981: Wins the Argentine championship with Boca Juniors.
Jun.4, 1982: Joins Barcelona .
Sep.24, 1983: Suffers the worst injury of his career when Andoni Goicoechea, defender of Athletic Bilbao, breaks his left ankle and the ligament.
Jun.30, 1984: Joins Napoli
Jul.5, 1984: Introduction to the Napoli fans -photo!- with an unforgettable party
Jun.22-29, 1986: Scores the famous goal with the "Hand of God" and then scores a magnificent second goal winning 2-1 against England in the quarter-finals of the world cup in Mexico. Leads Argentina to the triumph defeating West Germany 3-2 in the final.
May 10, 1987: Leads Napoli to win the first Scudetto of the history of the club. (photo of the team)
May 17, 1989: Wins the UEFA Cup with Napoli, that gets the first victory ever in an international competition.
Aug.-Sep. 1989:Spends two months in Argentina, failing to come back before the start of the tournament.
Apr.29, 1990: Wins the second Scudetto with Napoli.
Jul.8, 1990: Leads Argentina to the final of the world cup in Rome and loses 1-0 against West Germany with a very discussed penalty.
Mar.17, 1991: Found positive in a dope test, is banned from football for 15 months.
1992: Refuses to come back to Napoli after the ban and asks a transfer. Joins Sevilla.
Oct.4, 1992: Makes his debut with Sevilla, losing 2-1 against Athletic Bilbao.
Oct.10, 1993: Leaves Sevilla and joins Newell's Old Boys in Argentina. Loses the first match 3-1 against Independiente.
Oct.31, 1993: Comes back to the national team, playing in Sydney against Australia in the playoffs to qualify for the USA 1994 world cup. Draws 1-1 and the Argentine goal is due to a great play by Diego.
Nov.17, 1993: Argentina, captained by Maradona, wins 1-0 against Australia and qualifies for the world cup.
Dec.2, 1993: Plays his last match with Newell's against Huracán.
Jun. 1994: Plays two matches in the world cup and scores a great goal against Greece, before receiving a ban for using ephedrine, substance not allowed by FIFA.
Oct.3, 1994: First time as a coach: with Deportivo Mandiyú of Corrientes. Two months later he resigns.
May6, 1995: Second time as a coach: now with Racing. Four months later he resigns.
Oct.7, 1995: Comes back to play for Boca Juniors in the match Boca-Colón 1-0. The fans of Boca prepare for him a special party with fireworks and big celebrations in the stadium of the "Bombonera".
1996: Keeps playing with Boca Juniors.
Aug.24, 1997: Starts the new season with Boca in great shape, scoring a penalty in the match won 4-2 against Argentinos Juniors. He is found positive again, though it may have been a plot.
Oct.25, 1997: Plays his last match with Boca, winning 1-2 away against River Plate.
Oct.30, 1997: Decides to retire from football on the day of his 37th birthday.
1998: Does not play the world cup, but travels to France to comment the match for an Argentine tv channel.
Nov. 1998: Comes back to Italy after more than 7 years.
1999: Agrees to a movie about his life and takes part in the Italian movie "Tifosi" (photo).
Click here to read the latest news about Maradona, from January 2000 until today

[Carney]

Where did you get all this info from?

[Liam]

Where did you get all this info from?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Do a quick search on Google.

[ThisCharmingMan]

Pele


Real Name: Edson Arantes do Nascimento
Birthday: 23.10.1940
Birthplace: Tres Coracoes, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Occupation: Sport
Sign: Scorpio

Born Edson Arantes Do Nascimento is known as a legend and the best soccer player to ever play the game. He was raised in a very poor family in Tres Coracos, Brazil and his parents, Dondinho and Celeste Nascimento called Edson "Dico," growing up.

He first learned the game of soccer from his father, Dondinho, who was a decent center forward until his career was halted by a fractured leg.

Legend began playing soccer for a local minor-league club when he was a teenager. When he wasn't playing soccer he shined shoes for pennies. He was discovered at the age of 11 by one of the country's premier players, Waldemar de Brito. When Brito brought Legend to Sao Paulo he declared to the disbelieving directors of the professional team in Santos, "This boy will be the greatest soccer player in the world."

He was right! Legend's impact was immediate! On his first appearance for the team, against Corinthians F.C., he scored a goal right away. He was only 16. Legend went on to play in four World Cups with Brazil's National Team. At the 1958 World Cup in Sweden -- one he nearly missed because of a knee injury -- Legend stunned the world scoring six goals, including two in the championship game to help Brazil win its first World Cup 5-2 over Sweden. He was only 17 years-old, but a legend was born.

An average-sized man, he was blessed with speed, great balance, tremendous vision, the ability to control the ball superbly, and the ability to shoot powerfully and accurately with either foot and with his head. Four years later he played on Brazil's World Cup team at in the finals in Chile, but an injury suffered in the first game of the tournament prevented him from helping Brazil win its second title. Wealthy European clubs offered massive fees to sign the young player, but the government of Brazil declared Legend an official national treasure to prevent him from being transferred out of the country.

At the 1966 World Cup in England, Legend was the victim of some brutal tackles from Bulgarian and Portuguese defenders and left the finals injured and in tears. But the best of Legend was still to come. At the 1970 finals in Mexico, the 29-year-old Legend, led one of the greatest teams ever assembled to win Brazil's third World Cup. In the 4-1 title triumph over Italy, Legend, scored a glorious goal. It was Brazil's 100th World Cup goal, and the one he remembers the most.
"I have a special feeling for that goal because I scored it with my head," he said. "My father was a soccer player and once scored five goals in a game, all with his head. That was one record I was never able to break."

Legend's statistics are staggering. During his career he scored 1,280 goals in 1,360 games, second only to another Brazilian, Arthur Friedenreich, who recorded 1,329 goals. He scored an average of a goal in every international game he played--the equivalent of a baseball player's hitting a home run in every World Series game over 15 years. At the club level he shattered records in Brazil. He scored 127 goals for Santos F.C. in 1959, 110 in 1961 and 101 goals in 1965, and led the club to two World Club championships.

Legend also holds the world record for hat tricks (92) and the number of goals scored on the international level (97). His statistics are all the more amazing when compared to today's top players who can barely score more that 30 goals in a season. He retired from the game in 1974, but came out of retirement the following year to play in the North American Soccer League for the New York Cosmos for just over two seasons. A reported 7-million-dollar contract for three years made him the highest paid soccer player of the North American Soccer League. His appearance in the NASL gave the American League instant credibility and made millions of Americans aware of the sport, he dubbed the "beautiful game." He said he came out of retirement, not for the money, but to "make soccer truly popular in the United States." During his career he played in 93 full internationals for Brazil and in all first class matches scored a remarkable 1,280 goals, second only to Artur Friedenreich, another Brazilian, who holds the world record with 1,329

In many ways, Legend was the complete athlete. With his skill and agility, he could have played in any position on the field, but he chose on wearing the number-10 shirt as an inside-left forward. He had great balance, which enabled him to dribble effortlessly around defenders, and his heading ability was remarkable.

On Oct. 1, 1977, Legend's mission in the NASL ended. His last match, an exhibition game between the Cosmos and Santos, was sold out six weeks beforehand, covered by 650 journalists and broadcast in 38 nations. Muhammad Ali embraced him in the locker room before the match and said, "Now there are two of the greatest." In a speech to dignitaries, celebrities and more than 75,000 fans, Legend urged his audience to pay attention to the children of the world. At his request, the assemblage shouted, "Love! Love! Love!" Then he went out and played the first half for the Cosmos -- scoring a goal on a rocket from 30 yards out -- and the second half for Santos.

On Legend's retirement, J.B. Pinheiro, Brazil's ambassador to the U.N., said Legend had "spent 22 years playing soccer, and in that time he has done more for goodwill and friendship than all of the ambassadors ever appointed." In addition to his great accomplishments in soccer, he published several best-selling autobiographies, starred in several documentary and semi-documentary films, and composed numerous musical pieces, including the entire sound track for the film 'Legend' (1977). He was the 1978 recipient of the International Peace Award, and in 1980 he was named athlete of the century.

In 1993, Legend was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame and is the former ambassador of sports in Brazil. He has also done extensive work for children's causes through UNICEF.
In 2000, Legend was named second for the "Sportsman of the Century" award. The legendary Muhammad Ali got the honors.

[StepoverMaster]

George Best
Born: 22 May, 1946. Belfast, Northern Ireland



International Caps 37
International Goals 9
Teams Manchester United, Stockport County, Cork Celtics, Dunstable Town, Los Angeles Aztecs, Fulham, Fort Lauderdale Strikers, Hibernian, San Jose Earthquakes, Bournemouth, Brisbane Lions
Team Honours European Cup (1968)
League Division 1 (1965, 67)
Individual Honours Football Writers' Player of the Year (1968)
European Player of the Year (1968)
So, it is said, the man from room service inquired as he delivered vintage champagne to the former football genius in his suite at a plush hotel.
There was £20,000 in cash scattered on the bed which also contained the current Miss Universe.

For George Best the talent was all there. He should arguably have been Europe's answer to Pele and Maradona, sadly it was too much too soon for Mr Best and his desire for alcohol, women, gambling and his self-confessed arrogance, all of which accounted for a shockingly short career disallowed him from becoming the greatest ever.

He to this day says his lifestyle hasn't changed a bit.

He reached unimaginable heights with his outrageous skills in a career that lasted a mere six years at the top, before self-destructing into alcoholism, bankruptcy and jail.

To this day, Best maintains that nothing went wrong, that he just got bored with it all. The most he has ever conceded about that waiter's question is: "Perhaps he saw something I didn't."

But to see Best play in his prime was to be mesmerised by his dazzling ability. Few would argue that he is the most gifted footballer ever produced in the British Isles. There wasn't anything he couldn't do.

"He was quick, two-footed, beautifully balanced," his friend Michael Parkinson once wrote. "He could hit long and short passes with equal precision, was swift and fearless in the tackle and he reintroduced the verb 'to dribble'. He was as imaginative and whimsical in midfield as he was economical and deadly given a chance at goal."

He could also head brilliantly and he never shirked from defending when he had to. In short, he was the perfect footballer. But while he was Roy of the Rovers on the field, sadly he was Roy of the Ravers off it.

In those six magical seasons with United, he scored 115 goals in 290 games - six of them in one game! He won two League Championships, the European Cup and was voted European Football of the Year. Pele named him as his favourite player, which was remarkable considering Best's international career with Northern Ireland never allowed him the opportunity of appearing in the World Cup finals.

Best, then a charming, street-urchin of a lad, arrived in Manchester from Belfast in 1961 at the age of 15 with another young player called Eric McMordie. But the genius which was to beguile the football world nearly didn't get a chance to flourish. After just 24 hours at Old Trafford, Best and McMordie felt they had seen enough and fled back to Ulster. Best's father telephoned United's manager Matt Busby and within two weeks he was back at the club.

He turned professional in 1963 and made his debut that autumn at home against West Bromwich Albion who were then second in the League. Best had a fine game, giving West Brom's experienced full-back Graham Williams a roasting. One of his first moves was to show Williams the ball - and then he "nutmegged" him! United won 1-0 to keep them top of the table. Best had a hand in the goal, but he was replaced on the left wing for the next match by Ian Moir.

Yet there is a lovely story that years later Williams, the seasoned pro he had embarrassed, met Best and said to him: "Will you stand still for a minute so I can look at your face?" "Why?" asked Best. "Because all I've ever seen of you," explained Williams, "is your arse disappearing down the touchline."

Best was still finding it hard to settle in Manchester and, suffering from homesickness, took himself off to Belfast to spend Christmas with his family. While he was there the club got in touch. He was needed for Saturday's home game against Burnley who had thrashed United 6-1 at Turf Moor on Boxing Day.

Best, a might cheekily for a 17-year-old with only one League game under his belt, said he was available to play provided the club not only flew him to Manchester, but also back to Belfast immediately after the game. The club agreed. Perhaps that was the defining moment when the young Best realised he had made the big time - and that the big time meant you could indulge yourself with attention and demands.

United completely overturned that humiliating defeat, winning 5-1 and Best scored his first goal for the club. This time he was in the side to stay.

By January 1964, the great triumvirate of those golden days at Old Trafford was appearing in a match together for the first time. Law-Charlton-Best made their debut as perhaps the greatest combination in British football in the return match with West Brom at the Hawthorns. Conditions were bad and several players wore basketball shoes to combat the slippery surface.

United won 4-1 and, significantly, Law, Charlton and Best were the scorers, Law getting two. Best's goal is described by Graham McColl in his book, Manchester United in the Sixties, as the "best of the day."

"He took a neat pass from Law," wrote McColl, "angled himself clear of the West Brom defence and then squeezed the ball neatly between the posts from the tightest of angles."

It was typical Best flair that was to be repeated over and over again as he thrived at the heart of that incredible partnership.

The spectre of the Munich air crash in which eight of the Busby Babes had died in 1958 still hung over the club. Busby had said it would take five years to rebuild and recover - and it had, with the FA Cup being won in 1963 in a 3-1 victory over Leicester.

But what Best now offered was the catalyst to overcome those terrible memories. The team was playing football others could only dream about - and in Best they had found someone whose showmanship was so awesome that the Old Trafford crowds had a talisman to take away the pain. He didn't just beat defenders - he toyed with and tormented them.

Best was the direct heir of those tragic Babes - Roger Byrne, Tommy Taylor, Mark Jones, David Pegg, Geoff Bent, Eddie Colman, Billy Whelan and, of course, Duncan Edwards. And, incredibly, he was better than any of them.

But therein lay the crux of the Best problem. The expectancy, the pressures on him to perform at such a sustained level of greatness were so huge. He was, said the sportswriter David Miller, "fantasy brought to life." Yet those hopes were embodied in a character totally unsuited to deal with the demands on him. He was wayward and weak. And, in the end, the demons would win.

But at this point, in the spring of 1964, the glory years of vintage Best were emerging. United went so close to honours that season. They finished second in the League, reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup and the quarter-finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup in their first season back in Europe since Munich.

In all three competitions, United had finished second best only to the eventual winners and in 1964-65 it would come right.

They played some fabulous football that season, inflicting a 7-0 defeat on Aston Villa and a 10-1 aggregate hammering of Borussia Dortmund in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (forerunner of today's UEFA Cup). Dortmund were no mugs. They won the West German cup that year and the European Cup Winners' Cup the following season.

United won the League Championship and were back in the European Cup. By now Best had become the first showbusiness footballer. He was receiving 1,000 fan mail letters a week. He was dubbed "the fifth Beatle" because, in the days when players had short hair, his mop resembled those of the pop group. The boutiques, modelling assignments and personal appearances business was booming for Best.

It took its toll. United's early season form was poor. After eight League games, they had scored just eight goals. These were the days of attacking football, when big scores were not unusual, and United's total was the second lowest in the division. Best was dropped.

He missed United's comeback match in the European Cup against the minnows HJK Helsinki. United squeaked the first leg away 3-2. Best was reinstated for the home leg. But the man who had replaced him on the left wing, John Aston, kept his place. Best would play at inside right.

As if he needed to prove something, Best had a blinder. This was the stage he needed. The glamour of the European Cup. He scored twice, one of them a beauty as he glided through the Helsinki defence. United won 7-0. They were on their way.

A 7-1 aggregate victory over ASK Voerwaerts followed next before a clash with mighty Benfica in the quarter-finals. United won the first leg 3-2 at Old Trafford, but would it be enough to take to Portugal? Benfica had never been beaten in 19 European Cup matches in the Stadium of Light yet United, in one of their best performances, were to clip the wings of the Eagles of Lisbon.

The final score was 5-1. It was a shattering defeat for Benfica. Their star player Eusebio was in his prime and he had been presented with the European Footballer of the Year trophy just before the kick-off.

Busby's instructions had been to keep it tight for the first 15 minutes and see how things went. With just 12 minutes gone, Best had scored twice - once with a header, and the second a moment of magic as he beat three men before shooting past the goalkeeper.

Afterwards, Busby turned to Best and said wryly: "You obviously weren't listening."

The semi-final marked a return to Belgrade to play Partizan in the first leg. United went down 2-0, Best injured a knee and missed the rest of the season. His team-mates won the home leg 1-0, but the adventure was over for another year. United finished fourth in Division One. Busby's dream of winning the European Cup would have to wait.

The summer of 1966 was dominated by England's success in the World Cup. For Best, however, it was a period of recovery after having a cartilage operation. The rest did him good. On the opening day of the season against West Brom, Best, now on the right wing, scored in the first minute. He was back.

With no Europe to distract them, United won the title in style, wrapping up the Championship with a 6-1 drubbing of West Ham. Everything was set for the all-important assault on the European Cup and this would be the year that dreams came true.

First, however, United undertook a remarkable overseas tour. It began in May in Los Angeles, went on to New Zealand, and finished at the end of June in Western Australia. It was an extraordinary preparation for a season that would begin in just six weeks time.

Significantly, one of those tour matches was against Benfica. United lost 3-1.

United beat Hibernian Valletta of Malta and FC Sarajevo of Yugoslavia in the first two rounds of the European Cup before meeting Gornik Zabrze of Poland in the quarter-finals. They took a 2-0 lead from the first leg to Poland where they had to play on a snow covered pitch. It continued to snow during the match and United went down 1-0. But they were through to the semis where they would face Real Madrid. Busby told journalists: " I feel this is our year."

United held only a fragile 1-0 lead as they went to the Bernabeau for the second leg against Real. Law was out with an injury and by half-time United were 3-1 down. It seemed as if the dream was dying again.

Somehow United stuck to the task and miraculously came away with a 3-3 draw. At last, they had reached the European Cup Final.

The night of May 29 at Wembley was to be the fulfillment of United's prized ambition. The Red Devils of Manchester against the Red Devils of Lisbon . . the old foes, Eusebio's Benfica.

Benfica were vastly experienced. They had played 52 European Cup ties, winning 29. United had played 32 and won 20. Benfica, who had already won the trophy twice, were appearing in their fifth European Cup Final in eight years. It was United's first. And in Eusebio, Benfica had the second highest goalscorer of all time in the competition with 36, topped only by the peerless Di Stefano of Real Madrid with 49.

Just after half-time, Bobby Charlton put United in front with a rare header. There were only nine minutes to the final whistle when United's defence left Graca unmarked and he stunned the crowd with an equaliser. United were tiring, Benfica coming on strong. With time running out, Eusebio twice had good chances to grab the glory. Each time he was foiled by Alex Stepney in goal. Benfica were overunning United and looked certain to get the winner. Then the whistle went. United had the chance to regroup before extra time.

It was then that Best took the game by the scruff of the neck. He received the ball with his back to goal. He drifted past his marker with a characteristic swivel, ghosted past the goalkeeper and struck the ball home. Sheer magic.

"I used to dream about taking the ball round the keeper, stopping it on the line and then getting on my hands and knees and heading it into the net," Best said later. "When I scored against Benfica in the European Cup Final I nearly did it. I left the keeper for dead, but then I chickened out. I might have given the boss a heart attack."

Brian Kidd, United's present-day assistant manager, headed the third goal and Charlton, United's captain and link with the team of Munich, scored the last for a crushing 4-1 triumph.

United, and Best, however, had reached their pinnacle. Best was voted European Footballer of the Year, but within twelve months the cracks were appearing.

Best was sent off for fighting in the World Clubs Cup against the South American champions Estudiantes of Argentina. United's League form was poor and they finished the 1968-69 season in eleventh place. They got as far as the semi-finals in the European Cup, but at the end of the season, Busby retired.

His successor as team manager was Wilf McGuinness, an Old Trafford veteran who had been in charge of the youth team. He didn't last long before Frank O'Farrell took over.

Best began to drift. Even the great Sir Matt had his problems with him, but the other managers just could not control him. Best began to drink more and missed out on training. He was on the slippery slope.

There were still magical days, however, when he achieved the seemingly impossible. Such as an FA Cup fifth round tie at Northampton in the winter of 1970. Best was returning after suspension and gave a complete exhibition of his unique skills. United won 8-2. Best scored six of them!

Best's explanations are interesting. Whatever he lacked in self-discipline, he was never less than honest with himself. "I was born with a great gift," he said, "and sometimes with that comes a destructive streak.

"Just as I wanted to outdo everyone when I played, I had to outdo everyone when we were out on the town."

He once admitted that, when playing in America, he was living in a house by the sea. But as he had to pass a bar to get to the beach he never actually made it to the water.

And as Tommy Docherty said: "George was a fantastic player and he would have been even better if he'd been able to pass nightclubs the way he passed the ball."

The irony is, as Michael Parkinson said, that "the only tragedy George Best has to confront is that he will never know how good he could have been."

[Kings of the Kop]

BILLY LIDDELL

Birthplace: January 10 1922, Dunfermline Scotland

How do you start a Story about a LEGEND ?

The answer is quite simple really, its easier than you think. "WITH A TEAR IN YOUR EYE"

The 'Flying Scotsman' was born in Dunfermline on January 10, 1922, and could play as either a winger or centre forward. But by the time he made his 'official' first team debut for Liverpool, delayed by the war, Billy was 23-years-old but it wasn't long before he embarked on the success story that made him a legend in our City and earned the club he played for the nickname 'Liddlepool'. After 21 years and 537 games in which he scored 229 goals Billy 'hung up his boots' in 1960 as a hero.

And so the story starts.

Billy throughout his life, lived up to the highest standards and was a role model and inspiration to all playing the game then and for future generations to come, both ON & OFF the field. A superb athlete, he was one of the most complete players of his day and to many OLD FOGEY'S like meself, is still the greatest performer the club has seen. Away from the game he did a vast amount of voluntary work for local boys' clubs and after his retirement he became a magistrate, a lay preacher and bursar of Liverpool University. The unselfishness and sense of duty that guided his life outside football was also echoed on the park. Billy was never anything less than a model professional.

Billy was unfortunate that for the greater part of his career at Anfield, there were not enough other players of his ability at the club. A very modest man, he would deny that he was forced to carry the team by himself for long periods of any game. The fact that our team was called by the nickname "Liddellpool" only proved to be an emarassment to our Billy. Liddell won 28 caps for Scotland, a figure that does no justice to his amazing skills. Billy's modest international career was only compensated for by the sheer ADULATION he earned from his beloved KOP.

On his full debut, after the war, the hat-trick he scored showed that the powerful outside-left intended wasting little time in making his presence felt. Although Albert Stubbins scored the goals that won the championship that year, Albert never hid the fact that the vast majority of his chances were carved out for him by Liddell. During the 50's Billy's goals often pulled Liverpool out of trouble. But throught the same period the team began to go into decline and even Billy's individual brilliance and bravery could not prevent them from dropping out of the top flight.

The task of trying to haul Liverpool to promotion grew tougher and tougher, and when Billy finally decided to hang up his boots in1960 the Anfield side were still stranded in the Second Division. It took another Billy (SHANKS) to restore them to the top flight, but the exploits of OUR BILLY throughout his 20yr + career devoted to Liverpool Football Club show that greatness should not always be measured by a single Championship medal. Fans should always remember that Billy was Liverpool Football Club. He was its spirit. He was also its honesty, he was it's integrity, he was it's heart, and last but not least, it's passion.

To fans such as my Dad, Grandad and others of the pre-Bill Shankly generation he represented the true way the game should be played. The "Liddellpool" tag the club was awarded was no hype or coincidence. It was fact. My Dad always told me that Billy kept the team going virtually single-handed during that dispiriting eight year Second Division spell we endured in the fifties. I only saw Billy play once meself and so I have no real understanding of what he truly meant to the masses who adorned the KOP week in, week out.

Liverpudlians really did appreciate the knowledge that in "Our Billy" they possessed someone who was as good as any other footballer around including Mathews and Finney who were plying their trade at that time. Billy Liddell was the REAL DEAL. Billy's skills meant he was virtually unstoppable down either left or right wing, he was just as unstoppable at centre forward too. How hard he could hit that ball with either foot. His right foot was Dyamite and his left foot Thunder (borrowed from me DAD) Above all else he was a gentleman and a true sport. Whatever the provocation, whatever the circumstances, he was always a peerless ambassador for his club, his adopted City and his Country.

A man to be revered. I suppose it was the reverence for him that stood out above everything else. The sheer respect that existed for this truly unassuming man. Believe me when I say that, both Red and Blue alike had a mutual respect and awe of Billy Liddell. I have only ever encountered this for two others, one was Dixie Dean (another Billy) and the other was Bill Shankly himself. I think that says everything about the man.

Billy Liddell, I salute you. You were a true legend. You were my first footballing hero. You were the best of all because of your LOYALTY, you were ours alone. A true Hero. For the likes of me growing up in Liverpool during the late 50s, ie too young to have seen the man at his best, we simply hung onto the stories that our parents and families told, with a determination and gobsmacked awe. Liverpool were not the most successful side when I was a lad and we were desperate for any success (especially the FA Cup) which we still hadn't won and we were reminded daily by the snotty blue noses in our street. Even at that young age, deep down I knew our lowly place in the footballing echelon and craved success with every breath, but this was not something that you mentioned when talking to the SNOTTY's.

Every new season that started I stood firm in our street and shouted from up the tallest lampost that we would indeed win both the League and Cup that year. I had to be up the lampost they were all bigger than me and certainly too fat to climb a lampost. 40 years have passed now and I'm far too old to be climbing lamposts, but remember this....

You're never too old to stand in the middle of your street and scream at the top of your voice...

"LIVERPOOL ARE GONNA WIN THE CUP"
"LIVERPOOL ARE GONNA WIN THE PREM"
"LIVERPOOL ARE GONNA WIN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE"

and so the LEGEND grew ....................
Indulge me for a while and try and imagine with this Old Fogey if our greatest player Billy Liddell had been born in 1981 and had been blessed with half the footballing talent that those that saw him play knew he had.

He would now once again be a strapping 21 year old and just beginning his career. He'd have just signed a lucrative 5 year contract and would be a millionaire in the making. Liverpool and Scotland would be boasting a world class footballer, something Scotland would die for at the moment. The Kop would drool over his every touch and we would have a winger who was likely to score 20 goals a season. "3 goal a season" Damien Duff eat your heart out, this new winger can really play and has a ferocious shot in both boots. His popularity would not only rival that of Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen, it would dwarf it. The club shop would do a roaring trade in replica shirts emblazoned 'LIDDELL 11'. Funny really as Liddell played most of his games without a number.

The media would no doubt be full of speculation of the possibility of £35 million swoops from all the top European clubs, including the likes of Juventus, Inter or AC Milan, Real Madrid or Barcelona. But there would be no chance of Gerard Houllier parting with the jewel in the Anfield crown. Imagine as well a Liverpool attack boasting Liddell, Heskey, Baros, Owen and Diouf ! I know it sounds daft, but in those days 2 wingers, 2 Insides and a Centre forward was the norm.

We would be the scourge of the Premiership and the giants of Europe would bend at the knee in his presence, but Billy Liddell would have probably hated it all as well, because he was a very modest man. He was above all the stuff and nonsense of the so called great players of today, Yes, there was only one Billy Liddell.

"One Billy Liddell, there's only one Billy Liddell,
"One Billy Liddell, there's only one Billy Liddell"

"He gets the ball, he scores a goal, Billy, Billy Liddell.

"I'd walk a million miles for one of your goals, oh BILLY"

"Left foot Goal, Right foot Goal, up with his head and its another Goal".

Hat-tick king Liddell strikes again. Billy strikes more often than the miners, Fords and Standards does together.

OK dream over, Billy came from a different era, but I still doubt he would have been seen celebrating a goal by running to the corner flag or worse diving along the floor. 'sniffing' the touch line ? I think not. Also despite his God given talent he would never earn more than the majority of his team-mates of the forties and fifties. His career came to a finish with players earning around twenty quid a week, plus a few extra pound notes if they won and not the £40,000 a week earned today. Fair enough, back in the fifties that sort of money would have meant a reasonable standard of living, but it was hardly the sort of money that would allow a footballer to retire once he turned thirty, let alone drive around in custom made cars. You were more likely to see Billy riding a bike!

Today we fans often get criticised for daring to criticise the multi millionaires that are supposed to be entertaining us. The players did not create the ever increasing wage bill, rather it was directors who offered the money and lengthy contracts. So all this furore about asking players to take a cut should, well first tell their directors to look at their own wages and then beggar off. Following the Treble year, the Kopites were a happy bunch and so, no doubt, were all the players as their bank balances increased by a few more noughts. Yet even last season we had players doing more or less nothing to earn their money, ie sitting on the sick list (sorry Jamie Redknapp Lar, I couldn't help it) whilst throughout the nightmare nineties we had players earning a mere ten grand a week complaining that they were underpaid.

In Billy's day fans would vent their feelings, probably far more strongly than they do today, if they thought that someone wasn't pulling their weight, but even during the worst of times nobody could ever level that charge against Billy Liddell and the Famous Kop never booed the team off the pitch. No manager ever had to tell Billy Liddell to go out and do his best because Billy never gave anything less than his best in every game he played and he played EVERY week.

I argue with mates regularly about the pampered and over protected players of today. I am more of a cynic now than I ever was. People try and tell me how different the game is now and I have to agree that it has changed. But Billy Liddell never had the benefit of being part of a thirty-man squad. The manager couldn't rotate the team then and anyway if any of them had been brave enough to drop Billy Liddell the walls of the Kop would have come tumbling down around their ears. The game in the fifties might have been different but the likes of Billy Liddell would face uncompromising defenders week in week out and those defenders would have one thing on their mind and that would be to kick Billy Liddell as hard and as often as they could. Did Billy roll around the pitch like he'd been shot ? Of course not, he just picked himself up and carried on. If someone kicked him on the right leg, he'd start shooting with his left, if someone kicked him in the left leg, he'd just shoot with his right.

Many defenders thought it wise to kick him in both legs, what was Billy's answer ? Yes, you're right, he'd head the ball home from anywhere in the area. Can you think of any attacker now who can boast the same ? Owen is a world class striker, there is no doubt in my mind, but I aint kidding when I say me Mam could kick a better ball with her left peg than Mikey. Heskey's talent of playing in a variety of roles and trying his best wherever he plays is admirable, but the chances of him scoring as regularly as Billy did is about as likely as the Mersey Tunnel stopping the toll (anyone old enough will remember it was only going to be tolled for the first year ?).

Fowler was the next hero of mine after King Kenny hung up his boots, and I think his stance on the dockers strike earned him much deserved popularity, but his off the field activities often got him into trouble. Billy on the other hand spent a lot of his time helping boys clubs and never made the headlines unless it was refering to a game. Why ? Well he didn't drink for a start. It also wasn't the done thing to go to a nightclub in Chester and show yer ARSEnal like another favourite player of mine. Here's where someone will pick holes in this, I don't think Billy was ever booked, let alone SENT OFF and as for getting locked up by the local plod, Billy never gave anyone the opportunity or the reason.

If players think that facing the likes of some of todays hard men is a chore they should think themselves lucky because in Billy's day they would come up against some real hard nuts, the sort that would have made Tommy Smith think twice. Billy would be out there facing the likes of Stan Milburn, Frank Mountford, Eddie Clamp, Maurice Setters, Alf Ramsey and a few others, and if you haven't heard of them, ask yer Dad or Granddad. Yet despite knowing that a kicking awaited him, you'd never question the desire or commitment of Billy Liddell.

In the fifties Billy Liddell was in an elite group of players. A group that included the likes of Stan Matthews, Tom Finney and the late great Duncan Edwards. I've written before about Duncan as my old fellah still goes on about what a talent he was. OK he played for the Mancs, but according to my Dad there had never been the likes of Duncan in his time. Hence references to Stevie G being Edwards-like is very high praise indeed. Stanley was a wizzard on the wing also according to the old fellah, but very one footed and scored goals only rarely. I believe Stanley only got more praise than Billy because he was English.

These were the players that everyone wanted to see play. Although Liverpool spent a good part of that decade in the second division the fans of our rivals loved it when Liverpool were due to pay a call. So did their club's chairman and treasurer because they knew that if Billy Liddell was in the Liverpool line-up then a few extra thousand would be added to the gate! Dads would take misty-eyed sons to games and those lads would soon tell their schoolmates, "I've seen Billy Liddell" play. The reason being was that fans of teams like Bristol Rovers, Doncaster Rovers, Grimsby or Leyton Orient didn't get too many opportunities of seeing a genuine world class player gracing their grounds. In fact to be honest in the fifties world class players weren't in great abundance anywhere on these shores, but Liverpool definitely had one.

I was a bit young to go to Anfield when Billy played, therefore never got the opportunity to watch him peel an orange with either foot (yes he was that good), but my one opportunity came at Holly Park, Garston (South Liverpool FC). Billy may have been past his sell by date, but the match will always remain special to me. It was the Billy Liddell International All Stars vs Merseyside Select XI. I'll never forget that match and the chance to see Billy play but had no momento of the game when recently, with the help of a mate Andy Roper, I was able to get hold of the programme from that match for just £6. Yes six quid! I dare not tell you how much I would have been prepared to go, you really will think I'd lost me marbles. (Special thanks once again to Andy - cheers la).

Given the history of the club for much of the second half of the twentieth century it is hard to understand that for so much of an era one man carried the hopes of the fans. But as I've said before these were the LIDDELL days and we were proud at the time to call our team LIDDELLPOOL. You see as the club slid from the level of Championship Winners to Championship contenders and Cup Finalists to having what many fans believe was our worst ever team there was only one ray of hope and that was Billy Liddell.

Once the rot had set in the decline was swift and as the press reports of the time would tell you only Billy Liddell kept the team afloat. Yes I know you've heard it all before, but you're going to hear it again and again until my fingers bleed. There was a time when one man did make a team and when one man was bigger than the club. When the inevitable relegation came there wasn't any transfer demand from Billy Liddell, there was just a determination to restore pride and status to a fallen club and Billy was determined to play his part.

He showed a LOYALTY to Liverpool unlike any player had ever done and in todays mercenary climate of playing for whoever pays the highest, Billy deserves a lot of respect and that is why so many of the older fans still sing his praises. On the other hand the club would never have dared sell him anyway because it would have led to a rebellion in the Red parts of the city and that is fact. Yet thinking back had Liverpool been brave enough and daft enough to have done just that, the money, even back then that a transfer would have commanded, would have been enough to have brought in at least three or four new players. However, such was the status and standing of Billy Liddell the idea would never have been even considered.

In September 1959 'King Billy' was presented on Sportsview with a cheque for £2,000 to mark his twenty years with the club. Yes, you're right £100 a season doesn't seem alot. However, It was a measure of his standing in the game that the BBC deemed it a worthy enough event to show on what was then Prime Time TV. Other players received awards like this, but they didn't televise them. They broke new ground that night did the BBC, and it was all for Billy Liddell. And don't forget Billy wasn't playing for one of the nations top sides at the time, he was playing for a second division team called Liverpool.

Shortly after this Billy broke the Club appearance record and was awarded a drinks cabinet, yes, a drinks cabinet. Of course the funny thing was Billy was a teetotaller and you've got to think it was another Billy's sense of humour that picked the present. I can hear Shanks now, make sure its got Scotch in it Billy when I come round with Nessie and the kids.

The only time I ever saw Billy Liddell at Anfield was when he strode onto the pitch at the 'Kops Last Stand.' I was in tears, I really wish I could have seen him play when he was in his prime. I cried twice that night, anyone who could hold the tears back, when Nessie came on the pitch to roars from the Kop of "Shankly, Shankly" mustn't have had a heart. I wonder what he and the team would have achieved had he played for Shankly? I also wonder what he and the team would have achieved had he played for Paisley? I know it would have been hard to improve on Bob's record, but when Billy and Bob played together on the left for Liverpool they seemed to have a telepathic understanding.

We watch football now in an age where the also rans of the game get paid a king's ransom. We watch as other clubs honour their greats. Its a real sickener to me to see Denis Law honoured at Man Utd, after all he was the one who scored the goal that put the Mancs in Div 2 not so long back and they still honoured him !

None of them will ever be able to hold a candle to the man they called 'King Billy' and a smaller section referred to him as "William the Conquerer". God Bless you Billy, you will always have pride of place in our house mate, and I'm sure others who can remember your God given talent will always have a special place in their hearts.

One Footed Wonders of Today beware.
© WOOLTONIAN

[‡Luke‡]

Bobby Charlton



Born 11 October, 1937. Ashington, England

International Caps
106
International Goals
49
Teams
Manchester United, Preston North End
Team Honours
1 World Cup (1966)
European Cup
1 (1968)
FA Cup
1 (1963)
League Division 1
3 (1957, 65, 67)
Individual Honours
1 Football Writers' Player of the Year (1967)
1 PFA Merit Award (1974)
"CBE" (1974)
"Knighted" (1994)

Had he not been so modest, there was a time when Bobby Charlton could have claimed, with some justification, that he was the most famous living Englishman.

He never did, of course, but others, such as TV soccer pundit Jimmy Hill, said it for him. It was the late 1960s. England had won the World Cup and Manchester United the European Cup. All over the world there were children who could speak only two words of English. One was "Bobby", the other was "Charlton", such was the esteem in which he was held.

It was more than just his tremendous achievements that sparked instant recognition, though he won everything the game has to offer. Championships, Cup winner's medals, a record number of international caps and goals.

Nor was it solely his exquisite skills - grace, speed, athleticism and a thunderbolt shot that made him dangerous even 30 yards from goal.

No, Charlton stood for something that the world admired. He was a gentleman, the ultimate in old-fashioned sporting heroes. He was never in trouble, never argued with referees, showed honesty and respect to opponents. It made him a perfect role model, the essence of the Corinthian ideal. His status as the greatest ambassador in the history of British sport rested unequivocally on his unrivaled sense of fair play.

Charlton was born in October, 1937, into a football family in the Northumberland mining village of Ashington. His mother Cissie was a Milburn, his grandfather and four of his uncles were professional footballers and one of those uncles was the legendary "Wor" Jackie Milburn, Newcastle United and England centre forward.

Cissie was a football fanatic who taught Bobby and his elder brother Jack how to play. She once said: "I never had a doll. I just wanted to play football with the lads. It's in my blood." Even in her seventies, she was still coaching children at the local primary school.

Bobby was chosen to play for England Schools against Wales in the days when 93,000 people would pack the stadium to watch boys play. Word soon went round that here was a special talent and scouts from 18 leading clubs made their way to the Charltons' colliery-owned terrace home.

Cissie said: "I'd be cleaning the fireplace in the morning and I'd look round and there'd be another one standing behind me. There were times when we had one in the front room and one in the kitchen.

"They were offering us the world. One fellow offered £800 (a huge sum then). Another said he'd double whatever was the highest offer we'd had. He didn't even ask what it was." Charlton's idols were Newcastle United, but he would go to St James's Park in anticipation of seeing the great players from other famous clubs. His favourite was Stanley Matthews, from whom he learned the importance of speed off the mark.

It was the late 1940s and Matthews was at his peak. Charlton recalled: "You could stand on the cinders in front of the terracing. The men used to pass you down over their heads. "Stan was magic. We all like dribblers and he was the wizard. I would study him and think: 'What makes him better than anybody else?' My uncles said: 'Just watch his first 10 yards.'

"After that I practised sprinting with my grandad, who trained professional sprinters. But the motivation came from Stan." It was to pay off. Later, at the peak of his game, there was no one quicker over those first 10 yards. Charlton goes further: "It was from Stan that I learned how to find space, how to beat an opponent, how to put defenders off balance and how to time my runs."

Bobby was still a schoolboy when he decided to join Manchester United. They were to be his only club. Former United captain Billy Foulkes, with whom Charlton played for 15 years, remembered seeing him at Old Trafford in 1953.

"He had this mop of blond hair which stood up in the wind," said Foulkes. "I bet he wishes he had it now." Charlton's hair, or lack of it as the years went by, became almost as legendary as its owner. The less of it he had, the longer it seemed to get until he had one long strand famously described as "hanging like a rope over his collar."

Charlton and Foulkes were bonded together as members of the "Busby Babes." The Old Trafford at which they arrived was not the impregnable citadel it became. The club was undergoing a transformation fashioned by Matt Busby, that most illustrious of soccer managers.

When Busby came to United in 1945, the ground was a wreck, victim of wartime German bombing. The club had, for a long time, been the weaker of the city's teams. They hadn't won the League since 1910-11, nor the FA Cup since 1909. Busby set about changing all that.

United won the FA Cup in 1948, but Busby saw that two things were necessary to turn them into a side which could win honours regularly. The first was to pioneer a youth system, the second to learn from the advances being made in Continental football. The policies soon began to work. United won the First Division title in 1951-52 and again in 1955-56.

The European Cup had begun in 1955, but the English authorities had adopted a sniffy attitude towards it. Chelsea, the previous year's English Champions, had been told not to compete and they complied. But Busby was having none of it. Manchester United would play.

And so the great adventure began in the season that Charlton began to establish himself as an Old Trafford regular. He had made his debut against Charlton (who else?) and scored two goals.

United reached the semi-final of the European Cup at their first attempt in 1956-57, losing to the eventual winners Real Madrid. They were beaten in that year's FA Cup Final 2-1 by Aston Villa, a controversial match in which United's goalkeeper Ray Wood left the field with a fractured cheekbone after being charged by Peter McParland.

However, they had retained their League title and all was set for another crack at the European Cup. They were not to know that disaster was lurking in the shadows.

It was 3.04 on a snowbound Friday afternoon. The date was February 6, 1958. The day a team died.

United had drawn 3-3 against Red Star in Belgrade and were through to the semi-finals of the European Cup. The plane in which they were flying home, a British European Airways Elizabethan, had stopped at Munich to refuel.

There was slush on the runway as it took off. The Elizabethan never made it off the ground. Just 54 seconds after the pilot opened the throttle, the plane hit the airport's perimeter fence, slithered 200 yards across a frozen field and burst into flames.

A wing had been torn off and the tail section had broken away, scattering bodies into the snow. Twenty-one people died, among them seven of Busby's Babes - Roger Byrne, Tommy Taylor, Mark Jones, David Pegg, Geoff Bent, Eddie Colman and Billy Whelan. Busby survived, clinging to life in an oxygen tent. So did another young man, one who symbolised the brilliance of the Babes. His name was Duncan Edwards, arguably the greatest footballer Manchester United ever produced.

After 15 days, Edwards died from his injuries. He was 21. A truly world-class talent had been lost.

Charlton, just 20, had been thrown 40 yards clear of the wreckage and escaped with a cut head. Busby came home and with his assistant Jimmy Murphy, who had not been on the flight, set about rebuilding his shattered team. Charlton was to be the player central to his plans.

Three months after the Munich tragedy, United had bravely reached the FA Cup Final with a patched up side. The nation's hearts were with them, but they went down to Bolton 2-1. Again, it was a match marred by controversy, Bolton's Nat Lofthouse scoring his second goal by bundling United goalkeeper Harry Gregg over the line.

The previous month Charlton had gained the first of his record 106 England caps, scoring in the defeat of Scotland at Hampden. He shot on the run from a pass by Tom Finney before a 134,000 partisan crowd. "I can still hear the sound of the ball lashing against the net," recalled Charlton. "After that, all you could hear was the silence."

Charlton's incredible modesty shines through the memory. "I'd probably been picked for England too soon," he said. "I think they felt sorry for me because of Munich." He was selected for England's World Cup campaign that summer in Sweden, but remained on the bench as his team-mates drew all three group matches and then failed to qualify for the quarter-finals by losing to Russia 1-0 in a play-off. Charlton's day would come . . .

At this time, Charlton played on the left-wing. It was much later that he was to move, first to inside forward and then into the deep-lying centre forward role, the equivalent of today's central attacking midfielder. But he was anxious to move inside, to make a greater contribution to the game. In a 1961 football annual he wrote of "wanting to create something, something that might be remembered." It was only five years away.

Even so, he had scored in England's historic 9-3 thrashing of Scotland that season against the likes of Denis Law and Dave McKay.

And in 1962 he went to his second World Cup, this time in Chile and as a first-choice player. England qualified for the quarter-finals, thanks to a 3-1 defeat of Argentina in which Charlton scored. But the Brazil of Garrincha, Didi and Amarildo were too good for England and they were knocked out 3-1.

Back at Old Trafford, United's rebuilding was taking shape. The team included Albert Quixall, British record signing at £45,000 from Sheffield Wednesday, Maurice Setters from West Brom and Johnny Giles had been discovered in Ireland. By 1960-61 Nobby Stiles had made his debut and Charlton was United's leading scorer that season with 20 goals.

These players were followed by David Herd from Arsenal, Noel Cantwell from West Ham, Denis Law, a record £115,000 signing from Torino, and Pat Crerand from Celtic. Busby was assembling another team of all the talents.

It was 1962-63 and Busby had said after Munich that it would take five years to recover. How right he was. United reached the FA Cup Final against Leicester. The match took place on Saturday, May 25 at Wembley. A ground ticket cost 17/6 (88p) and the souvenir programme was a shilling (5p).

United's team was the most expensive up to then to appear in a Cup Final, yet Leicester were the favourites. The reason was United's wayward League form in these years. They had finished 19th out of 24 in the First Division, but in the Cup they had scored 12 goals, conceding only one.

It was one of the most one-sided Finals ever seen. United won 3-1, Charlton setting up the second goal when he let rip with a flier that Leicester keeper Gordon Banks couldn't hold and Herd knocked in the rebound.

For those like Charlton who had been through Munich, it was an overwhelming occasion. United were back in business, but there was better to come.

The season of 1963-64 was memorable for two reasons. First, against West Brom, the triumvirate of Law-Charlton-Best played together for the first time. Significantly, they all scored in a 4-1 victory.

The second was that United were back in Europe for the first time since Munich, this time in the European Cup Winners' Cup. Charlton, now coming inside more often, had scored a spectacular acrobatic goal in the 7-2 aggregate demolition of Dutch part-timers Willem II Tilburg. But the next round pitted them against Tottenham Hotspur, holders of the Cup Winners' Cup.

They lost the first leg 2-0 at White Hart Lane and faced a seemingly uphill task. United were 2-1 ahead in the second leg at Old Trafford, but trailing on aggregate, when Charlton scored twice to put them through to a quarter-final against Sporting Lisbon.

The first leg was at home and Charlton scored again in an impressive 4-1 victory.. The away match was a nightmare, United suffering their worst defeat in Europe 5-0. Some of United's League form was bizarre that year. For example, they lost 6-1 at Burnley and yet took the return fixture 5-1. These were the days of attacking football, however, and big scores were not unusual. Despite the inconsistency, they finished runners-up to Liverpool in the Championship.

The turning point came in 1964-65. United won the League and reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup and the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, the forerunner of today's UEFA Cup. Charlton was in tremendous form that season as United inflicted heavy defeats on some good teams. They beat Liverpool 3-0, Aston Villa 7-0 and Blackburn 5-0 at Ewood Park. Charlton got a hat-trick against Rovers and, as Nobby Stiles said, "played them on his own."

But the most impressive performance was a 6-1 hammering of Borussia Dortmund in Germany in the second round of the Fairs Cup. Charlton got three, one of them a rocket which crashed in off the crossbar, and added two more - one from 20 yards - in the 4-0 victory at Old Trafford. It is worth remembering that Dortmund won the West German cup that season and the European Cup Winners' Cup the following year.

Nonethless, United were back in the European Cup chasing Busby's elusive dream. It was an impressive run. A 9-2 aggregate humbling of HJK Helsinki was followed by a 7-1 aggregate defeat of ASK Vorwaerts of Berlin. The quarter-finals beckoned, a clash against mighty Benfica, Eusebio and all.

United shaded the first leg at Old Trafford 3-2 and travelled to Lisbon knowing that Benfica had never lost in 19 European Cup ties at home. There's a first time for everything and that night United turned on the magic with a stunning 5-1 victory. Charlton got one of the goals, "sweeping through the Benfica defence before lashing the ball home," as author Graham McColl put it in his book, Manchester United In The Sixties.

United felt on top of the world, but it was not to be. At least not yet. The semi-final took them back to Belgrade for the first time since Munich and they went down 2-1 on aggregate to Partizan.

They had played some breathtaking football that season, but inexplicably they missed out on honours, their FA Cup run also ending in the semi-finals and finishing fourth in the League. At the end of a long, hard season Charlton joined his brother Jack for the World Cup Finals in England. They began dismally with a 0-0 draw against Uruguay, but then Bobby lit up England's hopes with a stunning goal in the 2-0 defeat of Mexico.

He ran 30 yards with the ball before letting go and it thundered into the net. That was the goal that convinced a cynical nation that England COULD win the World Cup. Before then, there was a feeling that they just weren't good enough, an impression confirmed by the sterile performance against the Uruguayans. Charlton changed the national mood in seconds, yet to hear his version made it seem nothing more than good fortune.

"I picked up the ball quite deep and I had no intention of shooting at goal, "he said. "I didn't really expect them to allow me to keep going.

"I just banged it and it came off so sweetly and when it went on its way I thought, well that's a goal." Despite his record tally of 49 for England (now shared with Gary Lineker), there are those who say that Charlton was not a great scorer of goals. But he was most certainly a scorer of great goals, and few were greater than that.

A 2-0 victory over France put England on course for a quarter-final showdown with Argentina. It was a nasty game, the Argentine defender Antonio Rattin was sent off and England manager Alf Ramsey sent a chill through FIFA by calling the Argentinians "animals." But a 1-0 victory meant a semi-final against Portugal.

It was against the Portuguese, according to Brian Glanville in his book The Story of the World Cup, that "Charlton had much his best game of the World Cup, perhaps the best he ever played for England." His passing was crisp, his running made gaps in Portugal's defence and he scored both goals in a 2-1 win. Charlton had put England into the World Cup Final.

Geoff Hurst, the hat-trick hero of the Final, grabbed the headlines as England beat West Germany 4-2 in extra time. But perhaps the crucial factor in the game that day was the German manager Helmut Schoen's decision to tie-up the great Franz Beckenbauer in a policing role on Charlton. It was a battle of wits. Charlton was the player the Germans feared most and as Beckenbauer himself said years later: "England beat us in 1966 because Bobby Charlton was just a bit better than me."

Ramsey had no doubts how crucial Charlton had been. "He was one of the greatest players I have seen," said Sir Alf. "Very much the linchpin of the 1966 team. Early in my management I knew I had to find a role suitable to Bobby's unique talents. "He wasn't just a great goalscorer, with a blistering shot using either foot. Bobby was a player who could also do his share of hard work."

The reward for Charlton was not only a World Cup winner's medal. He was also Footballer of the Year, European Footballer of the Year and voted Best Player in the 1966 World Cup. After 18 months of non-stop football, it came as no surprise that Charlton suffered a loss of form in the 1966-67 season. He went three months without scoring before getting two in a 4-0 defeat of Blackpool at the end of February. United, however, retained their title in style, wrapping up the Championship with a 6-1 win at West Ham.

In the close season, Charlton was one of a United squad that undertook a remarkable overseas tour. It began in May in Los Angeles, went on to New Zealand, and finished at the end of June in Western Australia. It was an extraordinary preparation for a season that would begin in six weeks time, one that would see another assault on the European Cup.

Significantly, one of those tour matches was against Benfica. United lost 3-1.

United beat Hibernian Valletta of Malta and FC Sarajevo of Yugoslavia in the first two rounds of the European Cup before meeting Gornik Zabrze of Poland in the quarter-finals. They took a 2-0 lead from the first leg to Poland where they had to play on a snow covered pitch. It continued to snow during the match and United went down 1-0. But they were through to the semis where they would face Real Madrid. Busby told journalists: " I feel this is our year."

United held only a fragile 1-0 lead as they went to the Bernabeau for the second leg against Real. Law was out with an injury and by half-time United were 3-1 down. The dream was dying again.

Somehow United stuck to the task and, through David Sadler and Foulkes, came away with a 3-3 draw. Charlton has no hesitation in naming it the greatest match he played in - his favourite above World and European Cup Final glory. "Real were murdering us," said Charlton, "but we came out after the break, battled away and they collapsed."

The night of May 29 at Wembley was to be the fulfillment of Charlton's long and heartbreaking journey. The Red Devils of Manchester against the Red Devils of Lisbon . . . the old foes, Eusebio's Benfica.

Benfica were vastly experienced. They had played 52 European Cup ties, winning 29. United had played 32 and won 20. Benfica, who had already won the trophy twice, were appearing in their fifth European Cup Final in eight years. It was United's first. And in Eusebio, Benfica had the second highest goalscorer of all time in the competition with 36, topped only by the peerless Di Stefano of Real Madrid with 49.

Charlton had played in all four of United's European Cup campaigns, but this was the first in which he had not scored. A week before the final, in an international against Sweden, he had broken Jimmy Greaves's record of 44 goals for England. Now, on this historic night as captain of Manchester United, he was determined to put matters right. Just after half-time, Sadler crossed and Charlton rose to meet the ball. He scored, unusually for him with a header. United had the lead.

Now there were only nine minutes to the final whistle when United's defence left Graca unmarked and he stunned the crowd with an equaliser. United were tiring, Benfica coming on strong. With time running out, Eusebio twice had good chances to grab the glory. Each time he was foiled by Alex Stepney in goal. Benfica were overunning United and looked certain to get the winner. Then the whistle went. United had the chance to regroup before extra time.

It was then that United took the game by the scruff of the neck. Best weaved his magic, beating two men before sidefooting the ball into the net. Brian Kidd, United's present-day assistant manager, headed the third.

But how appropriate it was that Charlton, the Busby Babe, the spirit of Munich, should score the last for a crushing 4-1 triumph. Busby, having achieved his life'sambition, became Sir Matt. Charlton, then aged 31, was rewarded with an eight-year contract, the longest in Football League history, and received the OBE.

United reached the semi-finals of the European Cup the following season, falling to eventual trophy winners Milan. It was the end of an era. Sir Matt retired at 60, his work done, and United fell into the doldrums.

Wilf McGuinness, who had joined the club on the same day as Charlton, was promoted from youth team manager to take over with Sir Matt upstairs as general manager. A succession of managers came and went. It was to be 26 years before United would be back in the European Cup, now called the Champions League, and by then Charlton would be sitting in the directors' box.

There was to be one last hurrah on the international stage for Charlton. The World Cup of 1970 in Mexico with England defending as Champions.

Before they could reach Mexico, Charlton was caught up in the Nightmare of the Bogota Bracelet. England captain Bobby Moore was accused of stealing it in Colombia. The charge was ludicrous and Moore was eventually cleared after being held in jail for four days.

But just as absurdly, the police alleged that Charlton had been Moore's accomplice. As Moore was to say: "The fact that they accused Bobby Charlton of sheltering me while I 'stole' a bracelet proves I'm innocent. Bobby has never done a dishonest thing in his life."

The match of the tournament was the 1-0 defeat by Brazil. But it was the showdown with West Germany in the quarter-finals that was England's undoing. Leading 2-0 mid-way through the second-half, they lost their grip on the game and went down 3-2. The World Champions were out.

And where was Charlton? Sitting on the substitutes' bench! Manager Ramsey had pulled him off when the match was seemingly won.

Sir Alf explained: "I decided to substitute Bobby as I wanted to save him for the semi-finals. He understood, although he was far from happy." Neither were England's fans. By the time he retired as a player in 1973, Charlton had scored 245 goals in 751 games for United. The manner of his going was typical.

Tommy Docherty, then United's manager, said: "I was thinking that I'd have to make the decision and didn't want to do it. There would have been a public outcry. But he came to see me and said he was thinking about retiring. I breathed a huge sigh of relief. I'm glad he made the decision and not me."

He tried management with Preston - for whom he turned out as a player in 1974, the year he was awarded the CBE - and later with Wigan Athletic. But he returned to United as a member of the board and was knighted in 1994.

Just how great was he? Football writer Mike Langley claims England have never replaced him. George Best said: "I've never seen anyone go past players as easily as he did." Charlton himself, self-effacing as ever, said only: "I was lucky." But the last word should go to Sir Matt, mentor and friend, of whom Charlton said: "He never got over Munich. He felt responsible. Those were his kids that died that day."

It was Charlton, through his achievements, who did so much to ease "the old man's" pain and Busby recognised it. "There has never been a more popular footballer," said Sir Matt. "He was as near perfection as man and player as it is possible to be."

There can be no higher praise from no greater judge.

[byatt]

Gianfranco Zola

Forward
Height: 1.68m. Weight: 67.00kg. Nationality: Italy
Born: 05/07/1966 in Oliena


Zola signed his first professional contract with Sardinian team Nuorese in 1984. Five years later he signed for Napoli in Serie A. Talented Zola scored two goals as understudy to Diego Maradona as Napoli won the Italian title in 1990. He helped Napoli to win the Italian Super Cup in 1991 and he made his debut for the Italian national side under coach Arrigo Sacchi in the same year. In 1993, Zola left Napoli and joined fellow Serie A side Parma. He won the UEFA Cup with Parma and they were runners-up in Serie A and the Italian Cup in 1995. It was with the blue and yellow club that he cemented his reputation as a creative genius with unbelievable talent from dead-ball situations.

In 1996, Zola joined Premier League football club Chelsea F.C. He won the FA Cup with Chelsea and was voted the English Football Writers' Player of the Year in 1997: the only player ever to receive the accolade without playing an entire season. He helped Chelsea win the English League Cup, European Cup Winners' Cup and Super Cup in 1998. He helped Chelsea to win FA Cup again in 2000.

Zola's goal after 21 seconds on the pitch in the final of the Cup Winners' Cup against VFB Stuttgart at the Råsunda Stadium in Stockholm was perhaps his finest moment. Only his second touch of the game, he smashed the through ball from Dennis Wise past 'keeper Wohlfahrt into the roof of the net to secure Chelsea's first European trophy in 28 years and only their second in the club's history.

Zola scored one of the best free kicks in Premier League history against Tottenham in January 2003 at Stamford Bridge. From a wide position level with the edge of the penalty area and over 25 yards out, he curled the ball high and wide into the top corner at the far post past a hapless Kasey Keller. His back-heel goal versus Norwich in the FA Cup of 2002 was another Zola special. His farewell Chelsea goal came against Everton at Stamford Bridge with an outside-of-the-foot lob from outside the box over Richard Wright.

Zola left Chelsea and joined Cagliari, a club from his native Sardinia, in 2003. They obtained promotion to the Italian Serie A soon afterwards. Then he renewed his contract for Cagliari Calcio for one more year. He retired in June of 2005, after ending his career in appropriate style with a double against Juventus in his last ever professional game.
Zola won 35 international caps, scoring 8 goals. He played for his country at the 1994 World Cup and Euro 96. Zola last played in World Cup qualifier against England in Rome in October 1997. His international career is best known to English fans for his goal against England at Wembley.

In early 2003, 'Franco was voted as the best ever Chelsea player by Chelsea's fans. In November 2004, he was awarded an OBE - Honorary Member of the Order of the British Empire in a special ceremony in Rome.

Despite speculation he would play on in the 2005/2006 season, Zola decided to leave the game, just a week before he turned 39. He is presently an Italian football pundit, though he also comments on European competitions.

A true modern-day football genius, Gianfranco paved the way for many other foreigners to join the English game, while still being highly regarded in Italy. He scored 80 goals for Chelsea, including 14 superb free-kicks. Though Chelsea have not officially retired the jersey number, no senior Chelsea player has been assigned Zola's jersey number 25 in the three seasons since his departure.



------------------- ----------------

Gianfranco Zola lit up the Premiership stage for seven years. The only regret anyone who saw him play could have is that he wasn’t here longer. I defy anyone to recall a telling mistake the genial Italian made during his spell in English football. He was one of the most precise and breathtaking players there has ever been. For all Roman Abromovich’s cash, he will be doing well if he can find another Zola. In fact, football will be doing well if there is another.

Zola came to this country for £4.5million in 1996. He was already an international player after a prolifically excellent spell with Parma which had followed more than 100 games as Diego Maradona’s successor at Napoli. The likening to the Argentine superstar is predictable in that the two share a stocky, robust frame and clinical passing abilities. You can’t imagine Zola letting an excessive interest in drugs get the better of him, though. Conversely, not many players have looked after themselves so well. Testament to which is Zola’s capacity to continue playing right through his mid-30s. He was born around the same month as Eric Cantona.

Zola not only won a host of cup trophies in his native land and with Chelsea to add to the Serie A league title he claimed with Napoli in 90, he also put his own name up in lights by scooping the Player of the Year award in 1997. Few were more deserving of recognition than Zola.

Truly one of the best players to have been imported into our game, Gianfranco Zola was as pleasing off the pitch as he was on it. A firm favourite with the Chelsea fans, he never gave less than 100% for the club and their supporters and would always speak eloquently and insightfully on the rare occasions he deemed it appropriate to give an interview. Never did he complain about a single thing whilst in English football. Nor did he argue or backchat referees during games. He could mix it physically in games if needed but he was most comfortable when given the space and capacity to show his full range of passes and sublime skills. He was never sent off in his career, stretching back to his days as a youngster with Nuorese at the outset of his career.

His 80 goals for Chelsea mark him down as one of the club’s greatest players of all-time but it’s for more than the goals that he will be remembered at The Bridge. Other moments like his twisting goal in the semi-final of the FA Cup against Wimbledon in 1997. Or his perfectly executed heeled-flick in the Premiership against Norwich City. Or his top corner screamer against Liverpool in that remarkable FA Cup fixture not long after he had joined the club. There have been so many other moments which have displayed how brilliant Zola has been for English football.

He scored the winner in the Cup Winners Cup final against Stuttgart in 1998 which enhanced his personal haul of medals. A record which includes that Serie A title, two European Cup Winners Cup medals, a UEFA Cup gold, two FA Cup medals, an English League Cup medal, an Italian Cup winner’s medal and two European Super Cup medals. An impressive haul by anyone’s standards. A remarkable explosion into his English football was fully recognised with that Player of the Year prize barely six months after his arrival on these shores.

It seems incredible that Zola only played for Italy 35 times, but that record included appearances in the 1994 World Cup in USA and Euro 96 in England. A tally of seven goals is due largely to the withdrawn role he was asked to perform for the Azzurri compared with the forceful front position he occupied for his clubs. Always a threat when on a football pitch, they are few clubs, if any, who would have passed over the opportunity to have Zola on their books. Even when he was in his thirties he was still a constant danger.

Gianfranco Zola is one of those footballer who comes along every so often that nobody can conjure a bad word about. There is no stick you can beat the personable Italian with. He was a brilliant footballer and, perhaps more importantly, a brilliant human being. No amount of Russian money can buy that.


------------

career stats
83-84 Nuorese (-)
84-85 Nuorese 4 Games (-)
85-86 Nuorese 10 Goals, 27 Games (-)
86-87 Torres 8 Goals, 30 Games (-)
87-88 Torres 2 Goals, 24 Games (-)
88-89 Torres 11 Goals, 34 Games (-)
89-90 Naples 2 Goals, 18 Games (-)
90-91 Naples 6 Goals, 20 Games (-)
91-92 Naples 12 Goals, 34 Games (-)
92-93 Naples 12 Goals, 33 Games (-)
93-94 Parme AC 18 Goals, 33 Games (-) 1 Games
94-95 Parme AC 19 Goals, 32 Games (-)
95-96 Parme AC 10 Goals, 29 Games (-) 3 Games
96-97(déc) Parme AC 2 Goals, 8 Games (-)
96-97 Chelsea 8 Goals, 23 Games (-)
97-98 Chelsea 8 Goals, 27 Games (-)
98-99 Chelsea 13 Goals, 36 Games 1 Goals, 3 Games (Cup Winners Cup)
99-00 Chelsea 4 Goals, 32 Games 3 Goals, 15 Games (Champions League)
00-01 Chelsea 9 Goals, 36 Games 2 Games (UEFA Cup)
01-02 Chelsea 3 Goals, 35 Games 1 Goals, 4 Games (UEFA Cup)
02-03 Chelsea 14 Goals, 38 Games 2 Games (UEFA Cup)
04-05 Cagliari 9 Goals, 31 Games (-)

-----------------

Gianfranco ZOLA Honours
1998 Cup Winners Cup winner (Chelsea)
1995 UEFA Cup winner (Parme AC)
1997 FA Cup winner (Chelsea)
2000 FA Cup winner (Chelsea)
2000 Charity Shield winner (Chelsea)
1994 Finaliste of la Cup Winners Cup (Parme AC)
2002 FA Cup Finals (Chelsea)

This post has been edited by DaveCFC: 09 December 2005 - 04:21 PM

[Lord Funkicus of Tit-Town]

Position: Forward
Date of birth: 10th of May, 1969
Place of birth: Amsterdam, Holland
Height: 183 cm
Weight: 78 kg
Family: Married to Henrita Ruizendaal,
Daughter Estelle Deborah,
Son Mitchel
Previous Clubs: AFC Ajax Amsterdam,
FC Internazionale Milano
Joined Arsenal: 3 July 1995 for £7.5m

First Appearances:
Ajax debut December 14, 1986 v Roda JC at De Meer Stadium , Amsterdam
Inter debut August 29, 1993 v Reggiana at San Siro , Milan
Arsenal debut August 20, 1995 v Middlesbrough at Highbury
Holland debut September 26, 1990 v Italy at La Favorita , Palermo

Achievements: Dutch Championship 1990
Dutch Cup 1987, 1993
European Cup Winners Cup 1987
UEFA Cup 1992 (Ajax), 1994 (Inter)
English Championship 1998
English FA Cup 1998

Personal Honors: Holland's top international scorer of all-time
Dutch Topscorer 1991, 1992, 1993
Dutch Player of the Year 1992, 1993
European Footballer of the Year -3rd place 1993
English Player of the Year 1998
English Football Writers Player of the Year 1998
Goal of the Season 1997/1998 Award
Arsenal FC Player of the Year 1998
FIFA 3rd best Player of the Year 1993, 1997

Nicknames: Dennis The Menace, The Iceman, God, The Non-flying Dutchman, Bergy

Having opted to leave from Inter Milan, Bergkamp's decision to join Arsenal was made quickly. "I wanted to go to England and as soon as I heard the name Arsenal. I thought of London. I thought of the club, a very successful club." On the 20th of June 1995, Dennis became Arsenal's record purchase for £7.5m. When asked about his time in Serie A, Dennis refused to look back on that time as a failure. "I don't think so. Of course I couldn't bring the football I am bringing now or I brought at Ajax, but as a player I think I learnt a lot. I think I wouldn't have been the footballer I am now if I didn't go there" He admitted.

His move to Arsenal was one of the biggest and most talked about transfers to the Premiership. Therefore, when he didn't score at the start of the season, he was higly criticised. Massimo Moratti, the president of Inter said: "Arsenal will be lucky if Bergkamp scores 10 goals this season." Others said Dennis was not aggressive enough. Those criticism were actually quite unfair. As Ruud Gullit pointed out, Bergkamp is neither a target man or creative midfield. His strength is to be in the right place at the right time. He would create more goals than he would score. Statistic also showed that Bergkamp was involved in 75% of the Arsenal's goals at the beginning of the season. Finally, in his 8th Premier league game, he silenced the critics with two stunning goals, his first two for Arsenal. He adapted well into the team and got support from his new teammates. He and his striker partner Ian Wright formed a strong attack combination in the league. The two also became very good friends off the field. Bergkamp had a good first season with Arsenal and continued to go from strength to strength, leading the line as new manager Arsene Wenger arrived and started to reshape Arsenal into the team that would one day be feared across Europe. Wenger immediately recognised the vast advantages having a player like Bergkamp in the team brings, and as he enters his 10th and final year at Highbury, indeed his final year as a professional footballer, many will look back on the career of the Dutch master with fond memories of his cool, calm and level headed approach on the field, lethal finishing and the impact he had on British football that has been matched by very few other foreign imports, the last of which would be a certain Eric Cantona some years previously. When teams played an Arsenal side featuring Dennis in the line up, they were forced to adapt to try and deal with him. New methods and approaches were formulated and applied simply in an attempt to deal with Bergkamp, and his style of play which was by now being mimicked across the country and leagues of Britain.
All fans of Arsenal and Ajax will surely be one day telling their grandchildren of the magical moments they witnessed watching him as a player, and his legacy will reveberate around both London and Amsterdam long after he has hung up his boots and bowed gracefully out as one of the true masters of the sport.

[Kevin91]

Former Clubs as Player : Chester, Liverpool, Juventus, Liverpool, Leeds, Newcastle, Wrexham
Date of Birth : 20/10/1961
Birthplace : St Asaph

Ian James Rush MBE (born October 20, 1961) was a famous Welsh footballer who played as a striker and was not only an essential member of Liverpool F.C.'s great 1980s teams, but also became the club's all-time highest goalscorer.

"Rushie", the goal scoring machine was also famous for sporting a 'tache in the Liverpool team of the 1980's with Graeme Souness.

In two spells with the club, Rush scored 346 goals in 658 league games, having joined them from Chester City in 1980. Ian scored a record 44 FA Cup goals (39 for Liverpool). In his three FA Cup Final appearences he scored 5 times, all on the winning team. Rush scored also has the record for scoring League Cup goals 49. He too is the top scorer against Liverpool's local rivals Everton with 25 goals.

In the summer of 1986, he was transferred to the Italian giants, Juventus in Serie A, although, as part of the deal, he did not join the club until a year later, allowing him to spend a final season with Liverpool. His time at Juventus was less than successful, scoring only seven times in 29 games. After one season, he was back at Anfield, rejoining in the summer of 1988.

He once famously described his stay in the north of Italy as like being "in a foreign country".

He also played for Wales for whom he scored 28 goals in 73 games. Unfortunately for the man from North Wales, he never got the chance to play in a major tournament for his country. Though in 1991 he scored the winning goal in an Euro 92 qualifier against West Germany

Rush continued to remain at Liverpool until the mid-1990s when his successors in the new generation of Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen emerged as strikers. Later in his career he played for Leeds United, Newcastle United, Sheffield United, Wrexham and also Sydney Olympic. He was appointed manager of Football League Two team Chester City F.C. in August 2004 having removed himself from the unofficial shortlist for the post of manager of the Welsh national team in November 2004. He resigned from his post at Chester in April 2005 citing disagreements with the Chairman as the reason for his departure.

In 2005, at the age of 43, Ian Rush considered coming out of retirement to play for TNS, after the Welsh side were drawn against Liverpool for their opening round Champions League qualifying match.

[Il Fantasista]

Full name: Gabriel Omar Batistuta
Nickname(s:) Batigol
Date of birth: February 1, 1969
Place of birth: Reconquista, Argentina
Current club: Retired
Position(s): Striker


The man
Batistuta was born on 1 February 1969 to slaughterhouse worker Omar Batistuta and school secretary Gloria Batistuta in the town of Avellaneda, Santa Fe Province, Argentina, but grew up in the near city of Reconquista. After him, his parents Omar and Gloria Batistuta had three girls named Elisa, Alejandra and Gabriela.

At the age of 16 he met the love of his life on her 15th birthday (a rite of passage that is a large celebration in Argentina). It is said that Irina Fernandez completely ignored him at the beginning, but some 5 years later, on the 28th of December, 1990, Irina and Gabriel were married at the Saint Roque Church. The couple moved to Florence in 1991, and a year later their son Thiago was born.

Thanks to excellent performances in the Italian championship and with the Argentina national football team, he gained fame and respect. He filmed several commercials, and was invited onto numerous TV shows, but in spite of this, Batistuta always remained a low-profile family figure. A hero in Florence, the city erected a life-size bronze statue of him, in recognition of his performances for Fiorentina.

In 1996, during Fiorentina's 2-1 victory at A.C. Milan, he celebrated scoring the match's decisive goal by saying Te amo, Irina ('I love you, Irina') to the cameras. The mix of sex appeal and faithful partnet cemented Batistuta's heart-throb reputation among Italian women.

In 1997 Batistuta's second son, Lucas, was born, and a third son, Joaquín, followed in 1999. In 2000 the Batistuta family moved to Rome and two years later to Milan, following Gabriel's changes of team. In 2002, after more than 10 years in Italy, the family moved to Qatar. A fourth son, Shamel, was born in 2003.


Beginnings
As a child Gabriel preferred other sports to football. Thanks to his height he played basketball, but after Argentina's victory in the 1978 World Cup, in which he was particularly impressed by the skills of Mario Kempes, he devoted himself to football. After playing with friends on the streets and in the small Grupo Alegria club, he joined the local Platense junior team.

While with Platense he was selected for the Reconquista team that won the provincial championship by beating Newell's Old Boys from Rosario. His 2 goals drew the attention of the opposition team, and he signed for them in 1988.


Professional
He signed professional forms with Newell's Old Boys Club, whose coach was Marcelo Bielsa, who would later become Batistuta's coach with the Argentine National Team.

Things didn't come easily for Gabriel during his first year with the club. He was away from home, his family and his girlfriend Irina, sleeping in a room at the stadium, and had a weight problem that slowed him down. At the end of that year he was loaned to a smaller team, Deportivo Italiano, of Buenos Aires, with whom he participated in the Carnevale Cup in Italy, ending as top scorer with 3 goals.

In mid-1989 he made the leap to one of Argentina's biggest clubs, River Plate, where he scored 17 goals. However, all did not run smoothly. He had numerous run-ins with coach [Daniel Passarella]] (with whom he had later confrontations with the national squad)and he was dropped from the squad in the middle of the season.

In 1990 Batistuta signed for River's arch-rivals, Boca Juniors. Having gone so long without playing, he inititally found it hard to find his best form. However, at the beginning of 1991 Oscar Tabárez became Boca's coach, and he gave Batistuta the support and confidence to become the league's top scorer that season as Boca won the championship.


International
In 1991, Batistuta was selected to play for Argentina in the Copa América held in Chile, where he finished the tournament as top scorer with 6 goals as Argentina romped to victory.

It was during the Copa América that the vice-president of Fiorentina got the chance to see Gabriel's skills and signed for the Italian club. However, in spite of Batistuta's 13 goals, the following season Fiorentina were relegated to Serie B (second division). It took two years, and 16 Batistuta goals before the club, now managed by Claudio Ranieri returned to Serie A.

In 1993 Batistuta played in his second Copa América, this time held in Ecuador, which Argentina again won. The 1994 World Cup, held in the USA, was a disappointment: after a very promising start Argentina were beaten by Romania in the quarter-finals; the morale of the team seriously affected by Diego Maradona's drug-abuse suspension.

On his return to Fiorentina Batistuta found his best form, becoming the top scorer of the 1994-1995 season with 26 goals and breaking Ezio Pascutti's 30 year old record by scoring in all of the first 11 matches of the season. In the 1995-1996 season Fiorentina won the Italian Cup and Super Coppa.

During the qualification matches for the 1998 World Cup (with former River Plate manager Passarella now coaching the Argentinean national team) Batistuta was left out of the majority of the games after falling out with the coach. Playing in the World Cup finals themselves, he scored 5 goals in that competition, before Argentina lost 2-1 to the Netherlandsin the quarter-finals.

After yet another failure to win a championship of importance with Fiorentina, Batistuta started considering a transfer to a bigger team. But, in an effort to keep Batistuta, Fiorentina hired Giovanni Trapattoni as coach and promised to do everything to win the scudetto. After an excellent start to the season, Batistuta suffered an injury that kept him out of action for more than a month. Losing momentum, Fiorentina lost the lead and finished the season in third place, which at least gave them the chance to participate in the Champions League.


Good-bye to Fiorentina
Batistuta stayed at Fiorentina for the 1999-2000 season, tempted by the chance of winning both the Scudetto and the Champions League. But, things did not go to plan and and he was transferred to A.S. Roma in a deal worth 30 million US dollars.

In spite of a knee injury that kept him out for a few matches, he scored 20 goals for A.S. Roma in his first season with the club, and finally realized his dream of winning a major trophy as Roma clinched the Scudetto for the first time since 1983.

After an incredible series of performances by Argentina in the qualification matches for the 2002 World Cup, hopes were high that the South Americans - now managed by Marcelo Bielsa - could win the trophy, and Batistuta announced that he planned to quit the National Team at the end of the tournament, which Argentina aimed to win. But Argentina's "group of death" saw the team fall at the first hurdle, as poor results against [Nigeria national football team|Nigeria]], England and Sweden meant that the team was knocked out in the opening round for the first time since 1962.

In 2004, he was named in the FIFA 100 list of 125 Greatest Living Footballers.

Back in Italy, Batistuta failed to find form with Roma and was loaned out to Internazionale, where he failed to make any impression. He ended his career playing in Qatar for Al-Arabi before retiring in March 2005 after a series of injuries that prevented him from playing.


Summary
Physical information: Height 1.85 m, weight 73 kg
First professional match: September 25, 1988. San Martín (Tucumán) 1 - Newell's Old Boys 0
First professional goal: May 16, 1989. Newell's Old Boys 3 - Platense 0.
First National Team match: March 27, 1991. Brazil 0 - Argentina 1.
First National Team goal: July 8, 1991. Argentina 3 - Venezuela 0.
Last National Team match: June 12, 2002. Argentina 1 - Sweden 1.
Last National Team goal: June 2, 2002. Argentina 1 - Nigeria 0.
78 National Team matches with 56 goals.



First Division (Serie A) Italian Championship (with A.S. Roma) 2000-2001.
Italian Supercup with (with A.S. Roma) 2001
Argentine Football Writers' Footballer of the Year 1998.
Italian League Cup (with ACF Fiorentina) 1995-1996.
Second Division (Serie B) Italian Championship (with Fiorentina) 1993-1994.
First Division Top Scorer, 26 goals (with Fiorentina) 1994-1995
Copa América (with Argentina) 1991, 1993
Copa América Top Scorer, 6 goals (with Argentina) 1991

[...Dan]

Position: Forward
Date of birth: 10th of May, 1969
Place of birth: Amsterdam, Holland
Height: 183 cm
Weight: 78 kg
Family: Married to Henrita Ruizendaal,
Daughter Estelle Deborah,
Son Mitchel
Previous Clubs: AFC Ajax Amsterdam,
FC Internazionale Milano
Joined Arsenal: 3 July 1995 for £7.5m

First Appearances:
Ajax debut December 14, 1986 v Roda JC at De Meer Stadium , Amsterdam
Inter debut August 29, 1993 v Reggiana at San Siro , Milan
Arsenal debut August 20, 1995 v Middlesbrough at Highbury
Holland debut September 26, 1990 v Italy at La Favorita , Palermo

Achievements: Dutch Championship 1990
Dutch Cup 1987, 1993
European Cup Winners Cup 1987
UEFA Cup 1992 (Ajax), 1994 (Inter)
English Championship 1998
English FA Cup 1998

Personal Honors: Holland's top international scorer of all-time
Dutch Topscorer 1991, 1992, 1993
Dutch Player of the Year 1992, 1993
European Footballer of the Year -3rd place 1993
English Player of the Year 1998
English Football Writers Player of the Year 1998
Goal of the Season 1997/1998 Award
Arsenal FC Player of the Year 1998
FIFA 3rd best Player of the Year 1993, 1997

Nicknames: Dennis The Menace, The Iceman, God, The Non-flying Dutchman, Bergy

Having opted to leave from Inter Milan, Bergkamp's decision to join Arsenal was made quickly. "I wanted to go to England and as soon as I heard the name Arsenal. I thought of London. I thought of the club, a very successful club." On the 20th of June 1995, Dennis became Arsenal's record purchase for £7.5m. When asked about his time in Serie A, Dennis refused to look back on that time as a failure. "I don't think so. Of course I couldn't bring the football I am bringing now or I brought at Ajax, but as a player I think I learnt a lot. I think I wouldn't have been the footballer I am now if I didn't go there" He admitted.

His move to Arsenal was one of the biggest and most talked about transfers to the Premiership. Therefore, when he didn't score at the start of the season, he was higly criticised. Massimo Moratti, the president of Inter said: "Arsenal will be lucky if Bergkamp scores 10 goals this season." Others said Dennis was not aggressive enough. Those criticism were actually quite unfair. As Ruud Gullit pointed out, Bergkamp is neither a target man or creative midfield. His strength is to be in the right place at the right time. He would create more goals than he would score. Statistic also showed that Bergkamp was involved in 75% of the Arsenal's goals at the beginning of the season. Finally, in his 8th Premier league game, he silenced the critics with two stunning goals, his first two for Arsenal. He adapted well into the team and got support from his new teammates. He and his striker partner Ian Wright formed a strong attack combination in the league. The two also became very good friends off the field. Bergkamp had a good first season with Arsenal and continued to go from strength to strength, leading the line as new manager Arsene Wenger arrived and started to reshape Arsenal into the team that would one day be feared across Europe. Wenger immediately recognised the vast advantages having a player like Bergkamp in the team brings, and as he enters his 10th and final year at Highbury, indeed his final year as a professional footballer, many will look back on the career of the Dutch master with fond memories of his cool, calm and level headed approach on the field, lethal finishing and the impact he had on British football that has been matched by very few other foreign imports, the last of which would be a certain Eric Cantona some years previously. When teams played an Arsenal side featuring Dennis in the line up, they were forced to adapt to try and deal with him. New methods and approaches were formulated and applied simply in an attempt to deal with Bergkamp, and his style of play which was by now being mimicked across the country and leagues of Britain.
All fans of Arsenal and Ajax will surely be one day telling their grandchildren of the magical moments they witnessed watching him as a player, and his legacy will reveberate around both London and Amsterdam long after he has hung up his boots and bowed gracefully out as one of the true masters of the sport.

:worshippy:

[Ricketts]

Ian Wright








Biography:

Ian Wright came to professional football relatively late. After rejections from Millwall and Brighton, he played for amateur and non-league teams whilst working as a labourer and plasterer, culminating at Greenwich Borough, where he was spotted by Palace scout Peter Prentice; and he signed professional terms for Crystal Palace in 1985 at the age of 22.

At Crystal Palace, he scored twice after coming on as a substitute in the 1990 FA Cup final against Manchester United, having only recently recovered from a broken leg. The eventual score was 3-3, but Palace lost the replay 1-0.

In all, 'Satch' (as he became nicknamed, after Louis Armstrong's nickname) spent six seasons at the Eagles, forming a deadly strike partnership with Mark Bright.

He signed for Arsenal in 1991 for £2.5m, which was at the time a club record fee. He scored on his debut against Leicester City in a League Cup tie, and then scored a hat-trick on his League debut against Southampton. He won the Golden Boot in his first season and went on be the club's top scorer for six seasons in a row. He played a major part in the club's success during the 1990s - winning an FA Cup and League Cup double in 1993. He scored both in the final and the final replay. Wright helped the club to the 1994 Cup Winners' Cup final (although Arsenal won that match, against Parma, Wright was suspended for it).

Wright scored in every round but the final of Arsenal's 1995 Cup Winners' Cup campaign, but the arrival of Bruce Rioch heralded a bleaker time; the two did not get on and eventually Wright handed in a transfer request (which he later retracted). However, the arrival of Dennis Bergkamp heralded a brief but fruitful striking partnership.

By the time Arsène Wenger had arrived at Arsenal in September 1996, Wright was nearly 33. Despite his age, he continued to score regularly, and on September 13, 1997 he broke Cliff Bastin's Arsenal goalscoring record with a hat-trick against Bolton Wanderers (a record was surpassed by Thierry Henry in October 2005). A couple of months later he suffered a bad hamstring injury which ruled him out of the club's run-in to a League and Cup Double; Wright was named as a substitute in the cup final against Newcastle United but did not play.

In the summer of 1998, Wright moved to West Ham United; he spent nine months at the Hammers without reaching the same form he had at Arsenal. He had subsequent short spells at Nottingham Forest, Celtic, and Burnley before retiring in 2000.

Wright made his England debut while still a Palace player, in 1991, although he did not make it into the squad for Euro 92. Wright's form for England was never as fruitful as it was for Arsenal, though he scored a crucial goal against Poland in a qualifier for the 1994 World Cup, but Graham Taylor's England still failed to qualify. Wright was only a fringe player under Terry Venables, but was recalled by Glenn Hoddle and his goals helped England win the 1997 Tournoi de France and qualify for the 1998 World Cup; however, he missed the finals with a recurrence of the hamstring injury which had ruled him out of Arsenal's double win.

Teams:

Teams

(as professional)

* Crystal Palace (1985 to 1991)
* Arsenal (signed for £2.5m in September 1991)
* West Ham (Free, 13 July 1998)
* Nottingham Forest (on loan, 1999)
* Celtic (Free, 1999)
* Burnley (Free, February 2000)

Honours:


[edit]

Crystal Palace

* FA Cup runner up (1990)
* ZDS Cup winner (1991)

[edit]

Arsenal

* Golden Boot (leading scorer in top division) (1991/1992) and (1992/1993)
* FA Cup winner (1993), 1998)
* Cup Winners' Cup Winner (1994) Runner Up (1995)
* League Cup winner (1993)
* League Championship (1998)
* Wright is Arsenal's second highest goalscorer, with 185 goals in all competitions; he held the top goalscorer record from September 13, 1997 until October 18, 2005, when Thierry Henry surpassed his total. Wright presented Henry with a commemorative trophy on October 22, 2005.

Burnley

* Division Two runners-up (2000)

[edit]

England

* 33 caps, 9 goals
* Debut February 6, 1991 vs Cameroon at Wembley
* Last cap November 18, 1998 vs Czech Republic at Wembley

[The Wanderer]

Billy Wright





Born: 6 February, 1924. Ironbridge, England

Teams Wilverhampton Wanderers (England)
Billy Wright was England's captain for three World Cups (1950, 1954, and 1958). He won a total of 105 caps for England.

Wright was initially a wing-half, moving into central defence for his 60th international, Englanfd vs. Switzerland, and was a revelation.

He later became manager of Arsenal and then moved into broadcasting. Billy Wright died in 1994.

Billy Wright was a fine right-halfback and later a superb central defender. While not the most talented player of his day, he was disciplined, dedicated, reliable, consistent, courageous, resourceful, intelligent and versatile, a wonderful sportsman on the pitch--never sent off or even cautioned--and unfailingly courteous and modest off it. Because of these qualities, he emerged after the Second War--an era desperately needing the escape sport and its heroes provided--as the most widely loved footballer in England. No player before or since has held such a universal grip on the English public's admiration. His unparalleled popularity lasted his entire Football League career, from the post-war resumption of league play in 1946 until his retirement in 1959. He became the symbol of and ambassador for the England team and English football in general.

[Danno_BWFC]

Nat Lofthouse



Born in Bolton in 1925, Lofthouse joined the town's main club on September 4, 1939 and made his debut in a 5-1 win against Bury on March 22, 1941 when he scored two goals. It was then more than five years until he made his league debut for the club, but he eventually played against Chelsea on August 31, 1946, when he scored twice in a 4-3 defeat. Lofthouse would go on to play 33 games for England but his debut on November 22, 1950 made him 25 when he finally broke into the team. He perhaps justified a claim to an earlier call-up by scoring both goals in a 2-2 draw against Yugoslavia at Highbury on his debut.

On November 26 of the same year, Lofthouse made his final England appearance, against Wales, at the age of 33, and he officially retired from the game in January 1960 because of an ankle injury, although his final league game wasn't until December 17 of that year, when he suffered a knee injury against Birmingham.

After retiring from playing football, Lofthouse became the assistant trainer at Burnden Park on July 10, 1961 and was then appointed chief coach at the club in 1967. In 1968, he spent a brief time as caretaker manager of the club and took over the job full-time on December 18. Before becoming Bolton's chief scout, he became an administrative manager at Burnden. In 1978, he became the club's executive manager. In 1985, at the age of 60, Lofthouse became caretaker manager at the club again and became president in 1986.

Lofthouse has been the recipient of various honours since retiring from the game. On December 2, 1989, he was made a Freeman of Bolton. On January 1, 1994, he received an OBE and on January 18, 1997, Bolton decided to name their East Stand after him.

LONG LIVE KING NAT :worshippy:

This post has been edited by Bolton_Wanderer: 20 April 2006 - 10:05 AM

[HaRvEy]

HE'S OLD, HE'S ROUND, HE SCORES AT EVERY GROUND, MICKEY QUINN, MICKEY QUINN




Michael "Micky" Quinn, (born May 2 1963), was an English footballer of Irish descent. He played as a centre-forward for the vast majority of his career. However, despite being a consistent goalscorer, he was more notorious for his large build (a fact which spawned numerous terrace songs). Following his retirement from football, he appeared on the ITV show Celebrity Fit Club in which he attempted to lose some of his bulk.

Quinn was born in Liverpool and began his career with Wigan Athletic before having spells at Stockport County and Oldham Athletic.

Quinn first gained widespread media attention during the 1986/87 season, his first year playing for Portsmouth. He finished the season as Pompey's leading goalscorer during their Second Division promotion campaign, despite spending 14 days of the season behind bars while serving a prison sentence for disqualified driving. He had been caught driving twice after receiving a ban for drink-driving.

Quinn was sold to Newcastle United for £650,000 in the summer of 1989, just after their relegation to the Second Division. He was the division's top goalscorer in 1989-90 with 34 league goals, but the Magpies missed out on promotion after losing in the playoffs. Quinn remained at St James's Park until November 1992, when he was sold to Coventry City for a bargain £250,000.

During his first six months at Highfield Road, Quinn scored 17 Premiership goals - 10 of them in his first 6 games. His performances were not enough to bring the Sky Blues beyond 15th place in the final table, but they improved to 11th place the following season with Quinn still scoring regularly.

Quinn lost his first team place to Dion Dublin for much of the 1994-95 season, and had loan spells with Plymouth and Watford before announcing his retirement from playing at the end of the season. A few months after leaving Coventry he applied for the Burnley manager's job, but it went to Adrian Heath instead.

Following his retirement, Quinn has become a professional racehorse trainer. He also covers horse racing and football for the radio station TalkSPORT. In 2003 he released his autobiography Who Ate All The Pies?.

In 2005 he signed a contract with the newspaper Cambridge Evening News, where he had his own column entitled 'Who Ate All The Pies?'. Here he comments on various aspects of football, sport and the world.

He appeared on the 2006 series of Celebrity Fit Club, as his love of pies and lack of exercise have seen him balloon in weight even further.

[Keely-DЯFC]

Alick Jeffery





Born in the Yorkshire village of Rawmarsh, near Rotherham,
in 1939, Jeffrey’s prodigious talent saved him from following
his father down a coalmine and he made his debut for
Doncaster Rovers, then in the second division, at inside
forward, aged 15 years and 229 days, signing professional
forms in 1956.
By that time he had represented England at schoolboy, youth
and amateur level and, aged 16, he had scored twice to knock
Aston Villa out of the FA Cup. A dedicated trainer, but with a
stocky build that gave him weight problems, he became
nationally known as England’s brightest hope, the next
wonder boy after Duncan Edwards. Jackie Milburn described
him as the best young player he had ever seen. “Alick shows
genius,” Stanley Matthews said.
Jeffrey’s blossoming reputation brought him to the attention
of Matt Busby, the Manchester United manager, and he spent
a week training at Old Trafford. “I will come and get you in
time,” Busby said. Jeffrey’s form for Doncaster — he scored
34 goals in 71 games during his first spell with the club —
meant that in October 1956 Busby began transfer discussions
with Jeffrey, who had scored 15 goals in 13 matches in only
his second season. He would become another of the
manager’s famous “Babes”, training and playing alongside
Eddie Coleman, Edwards and Bobby Charlton. “You’ll be a
Manchester United player very soon,” Busby said.
Before he had the chance to sign, he was selected for England
in an under-23 match against France at Ashton Gate, Bristol,
on October 17. It was his second cap at that level, and his last.
During the match he broke his right leg in two places, an
injury thought to be career-ending, and the FA paid out
compensation in full. In 1957 Alick became a singer, touring
the clubs of Yorkshire as one of the Jeffrey Trio with his
father and Charlie Williams — a Doncaster team-mate who
became the country’s most famous black comedian in the
1970s.
Two years later, having recovered from the fracture, he joined
Skegness Town but broke his other leg. By the time he
recovered from this second setback it was 1961 and Rovers
had dropped to the fourth division. He was unable to rejoin
his old club, however, because the FA insisted he repay the
insurance money before resuming his league career. So he
emigrated to Australia, where he played for two years. The
injury compensation issue was resolved in 1963, allowing him
to return to Doncaster that December.

He played a further 191 games for Rovers, scoring 95 goals,
but had to endure another personal tragedy. In 1966 he was
involved in a car crash in which the driver, John Nicholson,
the club captain, was killed. Jeffrey was left in a coma but
survived to continue playing after several months of
recuperation.

In his second spell at Belle Vue there was talk of him joining
Don Revie’s Leeds United, but a move never materialised and
a dispute with Lawrie McMenemy, his manager, saw him join
Lincoln City in 1969. He played 22 times for them, scoring
three goals. He tried one last time to resume his career at
Doncaster when Maurice Setters was the manager but, now in
his early thirties, the injuries had taken their toll. “When
you’ve got kids running past you at a hundred miles an hour
it’s time to retire,” he said. He left football and ran pubs in
Doncaster for the next 23 years.

In the decade or so that followed his injury, the footballing
world often discussed the career that might have been. Nobby
Stiles believed that he would have become one of the world’s
finest players. In 1969, Peter Doherty, the former Ireland
international who was his manager at Doncaster, said that
Jeffrey would have been even better than George Best.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that he would have been the
greatest scorer of goals England has ever seen,” he said.
“He could hit a ball over 30 yards harder than many do over
ten. But what a tragedy it was for him, his club and the game
that his future should be erased by that fracture.”
Jimmy Murphy, Busby’s assistant, once said that Bobby
Charlton would never have played No 9 for Manchester
United if Jeffrey had joined. Yet Jeffrey was never bitter,
pointing out that the injury that destroyed his potential may
have saved his life: he would probably have been on the plane
back from Munich that crashed in 1958, killing eight of the
United squad and 15 others.

When John Ryan took over Doncaster rovers, He made him president.
He died in December 2000 aged 61 of a heart attack. Many fans still call him the best player to wear a rovers shirt.




Football leauge
appearances 261 +1 sub
Goals 129
FA Cup
Appearances 22 + 1 sub
Goals 8
FL
Appearences 9
Goals 3
Total appearences 294



:worshippy: :worshippy:

[LFCMike]

'King' Kenny Dalglish

Born: 4 March, 1951. Dalmarnock, Glasgow, Scotland

International Caps 102
International Goals 30

Team Honours
League Championship 1972, 73, 74, 77
Scottish Cup Winners 1972, 74, 75, 77
Scottish League Cup Winners 1975
European Cup Winners 1978, 81, 84
English League Champions 1979, 80, 82, 83, 84, 86
League Cup Winners 1981, 82, 83, 84
FA Cup Winners 1986

Individual Honours
English Footballer of the Year 1979, 83
Player's Player of the Year 1983

Bill Shankly rarely made mistakes. Yet when a fair-haired, 15-year-old schoolboy arrived at Anfield for a trial, he let a player who later was to turn Liverpool into a double-winning team slip through his fingers.
It was August, 1966. England had just won the World Cup and Shankly was cementing the dynasty that was to make Liverpool one of the most successful sides in British football history.

The youngster played one game, for the B team against Southport Reserves in the Lancashire League. Liverpool won 1-0, but the kid went home and heard nothing.

A few years later when Shankly saw the lad play he was furious, blaming others at the club for the astonishing miss. It was to be 11 years after that trial that the player joined Liverpool, but by then he was an established international and he cost Shankly's successor, Bob Paisley, a British record of £440,000.

The boy was Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish.

Dalglish grew up supporting Glasgow Rangers. Though born in Dalmarnock in the East End of Glasgow on March 4, 1951, he was brought up in the docklands of Govan, just a stone's thow from Ibrox.

He first made his mark at Milton Bank primary school - in goal! But by the time he was capped as an under-15 Scottish Schoolboy he had switched to right-half, scoring twice on his debut in a 4-3 victory over Northern Ireland Schoolboys.

His next schoolboy international appearance was in a 1-1 draw against England. The People newspaper covered the game, singling him out for praise as "a brilliant ball-player."

There was never any doubt that he was going to be a professional footballer. The question was for whom?

He wanted to join his idols at Rangers, but the call never came. He had another trial at West Ham, but that came to nothing, too. And so it was that Dalglish, the Protestant son of an engineer, found himself playing for the Catholic Glasgow Celtic.

His signing, on a provisional contract in July 1967, was not without amusement. Jock Stein, the legendary Celtic manager, had sent his assistant Sean Fallon to see Dalglish and his parents at their home.

Fallon drove there and left his wife Myra and their three children outside in the car while he went in, saying he wouldn't be long. It was three hours before Fallon emerged with Dalglish's signature and his wife was less than pleased. It wasn't just that the kids were hungry and restless after being couped up. It was the couple's wedding anniversary.

Dalglish was farmed out to a Celtic nursery side, Cumbernauld United, and he also worked as an apprentice joiner. By the following year he had turned professional and was a regular member of a Celtic reserve team so good it was known as the Quality Street Gang.

It took Dalglish three years to establish himself in the first team. At that time Celtic were not only top dogs in Glasgow, they had become the first British team to win the European Cup, beating the mighty Inter Milan.

Stein took a great interest in the lad, recognising his potentially outstanding talent. Eventually he gave him his chance in a benefit match. The result was Celtic 7 Kilmarnock 2. Nothing unusual about that in Scottish football - except that Dalglish scored six!

But 1971 was also the year that Dalglish witnessed the first of three tragedies which, ultimately, were to leave such a mark that he quit the game. It was the "Old Firm" match at Ibrox. Dalglish was not playing but was at the ground with the Celtic team.

Stairway 13 at the old stadium collapsed and 66 fans were killed.

By 1972-73 Dalglish, now playing up front, was Celtic's leading marksman with a seasonal tally of 41 goals in all competitions. And that Dalglish trademark of shielding the ball with his back to the goal had emerged.

Such was Dalglish's skill at holding on to the ball that, years later, the former Arsenal and Republic of Ireland defender David O'Leary would describe trying to rob him of possession as "impossible."

"He crouches over the ball, legs spread and elbows poking out," said O'Leary. "Whatever angle you come in from, you're liable to find his backside in your face."

Dalglish was made Celtic captain in 1975-76, but it was a miserable year. Stein was badly hurt in a car crash and missed most of the season. Celtic failed to win a trophy for the first time in 12 years.

The next season Stein was back and Celtic did the Cup and League double. Dalglish, however, had made up his mind to leave. Celtic had won the European Cup before he had arrived at the club and Dalglish wanted the chance not just to savour European football, but to be where there was a real chance of success.

"I had to know if I could make it somewhere else," he explained. "I did not want to go through the rest of my life wondering what might have been without putting myself to the test."

He had been a full Scotland international for six years, making his debut as a substitute in the 1-0 victory over Belgium in November 1971. He went to the 1974 World Cup in West Germany, but did not play well. Scotland were eliminated at the group stage, even though they were undefeated.

That spring of 1977 he had scored in Scotland's 2-1 victory over England at Wembley when the Tartan fans invaded the pitch and tore down the goalposts.

Dalglish had enjoyed an enviable run at Celtic. Five Scottish Championships, four Scottish Cup-winners' medals, one Scottish League Cup-winners' medal and a tally of 167 goals. But it wasn't enough for him. He was ambitious and needed a new challenge.

Liverpool had just won the European Cup, beating Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-1 in Rome. But their biggest star, Kevin Keegan, was leaving to play for Hamburg.

Dalglish was chosen to replace him, Bob Paisley making good that Anfield mistake of losing him as a boy. But the Kop wasn't so sure. To them, Keegan was a God. What's more, Dalglish was handed the No.7 shirt - Keegan's strip.

Dalglish immediately silenced the doubters, scoring after just seven minutes on his league debut away at Middlesbrough. For good measure, he also scored on his Anfield debut against Newcastle.

And when Liverpool met Hamburg in the European Super Cup, Dalglish totally exorcised the ghost of his predecessor, running the game as Keegan and his new team-mates were tormented with a 6-0 defeat.

That first season was a triumph for Dalglish. He scored 30 goals, including the only goal of the game as Liverpool retained the European Cup against Bruges at Wembley.

Dalglish had left Scotland looking for European glory and had found it inside one year.

Was Dalglish better than Keegan? Former Liverpool veteran Tommy Smith, who played with them both, has no doubts. "Dalglish WAS the better player," he said. "His talent was heaven-sent."

And Paisley said simply: "Of all the players I have played alongside, managed and coached in more than 40 years at Anfield, he is the most talented."

What Dalglish understood better than most was space. He could hold the ball, sometimes so long that it seemed the moment had gone, then he would see that something was on and deliver the inch-perfect pass.

Later, as his role developed from goalscorer to goalmaker, he was to form an almost telepathic understanding with Ian Rush. The Welshman, who holds both the FA Cup and League Cup scoring records, said of his team-mate: "I just made the runs knowing the ball would come to me."

But the paradox of Dalglish is that while he was without peer in midfield in the domestic game, he never quite produced the same level of performance on the international stage.

He was the hottest property in British football in 1978 when he went to the World Cup in Argentina. It was a nightmare for Scotland. They lost their opening match 3-1 to Peru and Willie Johnston was sent home after failing a drugs test.

It got worse. Scotland drew 1-1 with no-hopers Iran. Then, when all was lost, Scotland astonished everyone by beating the "total football" aristocrats of Holland 3-2, Dalglish getting his name on the scoresheet.

In the wake of World Cup failure, Scotland manager Ally McLeod was sacked and replaced by the legendary Stein - Dalglish's old mentor. Stein made Dalglish captain, but it was not a happy time.

Dalglish's reign lasted just four games, losing three, before he was replaced as captain by Archie Gemmill.

The 1982 World Cup in Spain was no better. Dalglish scored in the 5-2 defeat of New Zealand but, by his own admission, played badly. He came on as a substitute against Brazil, but only when Scotland were 3-1 down, and was left out for the 2-2 draw with the Soviet Union.

No-one, least of all Dalglish, has sufficiently explained why he failed to make more of an impact in international football. That he had the talent is beyond question, but his failure meant that he was never rated as highly abroad as he was in Britain.

Liverpool, however, saw the best of him. After that World Cup shambles of 1978, he was inspirational as the Reds regained their League title with a record number of points - 68, under the old two-for-a-win system. They were undefeated at home and at the end of a 42-match programme had conceded just 16 goals.

Dalglish scored 25 goals that season and was voted Footballer of the Year.

These were the glory days at Anfield. Liverpool retained the Championship in 1979-80, won the League Cup four years in a row between 1980-81 and 1983-84 and then topped everything by winning a hat-trick of Championships in 1981-82, 1982-83 and 1983-84. They also won two more European Cups. Only the coveted League and FA Cup double eluded them.

Dalglish was at the heart of it all and became Footballer of the Year for the second time in 1983.

The 1983-84 season was the most astonishing - the Championship, the League Cup and the European Cup. Yet within 12 months, tragedy would turn Liverpool's world upside down.

Paisley had retired and his boot-room assistant Joe Fagan had taken over as manager. Dalglish's international career was drawing to a close. He had been named in Scotland manager Alex Ferguson's squad for the 1984 World Cup in Mexico, but had withdrawn through injury.

He was to make his final appearance in the blue jersey in a 3-0 win over Luxembourg in November 1986, claiming a record 102 caps and sharing the Scotland goalscoring record of 30 with Denis Law.

But in 1985 he still had the European Cup in which to parade his skills. And despite his shortcomings at international level, he had no such problems in Europe, scoring 19 goals in UEFA club competitions, a British record.

Liverpool again reached the final where they faced Juventus at the Heysel stadium in Brussels. On the eve of the match, Dalglish was told by club chairman John Smith that he was to be Liverpool's next manager. Fagan was retiring and Dalglish was to take over the day after the European final.

During the next 24 hours, the club was to be convulsed by turmoil. There was crowd trouble at the match, a wall collapsed under the strain of rioting fans and 39 Juventus supporters died.

Liverpool lost 1-0, but what did that matter? Their fans were held responsible for the deaths, the distaste of the football world was turned against Anfield and English clubs were banned from Europe. Welcome to management, Mr Dalglish.

Such were the appalling circumstances under which he began a new phase of his career as player-manager. Nonetheless, Liverpool retained the Championship in 1985-86. And though he restricted his playing appearances, who was there chesting the ball down to score the goal that won the title at Chelsea? None other than Dalglish.

What's more, Liverpool won the FA Cup, beating Merseyside rivals Everton 3-1. That elusive double, which had been beyond Shankly, Paisley and Fagan, was Dalglish's in his first year in the job. No wonder he was Manager of the Year.

But just as others have found before him, winning is one thing, repeating it is another. The following season was a flop by Anfield's standards. True, they finished second in the league, but they won no trophies. It was made worse by the fact that Everton won the title and Rush was leaving to join Juventus.

Dalglish had to rebuild and he did it by buying two players. John Barnes from Watford and Peter Beardsley from Newcastle. Everything clicked into place for that 1987-88 season. Liverpool equalled Leeds United's record of 29 games without defeat (eventually coming unstuck at Everton!) and won back the title. They also made the FA Cup Final, only to lose 1-0 to Wimbledon.

But once again, misfortune was lying in wait - and this time it was to be cataclysmic.

Ninety-five people died in the Hillsborough tragedy on the day Liverpool met Nottingham Forest in the 1989 FA Cup semi-final. It was the worst sporting disaster in British history and was to lead to the introduction of all-seater grounds.

Merseyside was numb with grief and the chain of events was eventually to drive Dalglish from the game, drained by the unremitting pressure.

But in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, Dalglish was a giant. He told his players: "What is called for is dignity. We need to set an example." It was Dalglish who provided leadership, not just to the club but to the whole of Liverpool.

It was Dalglish who organised hospital visits to the injured, attended funerals, read lessons in church, visited the bereaved, helped with counselling for the grief-stricken. He worked tirelessly, giving every ounce of himself. He would take calls from families of the victims in the middle of the night when they could not sleep and patiently talked to them for hours.

He stood, like an unwavering colossus, a comforter for a city's pain. Which is why, despite subsequent events, they have never forgotten him.

And then there were the flowers, laid like a never-ending blanket covering the goalmouth in front of the Kop. "The saddest and most beautiful sight I have ever seen," said Dalglish.

After a period of mourning Liverpool returned to football, winning the replayed semi-final. They met Everton at Wembley, forcing a 3-2 victory in extra time. Naturally, it was dedicated to the fans who had perished at Hillsborough.

They were also in the running for the double, but this time there was to be no fairytale. Meeting Arsenal at Anfield in the final match of the season - Liverpool's third game in six days - they could afford to lose by one goal and still be Champions.

They lost 2-0, Arsenal's Michael Thomas scoring the crucial goal in injury time. Dalglish was stunned.

The following season they regained the title and reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup where Liverpool suffered one of their most amazing defeats. They were leading twice, yet contrived to lose 4-3 to Crystal Palace - a team they had beaten 9-0 earlier in the year.

By now Dalglish had hung up his boots, and the season of 1990-91 saw him at the centre of a controversy over his habit of selecting Beardsley as a substitute.

On Wednesday, February 20, 1991, Liverpool met Everton in a replayed FA Cup Fifth Round tie. It was an extraordinary match, ending 4-4. The following morning, Dalglish had a routine meeting with the club chairman and chief executive. Twenty minutes into the conversation he told them, without warning, that he was quitting.

The news was broken to a stunned football world the next day. Dalglish was walking out on a club that were top of the league, chasing a cup and league double and in the middle of unfinished business with rivals Everton.

Dalglish described himself as "a person pushed to the limit." He said: "I was putting myself under enormous pressure to be successful." His health was suffering and he told Liverpool chairman Noel White that on match days he felt "as if my head was exploding.

But if his resignation was a shock, his decision to join Blackburn Rovers as manager just eight month later was a sensation. Dalglish won them promotion from the old Second Division in his first year. Within three years they were Premier League Champions.

Of all places to clinch the trophy, Blackburn did it at Liverpool! Though they lost at Anfield in their last match of the season, nearest rivals Manchester United could only draw at West Ham and Rovers were celebrating.

The Dalglish magic was still working. It had cost former steel magnate Jack Walker, the Blackburn president, £30 million in transfer fees, breaking the British record twice for Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton. But Rovers had won their first senior title in 81 years and Dalglish had become only the third manager to lift the Championship with two different clubs.

And then he did it again. Just as Blackburn reached the pinnacle, he sought a way out of the day-to-day pressures, asking to be made director of football and handing the team manager's job to Ray Harford.

After success the fall. Blackburn struggled and both Dalglish and Harford left the club.

Then in spring of 1997, Kevin Keegan quit as manager of Newcastle United. His successor was Dalglish, just as he had replaced Keegan as a player at Liverpool.

What drives this man, who has quit twice at the top through pressure, to tread once again into the lion's den? Perhaps he wants to be the first manager to win the Championship at three different clubs.

There is, after all, something incredibly single-minded about Dalglish. He takes the business of football much more seriously than most, and is such a perfectionist that pursuit of success is an obsession.

He has 14 Championships to his name as a player and manager in England and Scotland. That combined total makes his achievements virtually unrivaled in British football. Yet somehow it doesn't seem enough.

One simple story probably captures the essence of what makes him tick. It is told by Stephen F. Kelly in his book, Dalglish.

Kelly writes of how, some years ago, a Scottish football reporter, Ian Archer, was strolling through Glasgow when Dalglish came up to him.

Dalglish offered a one-word greeting: "Wisnae!" "Wisnae whit?" asked the baffled journalist. "Wisnae offside," replied Dalglish and walked off.

Archer was stumped. Then he remembered that four weeks previously he had suggested in a match report that a Dalglish goal for Celtic might have been offside.

"It was," said the journalist, "the most piercing, informative and lengthy interview Dalglish ever gave to me."

It also speaks volumes about the self-conviction of Kenny Dalglish

[Gurd Muller]

Tommy Lawton


Born in Bolton, Lawton's precocious talent won him a trial for the England schoolboy team in which he scored a hat trick but this never led to a junior cap. In 1935, he signed for Second Division club Burnley. Despite flat feet and needing to wear orthotics, as a striker, he rapidly achieved fame for his pace, heading ability and two-footed effectiveness in front of goal.

By the start of 1937, Lawton had been bought by First Division Everton for £6,500 to play alongside the phenomenal, but ageing, Dixie Dean. Exposure and experience in the top flight led to his selection for England in the international against Wales in October 1938, Lawton scoring from the penalty spot in the 4-2 defeat. By the end of the 1938/1939 season, he had won three senior caps, scoring 34 goals for Everton in the final season before World War II, helping the club to win the league title.

For the duration of the war, Lawton served in the army as a physical training instructor. Post-war, he joined Chelsea, allegedly to escape from his wife, scoring 26 goals in the 1946/1947 season before falling into a conflict with the club's management and asking for a transfer. Despite being at the peak of his playing career, he shocked the football world with a move to Third Division Notts County for a record transfer fee of £20,000, probably attracted by manager Arthur Stollery, who had formerly been physiotherapist at Chelsea. At County, he immediately realised an iconic status and real rapport with the Nottingham public, scoring 103 goals in 166 appearances for the club over five seasons and helping them win promotion to Division Two in 1950. Despite playing much of his career in the lower leagues, Lawton was capped 23 times for England, scoring 16 goals.

In 1952, Lawton took the player/manager role at Brentford but enjoyed little success. In November 1953 he joined Arsenal for £10,000 and saw out his professional playing career there. In his two years for the Gunners he scored 15 goals in 38 matches, including one in the Gunners' 1953 Charity Shield win over Stanley Matthews' Blackpool.