Great
Red Rose Full Backs
Way
before becoming a star of television, Michael Parkinson was an extremely
talented journalist and I remember in the late 60s and early 70s, waiting with
anticipation for the Sunday Times each week to read his latest offering in the
sports pages. He tended to parody football and cricket and no-one was left in
any doubt about his south Yorkshire roots. One of his articles looked at the
physiological differences between those who plied their trade as a forward and
those whose role was to defend. He claimed that whereas centre forwards were
the strong and handsome pin-up boys, the inside forwards had longer hair and
gave off an intellectual air. The full backs were a different breed altogether;
thick necked, short back and side haircuts and a capacity to kick the ball or
the opposing winger as far as possible. My early recollection of such players
was at Burnden Park, one time home of Bolton Wanderers. We occasionally
travelled over the moors from the Blackburn area to watch in awe and
astonishment as Roy Hartle and Tommy Banks literally put the fear of God into
their opponents. They were hard men who played hard. “When you’ve finished with
him Tom, kick him over to me”, Hartle is alleged to have shouted across the
pitch. This last week, Manchester City have paid £45 million for Kyle Walker, a
barn-storming attacking full back from Tottenham Hotspur who is already
established as the number one first choice for England. He probably spends more
time in the opposition half, somewhat different from the Bolton duo for whom it
was a dereliction of duty to stray over the half way line. Things have changed
over the years in the game and the way it is played, but what is certain is
that the Red Rose county has produced a number of excellent full backs and
hopefully Walker will be yet another. Using the criteria of 150 games and 10
caps whilst playing for their club, here are the best of the breed from the
north-west since the 2nd World War.
Blackburn
Rovers: Bill
Eckersley (England 17 caps), Keith Newton (England 27 caps), Henning Berg
(Norway 100 caps), Lucas Neill (Australia 96 caps).
Blackpool:
Jimmy Armfield (43
caps).
Burnley: Alex Elder (Northern Ireland 40 caps)
Everton: Ray Wilson (England 63 caps), Tommy
Wright (12 caps), Gary Stevens (England 43 caps), Leighton Baines (England 30
caps), Seamus Coleman (Republic of Ireland 43 caps).
Liverpool: Phil Neal (England 50 caps), Steve
Nicol (Scotland 27 caps), Stig Inge Bjornebye (Norway 76 caps), Jamie Carragher
(England 38 caps), John Arne Riise (Norway 110 caps), Steve Finnan (Republic of
Ireland 53 caps), Glen Johnson (England 54 caps).
Manchester City: Willie Donachie (Scotland 35 caps),
Danny Tiatto (Australia 23 caps), Sun Jihai (China 80 caps), Micah Richards
(England 13 caps), Pablo Zabaleta (Argentina 58 caps), Aleksander Kolarov
(Serbia 68 caps), Gael Clichy (France 10 caps).
Manchester United: Johnny Carey (Republic of Ireland
38 caps), Johnny Aston (England 17 caps), Roger Byrne (England 33 caps), Shay
Brennan (Republic of Ireland 19 caps), Tony Dunne (Republic of Ireland 33
caps), Arthur Albiston (Scotland 14 caps), Jimmy Nicholl (Northern Ireland 73
caps), Mike Duxbury (England 10 caps), Denis Irwin (Republic of Ireland 56
caps), Gary Neville (England 85 caps), Phil Neville (England 59 caps), Mikael
Sylvestre (France 40 caps), Patrice Evra (France 81 caps), Antonio Valencia
(Ecuador 89 caps),
Patrice Evra; one of a number of
outstanding Manchester United left backs
Preston North
End: Graham Alexander
(Scotland 40 caps),
Wigan
Athletic: Emmerson
Boyce (Barbados 12 caps),
Fleetwood
Town: Conor
McLaughlan (Northern Ireland 25 caps)
The big kick-off gets closer and closer
As the clock ticks inexorably on and we have our usual moan about yet another miserable English summer, the attention of our Red Rose County football teams is on one date; the start of the forthcoming season. Arnold Palmer, the legendary American golfer, once said that if you don’t birdie the first hole, you cannot birdie them all. The same sentiment applies to our national game which is why an opening day victory is so important. For our Football League clubs (all 3 Divisions with the exception of Bolton Wanderers who kick off at home to Leeds United the following day), Saturday August 5th is the date that the managers will have circled on their calendars since the previous season ended. The same date sees the commencement of the National League and National League 1 North plus the FA Cup. The Extra Preliminary Round gives all of our North West Counties Premier League sides as well as Nelson and Litherland REMYCA from League 1 a chance to dream, if only fleetingly, of Cup glory. It is the first competitive match of the season for our Tier 9 sides; that always strikes me as being a tad harsh. The remainder of Division 1 kicks-off in earnest on Saturday August 12th, as do all of the Northern Premier League games, both Premier and Division 1 North. The results and reports of these games however will be buried somewhere in tiny corners of the national newspapers because the big event of that weekend is the start of the Premier League season. There is an Arsenal game on the Friday evening then Liverpool open proceedings in the lunch time game at Watford on the Saturday, Burnley at Chelsea and Everton at home to Stoke City are the three o’clockers and Manchester City travel to Brighton for the tea-time fixture. Manchester United have the prime 4.00 TV spot on the Sunday when they entertain West Ham United. Typical TV dominated planning and there is no doubt that Sky and BT know which clubs draw the largest small screen revenues; fascinatingly Chelsea are not on the bill. The Tier 11 games kick off on different dates. The West Lancashire League is first into the fray with a full fixture list on August 5th. The Cheshire League follows with midweek fixtures on August 8th and 9th. The Manchester Football League makes its seasonal debut on August 12th, a date favoured by the West Cheshire League apart from a couple of fixtures which kick-off the previous evening. The Liverpool County League has yet to make its fixtures known to the general public. Of course avid fans will have known their important first fixture for several weeks; Southend United at Roots Hall on August 5th for the Rovers.
Danny Graham; 5 goals in 6 pre-season friendlies, watch out Southend United
Red Rose County Footballing Legends (Number 13)
Steven Gerrard Liverpool FC
Steven
Gerrard was on his way to legendary status from the half way point in his
career. Born in Huyton on Merseyside, he was a Red from birth. He came through
their academy, being almost tiny in his mid-teens but his skills brightened up
any football pitch. I watched him on several occasions between 13 and 15, a
youngster with everything except the required physique. I next saw him 3 years
later and was shocked by his growth and muscular definition. By the age of 20
he was a permanent fixture in the Anfield mid-field and he made his England
debut the same year. Sadly he never won a Premier League medal. He could have
signed for Chelsea where he would have collected at least 3 but his loyalty to
Liverpool FC was paramount. Nevertheless he twice won FA Cup medals, collected
3 Football League Cup winners’ medals and a UEFA cup medal in 2001; this being
part of the trio won in the same season as Liverpool achieved the mini treble.
The piece de resistance however came in 2005 when he contributed to the club’s
most unlikely Champions League success in Istanbul against AC Milan. This
victory on penalties after extra-time following a 3-3 draw was Gerrard inspired
and he quite rightfully was voted UEFA Footballer of the Year. He made 504
league appearances in total, scoring 120 goals, an excellent return for the
modern phenomenon; the box-to-box midfield player. He possessed the energy of a
Grand National winner, he was certainly quick enough, sufficiently combative
defensively to stick a foot in to win the ball and his long and short passing was
always crisply accurate. His dynamite-laced boots enabled him to score
regularly from distance, his dead ball delivery reliable and he regularly
picked up the pieces in the opposition’s box, often arriving late to knock a
goal. This was a player who ticked every box. Internationally there was a
certain disappointment. He was capped 114 times (4th place on the
all-time list behind Shilton, Rooney and Beckham), scoring 21 times. He was
captain for 5 years, but even though he was part of the “Golden Generation”, he
never came close to winning a medal at any of the 6 Championships in which he
was involved. He was at the centre of the long ongoing media debate about playing
alongside Lampard in midfield and there have been a few more technically gifted
and creative players on the world stage, but this one club man was adored at
Anfield, respected at Goodison and even begrudgingly so at Old Trafford. Many
have aspired to that, but rarely has it been achieved; proof indeed of Steven
Gerrard’s legendary status.
Steven Gerrard; Istanbul 2005, surely his finest hour
Each question has a Red Rose County club connection
1 Which former Burnley player captained Manchester United in the 1974-75 season?
2
The Turkish international Tugay Kerimoglu was one of the best
midfield players ever to play for Blackburn Rovers but from whom did they buy
him in 2001?
3
Craig Madden scored 153 goals between 1977 and 1986 to become
the record goal scorer at which Red Rose county club?
4
Who (not Ryan Giggs) played for Manchester United in the 2011
Champions’ League Final v Barcelona at the age of 40 years and 211 days?
5
Ian Woan, Assistant Manager at Burnley made 218 appearances from
1990 to 2000 (many in the Premier League) and played in an FA Cup Final for
which club?
6
Manchester City have just paid £35 million for Ederson, a
goalkeeper from which European club?
7
Which Red Rose club reached the 4th Round of the FA
Cup last season, losing 1-0 at Middlesbrough, their best ever FA Cup
performance?
8
Who captained Liverpool to their first European Cup Final
victory in 1977?
9
Which Everton player made the first of his 22 England
appearances v Moldova in a World Cup qualifier in 2013?
10
Graham Alexander who made 354 appearances for Preston North End
from 1999-2007 is now manager of which League 1 club?
Post Weekend
Musings
It
is always hard to believe that a big English club can be playing a serious
European competitive game on July 27th, but that is what Everton have
had to endure this week. MZK Ruzomberok from Slovakia is a new one on me but
like so many European sides, they can defend and are difficult to beat. Ronald
Koeman has lost Lukaku to Manchester United and Ross Barkley is “injured”. It
was an opportunity to throw Wayne Rooney, Davy Klaassen, Sandro Ramirez,
Michael Keane and Coco Martina into the fray and the “Toffees” produced enough
quality to win (just) and keep a clean sheet. A Rooney goal would of course
have thrilled everyone, but it was left to the experienced Leighton Baines to
rifle in the only goal of the evening from distance. Everton will have to be on
their mettle when they journey to Eastern Europe next Thursday because
elimination at this stage would be nothing short of embarrassing. I suspect
that the manager will have his best eleven out for that one.
It
is interesting that Jose Mourinho should sound a warning to clubs about the
cavalier attitude to spending money on transfers this close season. Following
his world record purchase of Paul Pogba last summer, words such as “hypocrite”
and a simile containing “pan, kettle and black” spring to mind. On this
occasion however I agree with his every word. It is an “out of control transfer
market” and it may well come crashing down sometime soon. The clubs allow Sky
and other TV stations to control the fixtures because they are the de facto
paymasters, but the Murdoch TV Empire is rumoured to be wobbling and if only
one major player was left in the game, the money on offer would naturally fall.
As PSG have shown in France however with the hullabaloo surrounding a possible
Neymar transfer, the more than mega wealthy owner does not need to fuel his
signings from the income generated from the Canal Plus TV Channel, currently
paying £0.7 billion less than in England. Owners such as Onyx Qatari Sports
Investments are richer than rich and a Neymar signing for around £190 million may
just enable them to bring home the Champions’ League Cup to an extremely bare
international section of their trophy cabinet. We have come a long way since
Bolton Wanderers won the FA Cup in 1958 with an eleven which cost exactly £110;
11 times the signing on fee for a home grown player, something we will never
see the likes of again.
Close
season club movement
Each
season, mainly because of the promotion and relegation throughout the top 11
Tiers of English football, there are changes to the complement of every one of
the country’s 90 Leagues. As far as the Red Rose County is concerned, there are
15 relevant leagues and here in summary form are the changes that affect our 122
clubs.
|
League
|
Joining
Red = Promoted
Blue = Relegated
Green = New club
|
Leaving
Red = Promotion
Blue = Relegation
Orange = Transfer
|
Red Rose clubs in League
|
|
Premier League
|
-
|
-
|
5
|
|
EFL Championship
|
Bolton
Wanderers
|
Blackburn
Rovers
Wigan
Athletic
|
2
|
|
EFL 1
|
Blackburn
Rovers
Wigan
Athletic Blackpool
|
Bolton
Wanderers
|
7
|
|
EFL 2
|
|
Blackpool
|
2
|
|
National
League
|
AFC Fylde
|
Southport
|
2
|
|
National League 1 North
|
Southport
|
AFC
Fylde
|
5
|
|
Northern Premier League
|
Lancaster
City
|
Skelmersdale
United
|
4
|
|
Northern
Premier League 1 North
|
Skelmersdale
United
Atherton
Collieries
|
Lancaster
City
Burscough
|
11
|
|
North
West Counties Premier League
|
Burscough
Widnes
Charnock
Richard
City
of Liverpool
|
Atherton
Collieries
Nelson
|
15
|
|
North
West Counties League 1
|
Nelson
|
Ashton
Town
Widnes
Charnock
Richard
City
of Liverpool
|
10
|
|
West Lancashire League
|
Burscough Richmond
Haslingden
St Mary’s
|
Eagley
Lostock
St Gerard’s
|
16
|
|
Manchester Premier League
|
Bolton
County
Heyside
Prestwich
Heys Reserves
|
Elton
Vale
|
13
|
|
Liverpool County League
|
AFC
Liverpool Reserves
Alder
Custy’s
|
Page Celtic
|
15
|
|
Cheshire League
|
Ashton
Town
Warrington
Town R
Billinge
|
Garswood
United
|
8
|
|
West Cheshire League
|
Marshall’s
|
|
7
|
Quiz Answers 1 Willie Morgan, 2 Glasgow Rangers, 3 Bury,
4 Edwin van der Saar, 5 Notts Forest, 6 Benfica, 7 Accrington Stanley, 8 Emlyn
Hughes, 9 Ross Barkley, 10 Scunthorpe United.
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