Was so gutted for him at the time. Never got to see the match on MOTD. Didn't want to see the injury but did want to see Richie Bowman's brilliant solo goal.
"Graham Tutt became a professional goalkeeper for London’s Charlton Athletic the day after graduating from high school at the age of 17. Graham made 78 first-team appearances for Charlton and earned league promotion from Division III to Division II within three seasons. Acknowledged by the Football Association as The Most Promising Young Player in 1975, he was selected in 1976 to play in the England Under-21 Squad against Holland at Wembley Stadium. Newcastle United was ready to bid for him.
At the age of 19, Tutt was kicked in the face at Sunderland in a promotional bid game to Division 1 that ended his professional playing career. Graham sustained a broken cheekbone, broken nose, lacerations to his eyelid and internal damage to his right eye that caused permanent double vision. After two eye operations and 18 months recovery, he signed a two-year contract with top-ranked South African club Arcadia Pepsi. In his second season with Arcadia, the South African National Sports Press voted him Goalkeeper of the Year and he made the South African All Star Team.
Next, Graham played for Ohio’s Columbus Magic. His selection to the American Soccer League’s All Star Team brought an offer from TV mogul Ted Turner to join the Atlanta Chiefs. Graham ranked in the Top Five Best Goalkeepers in the league as a member of The Chiefs Indoor (Omni) and Outdoor (Fulton County Stadium) 1981 Eastern Divisional Championship teams. When the Chiefs folded after the 1981 seasons, Tutt joined the Georgia Generals outdoor ASL franchise, where he was voted The Fan’s Most Popular Player.
Was so gutted for him at the time. Never got to see the match on MOTD. Didn't want to see the injury but did want to see Richie Bowman's brilliant solo goal.
"Graham Tutt became a professional goalkeeper for London’s Charlton Athletic the day after graduating from high school at the age of 17. Graham made 78 first-team appearances for Charlton and earned league promotion from Division III to Division II within three seasons. Acknowledged by the Football Association as The Most Promising Young Player in 1975, he was selected in 1976 to play in the England Under-21 Squad against Holland at Wembley Stadium. Newcastle United was ready to bid for him.
At the age of 19, Tutt was kicked in the face at Sunderland in a promotional bid game to Division 1 that ended his professional playing career. Graham sustained a broken cheekbone, broken nose, lacerations to his eyelid and internal damage to his right eye that caused permanent double vision. After two eye operations and 18 months recovery, he signed a two-year contract with top-ranked South African club Arcadia Pepsi. In his second season with Arcadia, the South African National Sports Press voted him Goalkeeper of the Year and he made the South African All Star Team.
Next, Graham played for Ohio’s Columbus Magic. His selection to the American Soccer League’s All Star Team brought an offer from TV mogul Ted Turner to join the Atlanta Chiefs. Graham ranked in the Top Five Best Goalkeepers in the league as a member of The Chiefs Indoor (Omni) and Outdoor (Fulton County Stadium) 1981 Eastern Divisional Championship teams. When the Chiefs folded after the 1981 seasons, Tutt joined the Georgia Generals outdoor ASL franchise, where he was voted The Fan’s Most Popular Player.
Perhaps the ultimate solo goal - it was a penalty...
Was so gutted for him at the time. Never got to see the match on MOTD. Didn't want to see the injury but did want to see Richie Bowman's brilliant solo goal.
"Graham Tutt became a professional goalkeeper for London’s Charlton Athletic the day after graduating from high school at the age of 17. Graham made 78 first-team appearances for Charlton and earned league promotion from Division III to Division II within three seasons. Acknowledged by the Football Association as The Most Promising Young Player in 1975, he was selected in 1976 to play in the England Under-21 Squad against Holland at Wembley Stadium. Newcastle United was ready to bid for him.
At the age of 19, Tutt was kicked in the face at Sunderland in a promotional bid game to Division 1 that ended his professional playing career. Graham sustained a broken cheekbone, broken nose, lacerations to his eyelid and internal damage to his right eye that caused permanent double vision. After two eye operations and 18 months recovery, he signed a two-year contract with top-ranked South African club Arcadia Pepsi. In his second season with Arcadia, the South African National Sports Press voted him Goalkeeper of the Year and he made the South African All Star Team.
Next, Graham played for Ohio’s Columbus Magic. His selection to the American Soccer League’s All Star Team brought an offer from TV mogul Ted Turner to join the Atlanta Chiefs. Graham ranked in the Top Five Best Goalkeepers in the league as a member of The Chiefs Indoor (Omni) and Outdoor (Fulton County Stadium) 1981 Eastern Divisional Championship teams. When the Chiefs folded after the 1981 seasons, Tutt joined the Georgia Generals outdoor ASL franchise, where he was voted The Fan’s Most Popular Player.
Perhaps the ultimate solo goal - it was a penalty...
In the mid 70's Grahams' family lived in Sittingbourne, one Sunday dinner time I popped into my local for a pint and Graham was in there playing pool, after a few games and a chat about all things football and in particular the previous days Charlton match (in which Graham had played) he asked me if I played for any local teams, l told him that l had just moved to the area and hadn't fixed myself up with a team just yet, l then went on to say I had been and watched a team the previous week but they were shite and I wouldn't be joining them, to which he replied "oh I have just come from playing centre forward for them this morning" I quickly back tracked and said perhaps I had seen them on a bad day as their star centre forward hadn't been playing. We had a good laugh about it and went our separate ways as mentioned above Graham was a really nice fella.
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I seem to think I was at the game when it happened, it happened at The Valley right? I can't remember who against or the incident itself.
The Finney everyone is mentioning played for who?
From a US site: https://www.georgiasoccer.org/about/hof-spotlight-graham-tutt/
"Graham Tutt became a professional goalkeeper for London’s Charlton Athletic the day after graduating from high school at the age of 17. Graham made 78 first-team appearances for Charlton and earned league promotion from Division III to Division II within three seasons. Acknowledged by the Football Association as The Most Promising Young Player in 1975, he was selected in 1976 to play in the England Under-21 Squad against Holland at Wembley Stadium. Newcastle United was ready to bid for him.
At the age of 19, Tutt was kicked in the face at Sunderland in a promotional bid game to Division 1 that ended his professional playing career. Graham sustained a broken cheekbone, broken nose, lacerations to his eyelid and internal damage to his right eye that caused permanent double vision. After two eye operations and 18 months recovery, he signed a two-year contract with top-ranked South African club Arcadia Pepsi. In his second season with Arcadia, the South African National Sports Press voted him Goalkeeper of the Year and he made the South African All Star Team.
Next, Graham played for Ohio’s Columbus Magic. His selection to the American Soccer League’s All Star Team brought an offer from TV mogul Ted Turner to join the Atlanta Chiefs. Graham ranked in the Top Five Best Goalkeepers in the league as a member of The Chiefs Indoor (Omni) and Outdoor (Fulton County Stadium) 1981 Eastern Divisional Championship teams. When the Chiefs folded after the 1981 seasons, Tutt joined the Georgia Generals outdoor ASL franchise, where he was voted The Fan’s Most Popular Player.
We had a good laugh about it and went our separate ways as mentioned above Graham was a really nice fella.