That then led me to look up Paul Ferris, who was playing for Newcastle as a young lad. A really interesting story, including Robert Lee calling for the ambulance when he had a heart attack and becoming a barrister. Also some thoughts on Joey Barton...
I was definitely there that day. I remember getting there early to collect autographs from both teams. Walked up to Steve Francis, the Chelsea Goalkeeper, saying ‘I have the same name as you’ only to get the most hateful look back. That scarred the 14 year old lad and was my first ‘negative’ experience meeting professional footballers.
In the Premiership years, my brother and I used to greet the away team at the Marriott Hotel, Bexleyheath to collect autographs. Biggest arseholes were Jermaine Jenas and Roy Keane. Most others were decent and accommodating, including Bobby Robson, Fergie and Beckham. Keane made up some pathetic excuse to avoid signing 4 autographs. Jenas came out of a side door to avoid signing any autographs.
Nowadays, when there is a debate with the missus about whether a celebrity is a decent person or not, I always judge them as whether I think they would willingly provide an autograph if you asked politely and without hassling them.
Strange camera angle is because its a video shot by Finches Ltd I believe (they recorded all the home games at the time and you could buy the tapes....but reasonably rare because not all that many had a VHS video recorder!)
I was definitely there that day. I remember getting there early to collect autographs from both teams. Walked up to Steve Francis, the Chelsea Goalkeeper, saying ‘I have the same name as you’ only to get the most hateful look back. That scarred the 14 year old lad and was my first ‘negative’ experience meeting professional footballers.
In the Premiership years, my brother and I used to greet the away team at the Marriott Hotel, Bexleyheath to collect autographs. Biggest arseholes were Jermaine Jenas and Roy Keane. Most others were decent and accommodating, including Bobby Robson, Fergie and Beckham. Keane made up some pathetic excuse to avoid signing 4 autographs. Jenas came out of a side door to avoid signing any autographs.
Nowadays, when there is a debate with the missus about whether a celebrity is a decent person or not, I always judge them as whether I think they would willingly provide an autograph if you asked politely and without hassling them.
my uncle used to play the piano in the marriott hotel in bexleyheath - he said the best of the lot was ron atkinson - used to spend the night doing duets with him - what a loss to the commentary box he was after his gaff
To this day I swear the match was a Tues night. Missed it for some reason & in my mind its because we used to have Boys Brigade on a Tues evening & remember one of the officers tell me was had just beaten Chelsea (?) that evening as we left. So so confused now.
To this day I swear the match was a Tues night. Missed it for some reason & in my mind its because we used to have Boys Brigade on a Tues evening & remember one of the officers tell me was had just beaten Chelsea (?) that evening as we left. So so confused now.
Think the Tuesday night game was the following season, Nicky Johns played them on his own, although I’m pretty sure it ended 1-1.
To this day I swear the match was a Tues night. Missed it for some reason & in my mind its because we used to have Boys Brigade on a Tues evening & remember one of the officers tell me was had just beaten Chelsea (?) that evening as we left. So so confused now.
Definitely a saturday. Somebody else put that clip up last year, prior to that if anyone mentioned that game I always thought Simmos first goal in my mind was his second & that he was more central before slipping the ball under the goalies diving body having dribbled round the entire chelsea team.
To this day I swear the match was a Tues night. Missed it for some reason & in my mind its because we used to have Boys Brigade on a Tues evening & remember one of the officers tell me was had just beaten Chelsea (?) that evening as we left. So so confused now.
Think the Tuesday night game was the following season, Nicky Johns played them on his own, although I’m pretty sure it ended 1-1.
Correct. Harris put us 1 up, Nevin equalised, Johns was 10/10....amazing.
To this day I swear the match was a Tues night. Missed it for some reason & in my mind its because we used to have Boys Brigade on a Tues evening & remember one of the officers tell me was had just beaten Chelsea (?) that evening as we left. So so confused now.
Think the Tuesday night game was the following season, Nicky Johns played them on his own, although I’m pretty sure it ended 1-1.
Correct. Harris put us 1 up, Nevin equalised, Johns was 10/10....amazing.
And you are absolutely right about Nicky Johns that night. One of the greatest displays of goalkeeping I have ever seen.
To this day I swear the match was a Tues night. Missed it for some reason & in my mind its because we used to have Boys Brigade on a Tues evening & remember one of the officers tell me was had just beaten Chelsea (?) that evening as we left. So so confused now.
Think the Tuesday night game was the following season, Nicky Johns played them on his own, although I’m pretty sure it ended 1-1.
Correct. Harris put us 1 up, Nevin equalised, Johns was 10/10....amazing.
And you are absolutely right about Nicky Johns that night. One of the greatest displays of goalkeeping I have ever seen.
Pretty sure Pat Nevin said the same after the game....it was like a coconut shy at times, the way the shots were raining in.
Went to all three of those games. Simmo created so much excitement. I remember going to see his first game in the Football Combination. I still look back on those seasons as some of the most exciting days I have had watching football. I loved those players. Carl Harris was a great player with a great stepover I tried to copy. Killer was one of a kind, Paul Elliott gangly class and Gritty and Les Berry Charlton loyalists.
I think I'm so fond of that era because it marked a rite of passage, growing up from being a kid to being independent. I used to go with a big group from school. I remember going to the Newcastle game with them. A lot of them supported Liverpool but the excitement around Simmo and atmosphere playing a big club like Newcastle converted them to Charlton fans.
My mum's family all lived on the Fulham Road and supported Chelsea. I often went with them when I was at my nan's house. I was a Chelsea fan then until I started going to Charlton with a neighbour, John Fordham. He took me home and away with Charlton from 1980 to 1982, but then he left his wife and moved away, so I started going with mates for the first time. For that Newcastle game we got the 96 bus to Woolwich and then train to Charlton from Woolwich Arsenal. We got to Woolwich so early we had to kill time going back and forth on the ferry as none of us had money for doing anything else. We only just had the money to get to the game.
I know Paul Canoville from work. He played for Chelsea that day. He used to get dog's abuse as Chelsea's first black player. He rang me last week and mentioned that he'd found the game on You Tube and sent a link to Colin Pates and John Bumstead. He said they couldn't deal with Simmo who was different class.
I stopped watching Charlton when they went to Selhurst, but remember the Full Members Cup Final game well. I decided to go at the last minute after playing Sunday football that morning at Danson Park. I didn't have a ticket but paid cash on the turnstile! It was embarrassing that Blackburn had more fans than us, but that's what Selhurst had done to the fanbase. We would have withered away if we hadn't found a way back home. I only went there half a dozen times as I hated it. It wasn't Charlton. The Blackburn final was a terrible game, but I'm glad I went as I can look back on three Wembley visits. When I went in 1998 I met one of my Liverpool supporting school mates,Mark Young, on the way out. I hadn't seen him since we left school. Simmo had turned both of us into life long Addicks.
To this day I swear the match was a Tues night. Missed it for some reason & in my mind its because we used to have Boys Brigade on a Tues evening & remember one of the officers tell me was had just beaten Chelsea (?) that evening as we left. So so confused now.
Think the Tuesday night game was the following season, Nicky Johns played them on his own, although I’m pretty sure it ended 1-1.
Correct. Harris put us 1 up, Nevin equalised, Johns was 10/10....amazing.
And you are absolutely right about Nicky Johns that night. One of the greatest displays of goalkeeping I have ever seen.
I've seen 3 brilliant displays. In order of brilliance;
Nicky Johns in the aforementioned Chelsea game. It was something like 8 seriously top saves. Unreal performance.
Bob Bolder at Old Trafford in a 0-0. Nearly as many saves as Johns and two unbelievable saves from bullet Bryan Robson headers in front of The Stretford End.
Rob Elliott v Barnet in FA Cup replay at The Valley. We won 1-0 (Kyle Reid I think) and should've lost about 1-5. Elliott kept us in it with 7 or 8 great saves.
Went to all three of those games. Simmo created so much excitement. I remember going to see his first game in the Football Combination. I still look back on those seasons as some of the most exciting days I have had watching football. I loved those players. Carl Harris was a great player with a great stepover I tried to copy. Killer was one of a kind, Paul Elliott gangly class and Gritty and Les Berry Charlton loyalists.
I think I'm so fond of that era because it marked a rite of passage, growing up from being a kid to being independent. I used to go with a big group from school. I remember going to the Newcastle game with them. A lot of them supported Liverpool but the excitement around Simmo and atmosphere playing a big club like Newcastle converted them to Charlton fans.
My mum's family all lived on the Fulham Road and supported Chelsea. I often went with them when I was at my nan's house. I was a Chelsea fan then until I started going to Charlton with a neighbour, John Fordham. He took me home and away with Charlton from 1980 to 1982, but then he left his wife and moved away, so I started going with mates for the first time. For that Newcastle game we got the 96 bus to Woolwich and then train to Charlton from Woolwich Arsenal. We got to Woolwich so early we had to kill time going back and forth on the ferry as none of us had money for doing anything else. We only just had the money to get to the game.
I know Paul Canoville from work. He played for Chelsea that day. He used to get dog's abuse as Chelsea's first black player. He rang me last week and mentioned that he'd found the game on You Tube and sent a link to Colin Pates and John Bumstead. He said they couldn't deal with Simmo who was different class.
I stopped watching Charlton when they went to Selhurst, but remember the Full Members Cup Final game well. I decided to go at the last minute after playing Sunday football that morning at Danson Park. I didn't have a ticket but paid cash on the turnstile! It was embarrassing that Blackburn had more fans than us, but that's what Selhurst had done to the fanbase. We would have withered away if we hadn't found a way back home. I only went there half a dozen times as I hated it. It wasn't Charlton. The Blackburn final was a terrible game, but I'm glad I went as I can look back on three Wembley visits. When I went in 1998 I met one of my Liverpool supporting school mates,Mark Young, on the way out. I hadn't seen him since we left school. Simmo had turned both of us into life long Addicks.
Canoville's book was very good. No doubt you have a copy.
To this day I swear the match was a Tues night. Missed it for some reason & in my mind its because we used to have Boys Brigade on a Tues evening & remember one of the officers tell me was had just beaten Chelsea (?) that evening as we left. So so confused now.
Think the Tuesday night game was the following season, Nicky Johns played them on his own, although I’m pretty sure it ended 1-1.
Correct. Harris put us 1 up, Nevin equalised, Johns was 10/10....amazing.
And you are absolutely right about Nicky Johns that night. One of the greatest displays of goalkeeping I have ever seen.
I've seen 3 brilliant displays. In order of brilliance;
Nicky Johns in the aforementioned Chelsea game. It was something like 8 seriously top saves. Unreal performance.
Bob Bolder at Old Trafford in a 0-0. Nearly as many saves as Johns and two unbelievable saves from bullet Bryan Robson headers in front of The Stretford End.
Rob Elliott v Barnet in FA Cup replay at The Valley. We won 1-0 (Kyle Reid I think) and should've lost about 1-5. Elliott kept us in it with 7 or 8 great saves.
I'll add one other to your list. Dean Kiely at Birmingham in a game that was covered live at Sky which we won 2-1.
To this day I swear the match was a Tues night. Missed it for some reason & in my mind its because we used to have Boys Brigade on a Tues evening & remember one of the officers tell me was had just beaten Chelsea (?) that evening as we left. So so confused now.
Think the Tuesday night game was the following season, Nicky Johns played them on his own, although I’m pretty sure it ended 1-1.
Correct. Harris put us 1 up, Nevin equalised, Johns was 10/10....amazing.
And you are absolutely right about Nicky Johns that night. One of the greatest displays of goalkeeping I have ever seen.
I've seen 3 brilliant displays. In order of brilliance;
Nicky Johns in the aforementioned Chelsea game. It was something like 8 seriously top saves. Unreal performance.
Bob Bolder at Old Trafford in a 0-0. Nearly as many saves as Johns and two unbelievable saves from bullet Bryan Robson headers in front of The Stretford End.
Rob Elliott v Barnet in FA Cup replay at The Valley. We won 1-0 (Kyle Reid I think) and should've lost about 1-5. Elliott kept us in it with 7 or 8 great saves.
Johns was also outstanding in January 1981 at a gale forced Home Park, Plymouth in the FA Cup fourth round. The first half against the wind was all one way traffic. I don't think we got out of our half and but for Nicky we would have been 7 or 8 down as it was it was just an early David Kemp strike.
With the wind at our backs, Paddy scored direct from a corner. If it had not been wind assisted the ball would probably have landed on the penalty spot. A glorious far postish Killer header in the last 5 minutes sealed it. We then took thousands to Fulham and Ipswich in a memorable cup run.
To this day I swear the match was a Tues night. Missed it for some reason & in my mind its because we used to have Boys Brigade on a Tues evening & remember one of the officers tell me was had just beaten Chelsea (?) that evening as we left. So so confused now.
Think the Tuesday night game was the following season, Nicky Johns played them on his own, although I’m pretty sure it ended 1-1.
Correct. Harris put us 1 up, Nevin equalised, Johns was 10/10....amazing.
And you are absolutely right about Nicky Johns that night. One of the greatest displays of goalkeeping I have ever seen.
To this day I swear the match was a Tues night. Missed it for some reason & in my mind its because we used to have Boys Brigade on a Tues evening & remember one of the officers tell me was had just beaten Chelsea (?) that evening as we left. So so confused now.
Think the Tuesday night game was the following season, Nicky Johns played them on his own, although I’m pretty sure it ended 1-1.
Correct. Harris put us 1 up, Nevin equalised, Johns was 10/10....amazing.
And you are absolutely right about Nicky Johns that night. One of the greatest displays of goalkeeping I have ever seen.
I've seen 3 brilliant displays. In order of brilliance;
Nicky Johns in the aforementioned Chelsea game. It was something like 8 seriously top saves. Unreal performance.
Bob Bolder at Old Trafford in a 0-0. Nearly as many saves as Johns and two unbelievable saves from bullet Bryan Robson headers in front of The Stretford End.
Rob Elliott v Barnet in FA Cup replay at The Valley. We won 1-0 (Kyle Reid I think) and should've lost about 1-5. Elliott kept us in it with 7 or 8 great saves.
I'll add one other to your list. Dean Kiely at Birmingham in a game that was covered live at Sky which we won 2-1.
Some breathtaking saves that night as well.
Yep there were a couple of top-class saves from Christope Dugarry headers in that game. But for me, the three other games I've mentioned were in the unbelievable bracket. Almost like our keeper was playing the opposition on his own.
To this day I swear the match was a Tues night. Missed it for some reason & in my mind its because we used to have Boys Brigade on a Tues evening & remember one of the officers tell me was had just beaten Chelsea (?) that evening as we left. So so confused now.
Think the Tuesday night game was the following season, Nicky Johns played them on his own, although I’m pretty sure it ended 1-1.
Correct. Harris put us 1 up, Nevin equalised, Johns was 10/10....amazing.
And you are absolutely right about Nicky Johns that night. One of the greatest displays of goalkeeping I have ever seen.
Who would rate higher - Bolder or Johns ?
Personally it’s Bolder for me
As a keeper overall? I'd say Bolder shades it for me because he was proven at the top level, whereas Johns wasn't and started to look ever so slightly suss (and was dropped). Both very good keepers though and never seemed to let errors effect them.
Went to all three of those games. Simmo created so much excitement. I remember going to see his first game in the Football Combination. I still look back on those seasons as some of the most exciting days I have had watching football. I loved those players. Carl Harris was a great player with a great stepover I tried to copy. Killer was one of a kind, Paul Elliott gangly class and Gritty and Les Berry Charlton loyalists.
I think I'm so fond of that era because it marked a rite of passage, growing up from being a kid to being independent. I used to go with a big group from school. I remember going to the Newcastle game with them. A lot of them supported Liverpool but the excitement around Simmo and atmosphere playing a big club like Newcastle converted them to Charlton fans.
My mum's family all lived on the Fulham Road and supported Chelsea. I often went with them when I was at my nan's house. I was a Chelsea fan then until I started going to Charlton with a neighbour, John Fordham. He took me home and away with Charlton from 1980 to 1982, but then he left his wife and moved away, so I started going with mates for the first time. For that Newcastle game we got the 96 bus to Woolwich and then train to Charlton from Woolwich Arsenal. We got to Woolwich so early we had to kill time going back and forth on the ferry as none of us had money for doing anything else. We only just had the money to get to the game.
I know Paul Canoville from work. He played for Chelsea that day. He used to get dog's abuse as Chelsea's first black player. He rang me last week and mentioned that he'd found the game on You Tube and sent a link to Colin Pates and John Bumstead. He said they couldn't deal with Simmo who was different class.
I stopped watching Charlton when they went to Selhurst, but remember the Full Members Cup Final game well. I decided to go at the last minute after playing Sunday football that morning at Danson Park. I didn't have a ticket but paid cash on the turnstile! It was embarrassing that Blackburn had more fans than us, but that's what Selhurst had done to the fanbase. We would have withered away if we hadn't found a way back home. I only went there half a dozen times as I hated it. It wasn't Charlton. The Blackburn final was a terrible game, but I'm glad I went as I can look back on three Wembley visits. When I went in 1998 I met one of my Liverpool supporting school mates,Mark Young, on the way out. I hadn't seen him since we left school. Simmo had turned both of us into life long Addicks.
Canoville's book was very good. No doubt you have a copy.
It's a great book. I started working with Paul in 2005 doing workshops for schools in Westminster as part of the Kick it Out campaign. He is a gifted story teller but as we were working with 10 year olds he never mentioned the darker sides of his story. His story dealing with racism at Chelsea is incredible enough, but it was one I knew as I saw him play quite a bit when he began his career at Chelsea. What I didn't know was the incredible story of his life after football.
He showed incredible strength to recover from cancer and drug addiction. The story of how he did it rises his book above most of your run of the mill ghosted biographies.
I would recommend Paul's talks to any school or sports club as he has a strong message for kids. He tells them how much he regrets skipping school as a teenager as his career ended early and he had nothing to fall back on. He is very funny, but talks to children very well in how they can deal with bullying and racism.
One thing that pissed me off about him (and he was I agree a very good keeper) was just after he went to QPR - we had an away game there, and he was playing - QPR won I think 2-1 - and when the final whistle was blown he turned around to us away fans and gave it the big one in terms celebration - I was down the front of the terracing and he was right in front of me - it was like he had just won the FA Cup - well over the top and unnecessary
One thing that pissed me off about him (and he was I agree a very good keeper) was just after he went to QPR - we had an away game there, and he was playing - QPR won I think 2-1 - and when the final whistle was blown he turned around to us away fans and gave it the big one in terms celebration - I was down the front of the terracing and he was right in front of me - it was like he had just won the FA Cup - well over the top and unnecessary
One thing that pissed me off about him (and he was I agree a very good keeper) was just after he went to QPR - we had an away game there, and he was playing - QPR won I think 2-1 - and when the final whistle was blown he turned around to us away fans and gave it the big one in terms celebration - I was down the front of the terracing and he was right in front of me - it was like he had just won the FA Cup - well over the top and unnecessary
We lost 2-0 (John Byrne for them?) I didn't see that because I was stood on The Loft that day but that's daft.
One thing that pissed me off about him (and he was I agree a very good keeper) was just after he went to QPR - we had an away game there, and he was playing - QPR won I think 2-1 - and when the final whistle was blown he turned around to us away fans and gave it the big one in terms celebration - I was down the front of the terracing and he was right in front of me - it was like he had just won the FA Cup - well over the top and unnecessary
On the plastic pitch, and he behaved like a tosser...Not sure he even got any "ex-player" stick (in fact quite the opposite)
Comments
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe-bQNmoJmQ
That then led me to look up Paul Ferris, who was playing for Newcastle as a young lad. A really interesting story, including Robert Lee calling for the ambulance when he had a heart attack and becoming a barrister. Also some thoughts on Joey Barton...
https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/5613469/newcastles-paul-ferris-alan-shearer-paul-gascoigne/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp_qIOi7nSE
In the Premiership years, my brother and I used to greet the away team at the Marriott Hotel, Bexleyheath to collect autographs. Biggest arseholes were Jermaine Jenas and Roy Keane. Most others were decent and accommodating, including Bobby Robson, Fergie and Beckham. Keane made up some pathetic excuse to avoid signing 4 autographs. Jenas came out of a side door to avoid signing any autographs.
Although that whole team had some excellent players.
What we would give to have a few of them now.
Was that Carl Harris scoring for us, memory shot? Seem to think he was quite a good player?
I think I'm so fond of that era because it marked a rite of passage, growing up from being a kid to being independent. I used to go with a big group from school. I remember going to the Newcastle game with them. A lot of them supported Liverpool but the excitement around Simmo and atmosphere playing a big club like Newcastle converted them to Charlton fans.
My mum's family all lived on the Fulham Road and supported Chelsea. I often went with them when I was at my nan's house. I was a Chelsea fan then until I started going to Charlton with a neighbour, John Fordham. He took me home and away with Charlton from 1980 to 1982, but then he left his wife and moved away, so I started going with mates for the first time. For that Newcastle game we got the 96 bus to Woolwich and then train to Charlton from Woolwich Arsenal. We got to Woolwich so early we had to kill time going back and forth on the ferry as none of us had money for doing anything else. We only just had the money to get to the game.
I know Paul Canoville from work. He played for Chelsea that day. He used to get dog's abuse as Chelsea's first black player. He rang me last week and mentioned that he'd found the game on You Tube and sent a link to Colin Pates and John Bumstead. He said they couldn't deal with Simmo who was different class.
I stopped watching Charlton when they went to Selhurst, but remember the Full Members Cup Final game well. I decided to go at the last minute after playing Sunday football that morning at Danson Park. I didn't have a ticket but paid cash on the turnstile! It was embarrassing that Blackburn had more fans than us, but that's what Selhurst had done to the fanbase. We would have withered away if we hadn't found a way back home. I only went there half a dozen times as I hated it. It wasn't Charlton. The Blackburn final was a terrible game, but I'm glad I went as I can look back on three Wembley visits. When I went in 1998 I met one of my Liverpool supporting school mates,Mark Young, on the way out. I hadn't seen him since we left school. Simmo had turned both of us into life long Addicks.
Nicky Johns in the aforementioned Chelsea game. It was something like 8 seriously top saves. Unreal performance.
Bob Bolder at Old Trafford in a 0-0. Nearly as many saves as Johns and two unbelievable saves from bullet Bryan Robson headers in front of The Stretford End.
Rob Elliott v Barnet in FA Cup replay at The Valley. We won 1-0 (Kyle Reid I think) and should've lost about 1-5. Elliott kept us in it with 7 or 8 great saves.
Some breathtaking saves that night as well.
With the wind at our backs, Paddy scored direct from a corner. If it had not been wind assisted the ball would probably have landed on the penalty spot. A glorious far postish Killer header in the last 5 minutes sealed it. We then took thousands to Fulham and Ipswich in a memorable cup run.
He showed incredible strength to recover from cancer and drug addiction. The story of how he did it rises his book above most of your run of the mill ghosted biographies.
I would recommend Paul's talks to any school or sports club as he has a strong message for kids. He tells them how much he regrets skipping school as a teenager as his career ended early and he had nothing to fall back on. He is very funny, but talks to children very well in how they can deal with bullying and racism.
Plus he went to palice.