Obviously I am old, I even saw Dave Mackay play. But Alan Gilzean was a friend of my parents, he came to watch me play in my first cup final in 1971 when I was 10, then gave me a lift home in his Jaguar. Which was littered inside with around thirty empty Rothmans packets.
Also my very first booking was for fouling Garry Brooke, in around 1974, when he was playing for Waltham Forest.
In the late 80s and early 90s I had to work at Highbury for virtually every home game, and so came into contact with a lot of the Woolwich players. Of whom, I will say Alan Smith was an utter c**t, Lee Dixon told me to f**k off and was so nearly arrested** but perhaps surprisingly the best two were Tony Adams and Paul Merson. Really. Merson spent a lot of time and his own money entertaining a child cancer victim one night after we had been playing a charity tournament there.
** EDIT - I should explain. They had just won the league and a load of players were in the VIP Lounge, refusing to leave at closing time. I was a cop and was called in to clear them out. I bottled it on the basis that it would go nuclear when it hit the papers.
Also my very first booking was for fouling Garry Brooke, in around 1974, when he was playing for Waltham Forest.
In the late 80s and early 90s I had to work at Highbury for virtually every home game, and so came into contact with a lot of the Woolwich players. Of whom, I will say Alan Smith was an utter c**t, Lee Dixon told me to f**k off and was so nearly arrested** but perhaps surprisingly the best two were Tony Adams and Paul Merson. Really. Merson spent a lot of time and his own money entertaining a child cancer victim one night after we had been playing a charity tournament there.
** EDIT - I should explain. They had just won the league and a load of players were in the VIP Lounge, refusing to leave at closing time. I was a cop and was called in to clear them out. I bottled it on the basis that it would go nuclear when it hit the papers.
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