Ardiles and Villa.

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On this day 1978, we signed World Cup Winners, Ossie Ardiles and Ricky Villa.

Legends.

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Was eating me corn flakes in the morning before going off to school, when I heard it on LBC. (where news comes first)
Almost spat them across the table.

Remember paying 7.50 return for the Forest game on normal BR.
Shows how cheap the SSC trains were.
That season;
Liverpool - 6.50
Derby - 4.50
Man Utd - 6.50
 
Well that went down well!!! 🤓
Off the top of my head.........
I'd say Saturday 5th May 1979 vs Everton in the 1st Division at the Lane. 42nd league match of the season. An equaliser in the 29th minute. Pegging back Brian Kidd's 23rd minute opener. The game finished 1-1

Was I close?
 
Already a Spurs fan and playing football fast becoming a major pastime (10yrs old).

But that summer was the year I genuinely fell in love with football, hook line and sinker, on the account that I had just experienced my first World Cup. Then to have them join us, from the winning side, wow! My worlds collided.
 
Strange how things go.
When West Brom came up in '76, they were genuinely a bit of a bogey team for us in the League....for a good few years.
Yet in one of their best ever top flight campaigns, (78/79) we did the double over them.
 
Ardiles+Villa+Signing.jpeg


That headline...
That kit....
That tracksuit....
THAT moustache!!!!

Ladies and gentlemen.... I give you;
NINETEEN SEVENTY-EIGHT!
 
A question for you old timers. Nowadays with social media and 24/7 news cycle watchers of the sport know every player in every league from every country or at least the good ones. Back then I'm guessing it was not so much. I know they had just won the WC with Argentina but was there still a sense of "I don't really know these guys but they just won the WC so they've got to be good" or did everyone know of Ricky and Ossie?
 
A question for you old timers. Nowadays with social media and 24/7 news cycle watchers of the sport know every player in every league from every country or at least the good ones. Back then I'm guessing it was not so much. I know they had just won the WC with Argentina but was there still a sense of "I don't really know these guys but they just won the WC so they've got to be good" or did everyone know of Ricky and Ossie?
For me, without resorting to Google, the 1978 World Cup was all about ticker tape, Mario Kempes and a chain-smoking Argentinan manager. I do remember Ossie but don't remember much of Ricky.
It was a real coup though to get them, and they are real legends of our Club.
The less said about their home debut though, the better!
 
Only scored 3 league goals that season and 2 came in one match.I remember the goal against Man U in the cup a header but his first goal was against Derby County March 1979.
I cheated and found the utd cup programme.
 
A question for you old timers. Nowadays with social media and 24/7 news cycle watchers of the sport know every player in every league from every country or at least the good ones. Back then I'm guessing it was not so much. I know they had just won the WC with Argentina but was there still a sense of "I don't really know these guys but they just won the WC so they've got to be good" or did everyone know of Ricky and Ossie?
I don't think anyone knew who the fuck Villa was, I don't think he played a single minute. At the time it was reported that he was signed to babysit Ossie. Ossie was seen at the tournament as one of the best players behind the big stars of Kempes, Zico, Rivellio, Vogts, Zoff, Gentile, Dalgleish. I don't think Platini, Tardelli, Rummenigge were well known then. There was, of course, a massive interest in McQueen, Kennedy, Souness and Macari given the Utd and Liverpool thing and no England.
 
A question for you old timers. Nowadays with social media and 24/7 news cycle watchers of the sport know every player in every league from every country or at least the good ones. Back then I'm guessing it was not so much. I know they had just won the WC with Argentina but was there still a sense of "I don't really know these guys but they just won the WC so they've got to be good" or did everyone know of Ricky and Ossie?

'78 was the first 'showbiz' finals. Games on the other side of the world and blizzards of ticker tape, we had never seen anything like it.
Sadly it was mired in corruption as we all feared with Argentina needing to beat Peru by 6 goals, and guess what. It transpired many years later that the dictator, Gaultire had cancelled loans made by the Argie Govt. to Peru which was in any language, a bribe.
Ossie and Ricky signing though was nothing short of breathtaking. It had never been done before and they lit up Tottenham.
 
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