Following on from a discussion in the General Election thread, and wanting to stay on topic, i started this thread.
What are you experiences meeting ex and current players/club staff.
I will start the ball rolling
Now living in Hoddesdon ,as i did for a good few years,it wasnt unusual to see/meet Spurs players ,and to a much lesser degree, Woolwich players as well(though we wont mention them ),so have a few tales from me and people i know.
Gazza was a local for a few years,and remains very popular in the Town from people that met him, and not just with Spurs fans either.He came in to what was then my local ,the Sun one Wednesday and was with drop dead gorgeous lady, dressed to the nines in typical 80s style, figure hugging lime green lycra dress. The young lady, not Gazza. Well it didn't take long for us to get into a conversation with him, and he was as happy as a pig in shit chatting football with us. The poor girl was almost forgotten. A genuinely decent bloke, who felt obliged to buy us fans(we were about 12 handy and i would say 9 of those were spurs) a drink on at least two rounds that night, whilst refusing our offers in return.
He also use to drink in the Crown at Stansted Abbotts(now a house) ,and on Sunday afternoons, drank with a load of young uns in their teens. This would have been a lock in prior to all day opening,but was just young blokes playing pool,nothing mental .One Sunday one of the regulars, got up and announced he was leaving early as he was skint(remember these were youngsters so probably on apprenticeship/low wages).gazza tried to talk him into staying, but the bloke was adamant that he was pot-less so going home. Gazza then said, fair enough but let me get you coat, which ones yours.Bloke pointed his jacket out and Mr G went and got it and the bloke left. a short while later he was back, knocking on the window as he had found a score in his pocket ,so could stay out. The governor later admitted he saw gazza putting something in the kids pocket.
A fella i worked with lived in Stansted Abbots ,and had no interest in football. One day he came up to just after we had started ,and said"you'll like this".He was walking his dog the night previous, and took his normal route which went past the patch of grass where his grand kid and his mates played football. He noticed a bloke watching them, and whilst the bloke wasn't doing anything wrong, he decided he would go back that way just in-case. When he returned, the fella was no longer watching the kids playing ,but had dumped his coat on top of theirs and was playing a game with them. It was Gazza.
He use to buy his fishing tackle in Ross in Hoddesdon high street ,where a family friend Beryl worked and would have the shop in fits of laughter with various stories and just being him.
As i said elsewhere, Gerry Armstrong lived on my estate and use to use the shops in the middle of it. Always had a kind word for us, which at the time were a young group of locally despised skinheads. We talked him into getting us cigarettes on a couple of occasions. We would give him the money, and he would get them. He would always say "No, no, cant do that lads ! Oh ok then ,just this wee once". Lovely bloke. Years later ,i got to know his best mate at the time ,from that area, as i knew his son. He was the governor of another Hoddesdon pub, the Boars head(where Gerry drank). He said the same ,a top top bloke.
Pat Jennings use to come onto the estate as well, as his wife got her barnet done in the salon, Adam & Eves which was there. One day, a mob of us, bored and being silly, started chanting " we hate Woolwich, and we hate Woolwich " at him. He stopped about turned and said at the top of his voice "And so do i". We laughed/cheered, he smiled, and that was that . He was never going to get any real grief of us, and he knew it, i think.
i will add to this when i think of some more
Hope others have some stories as well
What are you experiences meeting ex and current players/club staff.
I will start the ball rolling
Now living in Hoddesdon ,as i did for a good few years,it wasnt unusual to see/meet Spurs players ,and to a much lesser degree, Woolwich players as well(though we wont mention them ),so have a few tales from me and people i know.
Gazza was a local for a few years,and remains very popular in the Town from people that met him, and not just with Spurs fans either.He came in to what was then my local ,the Sun one Wednesday and was with drop dead gorgeous lady, dressed to the nines in typical 80s style, figure hugging lime green lycra dress. The young lady, not Gazza. Well it didn't take long for us to get into a conversation with him, and he was as happy as a pig in shit chatting football with us. The poor girl was almost forgotten. A genuinely decent bloke, who felt obliged to buy us fans(we were about 12 handy and i would say 9 of those were spurs) a drink on at least two rounds that night, whilst refusing our offers in return.
He also use to drink in the Crown at Stansted Abbotts(now a house) ,and on Sunday afternoons, drank with a load of young uns in their teens. This would have been a lock in prior to all day opening,but was just young blokes playing pool,nothing mental .One Sunday one of the regulars, got up and announced he was leaving early as he was skint(remember these were youngsters so probably on apprenticeship/low wages).gazza tried to talk him into staying, but the bloke was adamant that he was pot-less so going home. Gazza then said, fair enough but let me get you coat, which ones yours.Bloke pointed his jacket out and Mr G went and got it and the bloke left. a short while later he was back, knocking on the window as he had found a score in his pocket ,so could stay out. The governor later admitted he saw gazza putting something in the kids pocket.
A fella i worked with lived in Stansted Abbots ,and had no interest in football. One day he came up to just after we had started ,and said"you'll like this".He was walking his dog the night previous, and took his normal route which went past the patch of grass where his grand kid and his mates played football. He noticed a bloke watching them, and whilst the bloke wasn't doing anything wrong, he decided he would go back that way just in-case. When he returned, the fella was no longer watching the kids playing ,but had dumped his coat on top of theirs and was playing a game with them. It was Gazza.
He use to buy his fishing tackle in Ross in Hoddesdon high street ,where a family friend Beryl worked and would have the shop in fits of laughter with various stories and just being him.
As i said elsewhere, Gerry Armstrong lived on my estate and use to use the shops in the middle of it. Always had a kind word for us, which at the time were a young group of locally despised skinheads. We talked him into getting us cigarettes on a couple of occasions. We would give him the money, and he would get them. He would always say "No, no, cant do that lads ! Oh ok then ,just this wee once". Lovely bloke. Years later ,i got to know his best mate at the time ,from that area, as i knew his son. He was the governor of another Hoddesdon pub, the Boars head(where Gerry drank). He said the same ,a top top bloke.
Pat Jennings use to come onto the estate as well, as his wife got her barnet done in the salon, Adam & Eves which was there. One day, a mob of us, bored and being silly, started chanting " we hate Woolwich, and we hate Woolwich " at him. He stopped about turned and said at the top of his voice "And so do i". We laughed/cheered, he smiled, and that was that . He was never going to get any real grief of us, and he knew it, i think.
i will add to this when i think of some more
Hope others have some stories as well
I liked Alan Hansen. A real presence about him.
