Old’er Uns Help please

[B14Nco]

Whitehouse would get my vote to be added to it.

Ah man. Someone said this on twitter as well. He’s already on there. May need to do some work on his hair as suggested

 

[diode_blade]

Yeah second row for the keepers - which I will be going with the following 6.

Simon Tracey 6’0

Mel Rees 6’2

Fatty Foulke 6’4

Alan Kelly 6’2

Paddy Kenny 6’1

Alan Hodgkinson 5’9

I know Kenny might not be popular with some but he was in goal for a vast proportion of my Blades watching life.

Paddy 6'1"...... blimey never looked that big....

 

[Silent Blade]

Silent do you keep goalkeepers away from your greatest ever players for United? After reading about all our great players (from 1889 onwards) I always have a very fixed view on who our best ever players are, my top 5 would be:-

Needham
Hagan
Currie
Gillespie
Foulke
with J Shaw not far off in 6th spot.
For the rest of a top 10 I think Woodward, Hodgkinson, Badger and G Shaw are prime candidates.

Perhaps Hagan and Currie I include as 2nd and 3rd due to my dad's view on them, and Foulke as 5th choice as it would appear he was the Gascoigne or Beckham (or dare I say Currie ... yes) of his day ie the standout best player / personality. I always feel for a United top 10 or top 20 where do the 3 big goalscorers - Johnson-Dunne-Dodds - of the interim years fit in, or of later years Doc Pace. And what of the other players from the golden age, who won a league title, FA cup winners medals and England caps, 'Cocky' Bennett, Tommy Morren, Harry Thickett and Fred Priest, amongst a few others. Going back to the interim years, your man Fred Tunstall and George Green (our second most capped England player, who I know very little about), where do they come in 'SUFC best of' (Tunstall 3rd in your list). And what of the players in my lifetime (since the mid 70s), given how far our great club has fallen over the last 40 years, where do Edwards, Deane, Tracey, Kelly, Brown and Jagielka fit in with any best of lists???

I am not anti-keeper as you may think. Picking 11 best players would have to include a keeper. The 8 players I chose were the ones that I thought stood out the most in Blades history. I respect your choices but I urge you to read more about Arthur Brown as he was picked to play for England when he was a teenager and his goalscoring record was very good for that era. I disagreed with few of the choices Denis Clareborough made in his book of 100 greatest Blades. He picked John Flynn instead of Dave Powell. Powell was easily a better player than Flynn. I liked Bob Booker but wouldnt pick him as one of my 100 greatest ever Blades.

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

Paddy 6'1"...... blimey never looked that big....

That was his waist measurement some games...

 

[B14Nco]

I am not anti-keeper as you may think. Picking 11 best players would have to include a keeper. The 8 players I chose were the ones that I thought stood out the most in Blades history. I respect your choices but I urge you to read more about Arthur Brown as he was picked to play for England when he was a teenager and his goalscoring record was very good for that era. I disagreed with few of the choices Denis Clareborough made in his book of 100 greatest Blades. He picked John Flynn instead of Dave Powell. Powell was easily a better player than Flynn. I liked Bob Booker but wouldnt pick him as one of my 100 greatest ever Blades.

And I think this has helped me realise what I’m going for...

Ultimately I’m drawing a ‘My fave players and those I can’t really miss off because they were legitimate legends’ squad picture.

Thanks for the input everyone! Will no doubt be posting more questions I should know the answers to tho.

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

And I think this has helped me realise what I’m going for...

Ultimately I’m drawing a ‘My fave players and those I can’t really miss off because they were legitimate legends’ squad picture.

Thanks for the input everyone! Will no doubt be posting more questions I should know the answers to tho.

Sounds right -anyone who argues that a player is not a legend, tell them he's one of your favourites. End of discussion.

 

[SUFC Handsworth]

I am not anti-keeper as you may think. Picking 11 best players would have to include a keeper. The 8 players I chose were the ones that I thought stood out the most in Blades history. I respect your choices but I urge you to read more about Arthur Brown as he was picked to play for England when he was a teenager and his goalscoring record was very good for that era. I disagreed with few of the choices Denis Clareborough made in his book of 100 greatest Blades. He picked John Flynn instead of Dave Powell. Powell was easily a better player than Flynn. I liked Bob Booker but wouldnt pick him as one of my 100 greatest ever Blades.

It was meant as a genuine question re: goalkeepers, I know some don't include keepers as 'best players' due to it being obviously a specialist role compared to outfield players, perhaps seeing them in their own category of 'best goalkeepers'. I'd meant to mention Arthur 'Boy' Brown when I listed some of our golden age players (it was late and I'd had a few!), wasn't he the youngest ever England player at the time, keeping that record for quite a number of years (I'd like to say it was Michael Owen who took his record but I've got a feeling someone else claimed the youngest ever player in between).

Yeah second row for the keepers - which I will be going with the following 6.



Fatty Foulke 6’4

Alan Kelly 6’2

Paddy Kenny 6’1

Alan Hodgkinson 5’9

I know Kenny might not be popular with some but he was in goal for a vast proportion of my Blades watching life.

Is that width or height I'd include Lievesley, Gough, Smith and Burgin as well.

 

[Silent Blade]

I'd meant to mention Arthur 'Boy' Brown when I listed some of our golden age players (it was late and I'd had a few!), wasn't he the youngest ever England player at the time, keeping that record for quite a number of years (I'd like to say it was Michael Owen who took his record but I've got a feeling someone else claimed the youngest ever player in between).

Arthur Brown was the 5th youngest England International until Duncan Edwards (who became the 4th youngest) in 1955 and then Michael Owen in 1998

 

[Wooden Blade]

Our 8 greatest ever players are

Ernest Needham
Billy Gillespie
Fred Tunstall
Jimmy Hagan
Joe Shaw
Tony Currie
Alan Woodward
Brian Deane

Brian Deane 6 foot 2, TC 5 foot 10 are the two tallest out of the 8

I think you are spot on with that Silent - " Nudger" Needham" was my Uncles Uncle !

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

I think you are spot on with that Silent - " Nudger" Needham" was my Uncles Uncle !

That is some pedigree. Do you have any stories from within the family that you could share with us? I imagine most of us do not have much of a sense of him as a person, or what a footballer's life was like in his era.

 

[jockdodds]

That is some pedigree. Do you have any stories from within the family that you could share with us? I imagine most of us do not have much of a sense of him as a person, or what a footballer's life was like in his era.

This book (by the great man himself) gives a great insight into what football was like in his day.

 

[Lane Ender]

Macallister was better than all of them in my opinion.

That injury did him he would have been a legend bar that

 

[Isaw Joeshaw]

I am not anti-keeper as you may think. Picking 11 best players would have to include a keeper. The 8 players I chose were the ones that I thought stood out the most in Blades history. I respect your choices but I urge you to read more about Arthur Brown as he was picked to play for England when he was a teenager and his goalscoring record was very good for that era. I disagreed with few of the choices Denis Clareborough made in his book of 100 greatest Blades. He picked John Flynn instead of Dave Powell. Powell was easily a better player than Flynn. I liked Bob Booker but wouldnt pick him as one of my 100 greatest ever Blades.

Silent, from your vast pool of knowledge of all things SUFC, do you have details of the injury that Powell sustained which effectively ended his career with us ?

From memory, I always thought it resulted from a brutish tackle from a thug of a centre forward called Gerry Queen but I now find that he never played for QPR where Powell sustained his injury.

How did it occur and was Queen responsible for a serious injury to another of our players ?

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

 

[SUFC Handsworth]

Arthur Brown was the 5th youngest England International until Duncan Edwards (who became the 4th youngest) in 1955 and then Michael Owen in 1998

Thought I'd seen it in England programme a few years ago, now checked on 11v11, Brown was the youngest player at the time in the 20th Century, until Duncan Edwards took the record (knew there was another before Owen), then Michael Owen.

 

[B14Nco]

Silent do you keep goalkeepers away from your greatest ever players for United? After reading about all our great players (from 1889 onwards) I always have a very fixed view on who our best ever players are, my top 5 would be:-

Needham
Hagan
Currie
Gillespie
Foulke
with J Shaw not far off in 6th spot.
For the rest of a top 10 I think Woodward, Hodgkinson, Badger and G Shaw

Any idea how tall Badger is?

 

[Keen Blade]

Needham should be easy to identify by his fine moustache

 

[HighfieldBlade]

Deane and Agana are 6 foot plus...

I didn't think Agana was over 6 foot tall, was he? I could be wrong.

 

[Silent Blade]

Silent, from your vast pool of knowledge of all things SUFC, do you have details of the injury that Powell sustained which effectively ended his career with us ?

From memory, I always thought it resulted from a brutish tackle from a thug of a centre forward called Gerry Queen but I now find that he never played for QPR where Powell sustained his injury.

How did it occur and was Queen responsible for a serious injury to another of our players ?

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

The injury he had was in the 1st half in the 2-2 draw at QPR (Woody and Hemsley scored in last 2 mins) in March 13th 1971. I was at a reserves match at the Lane that day. I did read elsewhere years later (think it was in the following week's Green Un when in 2002 I was doing a research for Flashing Blade on Woody's goals and assists) that Powell had got into a tackle and appeared ok when he got up but shortly after his knee "went" and he then collapsed. Sounds like an unfortunate injury.

Gerry Queen was a Crystal Palace player. I can only remember seeing him play in our 5-1 defeat at Selhurst Park in December 1971 and I do not remember the tackle you mentioned. Not sure if he played in the return game. He moved to Orient in 1972

 

[Sparky]

Len Badger is 6’3” in his magic hat

 

[B14Nco]

I didn't think Agana was over 6 foot tall, was he? I could be wrong.

i didn’t either but the tinternet say 6 foot.

 

[B14Nco]

Needham should be easy to identify by his fine moustache

Yeah drawn him and a few others now Including Doc Pace who I didn’t realise had the biggest nose in football.

 

[Worksop II]

Doc Pace, who I didn’t realise had the biggest nose in football.

I think you may get some disagreement over that ...................

 

[B14Nco]

So it’s coming on... but gonna need to expand I think

And for info...
Front row: Hagan, Brown, Reece, Sabella, Peschisolido, Sharp, Currie, Ndlovu, Shaw, Pace, Needham, Ward.

Second Row: Gillespie, Gage, Whitehouse, Bradshaw.

 

[Isaw Joeshaw]

View attachment 40354 So it’s coming on... but gonna need to expand I think

And for info...
Front row: Hagan, Brown, Reece, Sabella, Peschisolido, Sharp, Currie, Ndlovu, Shaw, Pace, Needham, Ward.

Second Row: Gillespie, Gage, Whitehouse, Bradshaw.

Looking good so far.

As Geoffrey would say, " Well done young man."

 

[Bert]

View attachment 40354 So it’s coming on... but gonna need to expand I think

And for info...
Front row: Hagan, Brown, Reece, Sabella, Peschisolido, Sharp, Currie, Ndlovu, Shaw, Pace, Needham, Ward.

Second Row: Gillespie, Gage, Whitehouse, Bradshaw.

Very good but.........

Harry Johnson is our record scorer (and Mansfield's) even though he only ever played part time. He played in our 1925 Cup winning team. He also played 6 times for England.

How does that compare to Mitch Ward's career?

 

[Revolution]

Very good but.........

Harry Johnson is our record scorer (and Mansfield's) even though he only ever played part time. He played in our 1925 Cup winning team. He also played 6 times for England.

How does that compare to Mitch Ward's career?

As an aside, Johnson is I believe the only player who holds an all time scoring record for more than one league team.

The "problem" when creating any "all time great" United list is our stay in the top flight between 1893 and 1934: this means there are dozens of players who played all of their United careers in the top flight who you could therefore argue are more worthy of honouring than the likes of, say, Billy Sharp, Michael Brown, Keith Edwards or Colin Morris, all of whom gave (or are giving) United excellent service in the last 40 years but who hardly played in the top flight (King Keith) or never played there at all (the other 3). But then you get the additional problems that none of us ever saw the old timers play, and of course it was a different game then.

I have little doubt that the top 3 players in our history were Ernest Needham, Jimmy Hagan and Tony Currie. Then there are a number of players who are in a second tier (Billy Gillespie, Alan Woodward, Alan Hodgkinson, Joe Shaw, Harry Johnson) but then it gets a bit more difficult to judge.

 

[Silent Blade]

He also played 6 times for England.

Harry senior had 6 England caps but Harry junior was never capped

 

[B14Nco]

Very good but.........

Harry Johnson is our record scorer (and Mansfield's) even though he only ever played part time. He played in our 1925 Cup winning team. He also played 6 times for England.

How does that compare to Mitch Ward's career?

I know and having him sat next to Needham feels a bit out of place. That said as a player I liked him, and ive decided that the image is ‘my legit legends and players I liked’ picture, not a fully researched and voted top 50... so he’s on there (as with Gage)

If this means people won’t buy it when it’s finished then so be it... but I doubt it.

I can’t stress enough that I appreciate the input tho!

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

View attachment 40354 So it’s coming on... but gonna need to expand I think

And for info...
Front row: Hagan, Brown, Reece, Sabella, Peschisolido, Sharp, Currie, Ndlovu, Shaw, Pace, Needham, Ward.

Second Row: Gillespie, Gage, Whitehouse, Bradshaw.

Given he's the most successful player/captain to ever grace the shirt, should the great man not be front and centre. Not a criticism, just a slightly biased opinion (see my avatar )

I like it, though, really good idea and definitely worth the effort, liking the developing work. Any consideration for Jimmy Dunne? Giving his scoring records (I know it's another pre-war), he still holds the record for most number of goals in a Blades season, not to mention the still standing all-time record of scoring in 12 consecutive matches. I think he's still the highest scoring Irishman in the English leagues.

 

[Worksop II]

Isn't there room for that other scoring sensation ..... I know he scored against us, but he does have a Statue in the Car Park .............