The Great Tony Currie

All advertisments are hidden for logged in members, why not log in/register?

Isaw Joeshaw

Isaw Joeshaw

Old School Blade
Joined
May 17, 2017
Messages
4,653
Reaction score
12,266
Since there is, so to speak, a lull in proceedings at the moment I thought it would be a good time to post my recollections of the third member of the truly great Sheffield footballers since WW II, the wonderful Anthony William Currie.

Since he is the most recent of the three, I'm sure many others will have great memories of this truly remarkable footballer and I look forward very much to hearing them. As for me, It's difficult to know where to start but I suppose the obvious place would be his spectacular debut for the Blades.

This was in a thrilling 3-2 victory against a very good Spurs team when he produced a marvellous all round performance capped off by a fine headed goal. Based on this performance alone, Blades fans immediately took him to their hearts and they were not to be disappointed. His career at the Lane was littered with performances of outstanding, sometimes breath taking, quality, flair and imagination. The quality of his passing was something to behold and his understanding with Alan Woodward almost telepathic.

He also provided us with some wonderful cameo moments such as sitting on the ball in the 5-0 drubbing of Arsenal, nutmegging Kevin Keegan in our own penalty area, snogging with Alan Birchenall after a coming together in a match against Leicester and, best of all, running down the touchline with his back to the pitch, blowing kisses to the crowd and beating opponents at the same time !!

Throughout his career, he received many accolades from the media, fans , players and managers but my two favourites are the following :-

* Most Blades fans will be aware of John Motson's famous " A quality goal from a quality player" commentary line but what many don't know is that in a preview of MOTD broadcast earlier in the evening the presenter said :-
"If you've made plans to go out tonight, cancel them, stay in and watch Match of the Day and I'll tell you why in just two words - Tony Currie "

My all time favourite, however, was one I overheard while standing on the John Street terrace in a match against the (at that time) mighty Liverpool, for whom Keegan was out injured. Alongside me and my mates were 2 of their fans and, as the match got under way it soon became apparent that TC was at his imperious best, displaying the full range of his wonderful skills and dominating proceedings.

After around 10 minutes watching in total silence, one of the scousers turned to his mate and said (for maximum effect please read in John Bishop type accent)

" He's not bad is he, their number 10 ?" His mate paused for a second then replied,

" Not bad - NOT BAD !? I'd give ALL our fookin' team plus Keegan just to have the pleasure of watching him every week"

Coming from an opposition supporter, I don't think praise gets any higher than that. Happy Days.
 

Leeds united were no longer the force of old back then, he should never have gone there.
Can't remember if Any other club was interested in him at the time, but wrong choice for me.
 
Isaw Joeshaw said:
Since there is, so to speak, a lull in proceedings at the moment I thought it would be a good time to post my recollections of the third member of the truly great Sheffield footballers since WW II, the wonderful Anthony William Currie.

Since he is the most recent of the three, I'm sure many others will have great memories of this truly remarkable footballer and I look forward very much to hearing them. As for me, It's difficult to know where to start but I suppose the obvious place would be his spectacular debut for the Blades.

This was in a thrilling 3-2 victory against a very good Spurs team when he produced a marvellous all round performance capped off by a fine headed goal. Based on this performance alone, Blades fans immediately took him to their hearts and they were not to be disappointed. His career at the Lane was littered with performances of outstanding, sometimes breath taking, quality, flair and imagination. The quality of his passing was something to behold and his understanding with Alan Woodward almost telepathic.

He also provided us with some wonderful cameo moments such as sitting on the ball in the 5-0 drubbing of Arsenal, nutmegging Kevin Keegan in our own penalty area, snogging with Alan Birchenall after a coming together in a match against Leicester and, best of all, running down the touchline with his back to the pitch, blowing kisses to the crowd and beating opponents at the same time !!

Throughout his career, he received many accolades from the media, fans , players and managers but my two favourites are the following :-

* Most Blades fans will be aware of John Motson's famous " A quality goal from a quality player" commentary line but what many don't know is that in a preview of MOTD broadcast earlier in the evening the presenter said :-
"If you've made plans to go out tonight, cancel them, stay in and watch Match of the Day and I'll tell you why in just two words - Tony Currie "

My all time favourite, however, was one I overheard while standing on the John Street terrace in a match against the (at that time) mighty Liverpool, for whom Keegan was out injured. Alongside me and my mates were 2 of their fans and, as the match got under way it soon became apparent that TC was at his imperious best, displaying the full range of his wonderful skills and dominating proceedings.

After around 10 minutes watching in total silence, one of the scousers turned to his mate and said (for maximum effect please read in John Bishop type accent)

" He's not bad is he, their number 10 ?" His mate paused for a second then replied,

" Not bad - NOT BAD !? I'd give ALL our fookin' team plus Keegan just to have the pleasure of watching him every week"

Coming from an opposition supporter, I don't think praise gets any higher than that. Happy Days.
Click to expand...
 
On his day, the finest midfield player of that generation. From his selfish point of view, he probably stayed at Bramall Lane too long. He had the chance to sign for Manchester United as their replacement for Bobby Charlton, but they were a poor side then (relegated the season after) and then he signed for Leeds when they were on the decline. As mentioned, Liverpool were the top team of the time, but for whatever reasons they never seemed interested in the flamboyant, artistic player that TC personified.

Too many favourite moments to list them all, but that game at Everton when we came back to win 3-2 with TC getting the winner to effectively end their championship winning dreams was one that sticks in the mind.
 
Apologies Isaw Joeshaw, my reply to your post got mangled in the system.

As superb as TC was, he became one of many gifted players who never managed to become part of a team worthy of his talents.

Far too many moments to identify just how good he was. Now we'd be looking at a valuation easily in the £90-100 million, maybe more, but to my mind TC was a wonderful player, a one off, and comparable to some of the greatest footballers ever.
 
Being born in 1977 I missed out on seeing the great man, my old man used to love Woody, Hockey, Badger, Hemsley, Hoggy etc, but TC was the main man, no one ever came close, he stopped going but always followed the club, i sounded the 60's/70's was a great time, or that might have been his rose tinted specs :)

He used to get on at me, "i don't know how you watch that crap, not like when TC and Woody were playing", he'd never slag off the Blades infront of a Pig fan though.
 
TC's only flaw was that he wasn't too fussed about rainy nights in February at somewhere like Newcastle. That's about it really, the other 99% was fucking brilliant. I was hooked onto the Blades with me dad early 60's. TC cemented it.
 
I still remember the West Ham match and was on the kop for his "quality goal" performance. Also memorable for loads of trouble throughout the game. It was dramatic in those days .
 
Isaw Joeshaw said:
My all time favourite, however, was one I overheard while standing on the John Street terrace in a match against the (at that time) mighty Liverpool, for whom Keegan was out injured. Alongside me and my mates were 2 of their fans and, as the match got under way it soon became apparent that TC was at his imperious best, displaying the full range of his wonderful skills and dominating proceedings.

After around 10 minutes watching in total silence, one of the scousers turned to his mate and said (for maximum effect please read in John Bishop type accent)

" He's not bad is he, their number 10 ?" His mate paused for a second then replied,

" Not bad - NOT BAD !? I'd give ALL our fookin' team plus Keegan just to have the pleasure of watching him every week"

Coming from an opposition supporter, I don't think praise gets any higher than that. Happy Days.
Click to expand...

This match? It was the only time Keegan didnt play for Liverpool in a league game at BDTBL in the 1970s

http://www.lfchistory.net/SeasonArchive/Game/818
 
Last edited:
Went to his debut v Spurs,stood on John Street...just remember what an impression he made,talking to my Dad on the way out,it wasn't like we'd seen an ordinary debut.
That Currie shuffle trick he used to do to get a yard on an opponent,spraying the ball around,running the show..could beat a man either side,blow a kiss to the crowd and then ping it to Woody inch perfect complete with back spin.
I never agreed with the lazy criticism...he did also track back and get tackles in..we were a team,and he was very much part of it,all mates together who could give anyone a game..that's probably why he stayed as long as he did.
 
Silent Blade said:
Summer 1973. We had persuaded TC to sign a new contract with the promise to sign new players to build a team round him. A year later we sold his friend, Geoff Salmons!
Click to expand...

That says it all. Man U wanted him to replace Bobby Charlton, there's no greater accolade than that. TC declined and United were up to their old tricks again.
 

Tony Currie was the sole reason I became a Blade at age 11. My dad and his uncle were drinking buddies at the local working men's club in Cricklewood, North London. I was given tickets whenever the Blades came to London. We didn't win that often but I remember beating Charlton in the 70-71 promotion season and Spurs a year or so later. My first game was a promotion 4-pointer, Luton away 1970, lost 2-1; A young Malcolm Macdonald was their striker before his move to Newcastle. TC scored a penalty and gave a double v-sign which he often did for the abuse he would get but you would always hear envious comments from the opposition fans. Tony was an absolute gent. He would talk to me after the games and I would ask him a bunch of damn fool questions but he would always take the time to answer them. I was so star struck in those days. He also bought me a full blades kit (in the days when no-one wore kits to games). I remember my dad telling me he earned £400 p wk and thinking wow. I was gutted when he moved to Leeds on my 17th birthday! I went to see him a couple of times after because I wanted to be supportive but I couldn't stomach him playing for them. He had a hard time of it when his career was over so I was delighted for him when he went back to work for the club. Top man; top top man.
 
I remember all of those games, but sitting on the ball v Arse was my favourite. I had been so devastated when Billy did it to us as they thrashed us that it really buried a demon for me.

Magic
 
One goal that sticks out clearly for me was the bullet header from a corner in front of the kop v Man City ( I think that levelled the score either 2-2 or 3-3) not sure what year.

I used to stand on the concrete footing of the floodlight pylon on the kop as I was only a 4 foot nowt nipper in them days !!

Quality !!
 
ucandomagic said:
I remember all of those games, but sitting on the ball v Arse was my favourite. I had been so devastated when Billy did it to us as they thrashed us that it really buried a demon for me.

Magic
Click to expand...

And of course, your name is a track Blades of a certain age will forever associate with TC.

 
Silent Blade said:
This match? It was the only time Keegan didnt play for Liverpool in a league game at BDTBL in the 1970s

http://www.lfchistory.net/SeasonArchive/Game/818
Click to expand...

That'll be the one.

I was also at the 3-2 win at Everton mentioned by South Essex when TC scored the winner with a wonderful swivelling half volley into the top corner. Most surprising Blades comeback I ever saw, since Everton played us off the park in the first half and could have gone in 5-0 up.
 
ucandomagic said:
I remember all of those games, but sitting on the ball v Arse was my favourite. I had been so devastated when Billy did it to us as they thrashed us that it really buried a demon for me.

Magic
Click to expand...

Interesting, I just noticed that autocorrect turned Bally into Billy!
 
Isaw Joeshaw said:
That'll be the one.

I was also at the 3-2 win at Everton mentioned by South Essex when TC scored the winner with a wonderful swivelling half volley into the top corner. Most surprising Blades comeback I ever saw, since Everton played us off the park in the first half and could have gone in 5-0 up.
Click to expand...
And Everton fans bricked all the coaches on the way back. Fucking freezing it was coming over the M62 on a coach with about 4 windows intact. Thanks TC ;)
 
There was no bigger TC fan than Alf Ramsey. He saw him as the replacement for Bobby Charlton in the England team. He trusted TC in the critical game v Poland in 1973 when England failed to qualify for the 1974 World Cup despite totally outplaying Poland on the night. I was there. Unfortunately for TC this game cost Ramsey his job and probably caused TC to miss out on many caps as the successor, Ron Devious, preferred Gerry Francis to TC.
 
wardonia_blade said:
There was no bigger TC fan than Alf Ramsey. He saw him as the replacement for Bobby Charlton in the England team. He trusted TC in the critical game v Poland in 1973 when England failed to qualify for the 1974 World Cup despite totally outplaying Poland on the night. I was there. Unfortunately for TC this game cost Ramsey his job and probably caused TC to miss out on many caps as the successor, Ron Devious, preferred Gerry Francis to TC.
Click to expand...
I was at the Poland game too
 
Isaw Joeshaw said:
That'll be the one.

I was also at the 3-2 win at Everton mentioned by South Essex when TC scored the winner with a wonderful swivelling half volley into the top corner. Most surprising Blades comeback I ever saw, since Everton played us off the park in the first half and could have gone in 5-0 up.
Click to expand...
 
Rufus Smalls said:
One goal that sticks out clearly for me was the bullet header from a corner in front of the kop v Man City ( I think that levelled the score either 2-2 or 3-3) not sure what year.

I used to stand on the concrete footing of the floodlight pylon on the kop as I was only a 4 foot nowt nipper in them days !!

Quality !!
Click to expand...
 
Isaw Joeshaw said:
Since there is, so to speak, a lull in proceedings at the moment I thought it would be a good time to post my recollections of the third member of the truly great Sheffield footballers since WW II, the wonderful Anthony William Currie.

Since he is the most recent of the three, I'm sure many others will have great memories of this truly remarkable footballer and I look forward very much to hearing them. As for me, It's difficult to know where to start but I suppose the obvious place would be his spectacular debut for the Blades.

This was in a thrilling 3-2 victory against a very good Spurs team when he produced a marvellous all round performance capped off by a fine headed goal. Based on this performance alone, Blades fans immediately took him to their hearts and they were not to be disappointed. His career at the Lane was littered with performances of outstanding, sometimes breath taking, quality, flair and imagination. The quality of his passing was something to behold and his understanding with Alan Woodward almost telepathic.

He also provided us with some wonderful cameo moments such as sitting on the ball in the 5-0 drubbing of Arsenal, nutmegging Kevin Keegan in our own penalty area, snogging with Alan Birchenall after a coming together in a match against Leicester and, best of all, running down the touchline with his back to the pitch, blowing kisses to the crowd and beating opponents at the same time !!

Throughout his career, he received many accolades from the media, fans , players and managers but my two favourites are the following :-

* Most Blades fans will be aware of John Motson's famous " A quality goal from a quality player" commentary line but what many don't know is that in a preview of MOTD broadcast earlier in the evening the presenter said :-
"If you've made plans to go out tonight, cancel them, stay in and watch Match of the Day and I'll tell you why in just two words - Tony Currie "

My all time favourite, however, was one I overheard while standing on the John Street terrace in a match against the (at that time) mighty Liverpool, for whom Keegan was out injured. Alongside me and my mates were 2 of their fans and, as the match got under way it soon became apparent that TC was at his imperious best, displaying the full range of his wonderful skills and dominating proceedings.

After around 10 minutes watching in total silence, one of the scousers turned to his mate and said (for maximum effect please read in John Bishop type accent)

" He's not bad is he, their number 10 ?" His mate paused for a second then replied,

" Not bad - NOT BAD !? I'd give ALL our fookin' team plus Keegan just to have the pleasure of watching him every week"

Coming from an opposition supporter, I don't think praise gets any higher than that. Happy Days.
Click to expand...

Nice story that. Yes he was an exceptional footballer, the kind that come along once in a supporters lifetime. The most talented player I've ever seen play for United. He had a lot of skills but I think his vision and passing ability was his greatest strength. He could hit a pass 70 yards and land it inch perfect, turning defence into a goal scoring opportunity. And that was a regular feature of his game.
 

I had to copy and paste this from a thread I started about TC about 4 years ago. From the heart:

"The greatest ever Blade imo. I worshipped the bloke while he was playing for United and I still wanted him to do well after he left us.
Those who were fortunate and priveleged to see him in his prime, each have their own special memories of the footballing God that is TC.

So, whether you're a young whippersnapper or an old has-been, for me, when he sat on the ball at the Lane to return the favour to Alan Ball who had previously done the same to Currie at Highbury was just sensational and prompted a few of us to try the same thing at school the next day.

Secondly, I'll never forget when TC nutmegged Alan Hudson, Blades v Stoke in 1975. Don Revie had picked Hudson instead of Currie for the England squad earlier that week. TC was majestic that afternoon and after megging Hudson, he strolled down the touchline, ball at his feet, blowing kisses to the Kop.

Simply magnificent, utterly brilliant, imperious, majestic, mercurial Tony, Tony Currie."

He was the dogs bollocks, that's all really.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

All advertisments are hidden for logged in members, why not log in/register?

All advertisments are hidden for logged in members, why not log in/register?

Back
Top Bottom