Guess the Ex United Player from a more recent photo game.

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HarryHaslam said:
This one completely passed me by, never heard of him and thought well he certainly was never a Blade when I saw your post, but after googling he was in fact a Blade, every days a school day.
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Anyone any idea which fellow countryman he came in with, who we wasted the talent of? ;)
 

Terry Poole said:
Before my time, but I’m I right in saying, he was seen as a very promising youngster who didnt achieve the expected levels later in his career? Was he a creative midfielder?
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Yes he was but was an inside forward showing a lot of promise when he played in the last 15 games of the 1962-63 season, scoring 4 times. My dad said he was quite skilful. In the following season scored 9 times in 37 league games. Played 18 league games in 1964-65 season scoring 3 times. Scored only 1 goal in 30 league games in 1965-66 scoring the last minute winner at home to Newcastle, three goals in 23 league games in 1966-67, 2 league games in 1967-68 but also played in the FA Cup matches at West Ham and Leeds. 12 league games in 1968-69 season before Rowley sold the Wagstaff brothers to Reading. My dad said Tony's lack of pace and power in his later years reduced his effectiveness.

Am sure LSF would explain more about him.
 
Silent Blade said:
Yes he was but was an inside forward showing a lot of promise when he played in the last 15 games of the 1962-63 season, scoring 4 times. My dad said he was quite skilful. In the following season scored 9 times in 37 league games. Played 18 league games in 1964-65 season scoring 3 times. Scored only 1 goal in 30 league games in 1965-66 scoring the last minute winner at home to Newcastle, three goals in 23 league games in 1966-67, 2 league games in 1967-68 but also played in the FA Cup matches at West Ham and Leeds. 12 league games in 1968-69 season before Rowley sold the Wagstaff brothers to Reading. My dad said Tony's lack of pace and power in his later years reduced his effectiveness.

Am sure LSF would explain more about him.
Click to expand...
Tony's debut against Middlesbrough in April 1961 coincided with my first time at Bramall Lane.
I remember my dad telling me about this 17 year old who was going to be a great player in years to come ...
Alas, as in the case of many young lads, Tony's professional career, whilst long and steady, never reached the heights my dad and a few others had envisaged.
Whether or not it was because his debut was my watching debut, I always had a soft spot for him and saw the good aspects of his game more than a majority of fans in the 60's.
He was the no.1 target for the terrace boo boys, the one all the moaners and groaners loved to give stick to him as soon as he transgressed.
'Fuckin useless Wagstaff, fuck off'.. was the phrase bellowed out often when he misplaced a pass or lost out in a tackle....
Tony looked about 14 when he made his debut and about 15 when he made his final appearance for us around 7 years later.
He was very slim, slight in build and probably didn't have the inner aggression to compensate for his lack of physicality.
However, what my eyes saw was an extremely skilful and perceptive inside forward (ask yer grandad) whose creativity and movement far outweighed his lack of aggression.
But as we know the Lane crowd could never forgive that foible and any sign of neshness was met with forceful derision from the many detractors..
He was a much better player than given credit for imo, but back then, to succeed at the highest level you had to be able to mix it too and Tony never bulked up as he got older, staying slight and diminutive throughout his career.
However....he had his own chant, so the Kop obviously had a better opinion of him 🙂
Think of the Batman theme from the 60's TV series starring Adam West, and substitute 'Wagstaff' for Batman.
If you had your very own chant back then, you couldn't have been that bad eh!
 
LSF said:
Tony's debut against Middlesbrough in April 1961 coincided with my first time at Bramall Lane.
I remember my dad telling me about this 17 year old who was going to be a great player in years to come ...
Alas, as in the case of many young lads, Tony's professional career, whilst long and steady, never reached the heights my dad and a few others had envisaged.
Whether or not it was because his debut was my watching debut, I always had a soft spot for him and saw the good aspects of his game more than a majority of fans in the 60's.
He was the no.1 target for the terrace boo boys, the one all the moaners and groaners loved to give stick to him as soon as he transgressed.
'Fuckin useless Wagstaff, fuck off'.. was the phrase bellowed out often when he misplaced a pass or lost out in a tackle....
Tony looked about 14 when he made his debut and about 15 when he made his final appearance for us around 7 years later.
He was very slim, slight in build and probably didn't have the inner aggression to compensate for his lack of physicality.
However, what my eyes saw was an extremely skilful and perceptive inside forward (ask yer grandad) whose creativity and movement far outweighed his lack of aggression.
But as we know the Lane crowd could never forgive that foible and any sign of neshness was met with forceful derision from the many detractors..
He was a much better player than given credit for imo, but back then, to succeed at the highest level you had to be able to mix it too and Tony never bulked up as he got older, staying slight and diminutive throughout his career.
However....he had his own chant, so the Kop obviously had a better opinion of him 🙂
Think of the Batman theme from the 60's TV series starring Adam West, and substitute 'Wagstaff' for Batman.
If you had your very own chant back then, you couldn't have been that bad eh!
Click to expand...
I didn't start watching until 1966, but from what I remember, it was his brother Barry who was the boo boys' target, not Tony. Tony was a decent enough player, without ever threatening to become a very good player.
 
Alan Birchenall's hair said:
I didn't start watching until 1966, but from what I remember, it was his brother Barry who was the boo boys' target, not Tony. Tony was a decent enough player, without ever threatening to become a very good player.
Click to expand...
Tony was a good player, but believe me, he got a fair share off stick on a regular basis.
 
LSF said:
Tony's debut against Middlesbrough in April 1961 coincided with my first time at Bramall Lane.
I remember my dad telling me about this 17 year old who was going to be a great player in years to come ...
Alas, as in the case of many young lads, Tony's professional career, whilst long and steady, never reached the heights my dad and a few others had envisaged.
Whether or not it was because his debut was my watching debut, I always had a soft spot for him and saw the good aspects of his game more than a majority of fans in the 60's.
He was the no.1 target for the terrace boo boys, the one all the moaners and groaners loved to give stick to him as soon as he transgressed.
'Fuckin useless Wagstaff, fuck off'.. was the phrase bellowed out often when he misplaced a pass or lost out in a tackle....
Tony looked about 14 when he made his debut and about 15 when he made his final appearance for us around 7 years later.
He was very slim, slight in build and probably didn't have the inner aggression to compensate for his lack of physicality.
However, what my eyes saw was an extremely skilful and perceptive inside forward (ask yer grandad) whose creativity and movement far outweighed his lack of aggression.
But as we know the Lane crowd could never forgive that foible and any sign of neshness was met with forceful derision from the many detractors..
He was a much better player than given credit for imo, but back then, to succeed at the highest level you had to be able to mix it too and Tony never bulked up as he got older, staying slight and diminutive throughout his career.
However....he had his own chant, so the Kop obviously had a better opinion of him 🙂
Think of the Batman theme from the 60's TV series starring Adam West, and substitute 'Wagstaff' for Batman.
If you had your very own chant back then, you couldn't have been that bad eh!
Click to expand...
I know you saw the material I posted a couple of years back, as your debut at the Lane was memorable for other reasons (being hit by the ball, if I remember correctly!) You have perhaps already seen the material on the 60 Years Ago thread from the last part of the 1962-63 season, when it really looked as if Tony was going to make it to the top - he is regularly mentioned in the newspaper reports.
The debut of a youngster was a big thing at the time - there were no substitutes, so young players could not gain experience in the way they do now, with short appearances from the bench and loan spells at other clubs. It was all or nothing, and even for a meaningless end of season match, the debut of a youngster was a big thing for the lad and the crowd. The really memorable one was v Leyton late in the 1962-63 season when Badger and Bernard Shaw made their debuts together. That felt really significant, especially as Mick Jones had just started playing, and scoring goals. But most youngsters from that era were only known to us through Reserve matches, and moved on without playing in the first team.
I have always associated Tony Wagstaff and Barry Hartle: good, skilful players, who perhaps did not have the physique to survive on the pitches of the time. Might have had much more success on the Desso pitches, perhaps.
 
You are indeed correct Hodgy, the ball hit me after squirting across the turf from a full blooded Richardson/Ray Yeomans clash, my face stuck through the terrace rails stopped it dead 😂
The Leyton Orient match was another of my early memories not only because of the debuts of Len and Bernard, but more for Barry Hartle's amazing (in my young eyes) goal.
As you say, both Barry and Tony were physically slight, but extremely skilful.
 
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