memories of players who can play on a ploughed field

[LE3blade]

state of oldhams pitch got me thinking of past players who could still play there passing game.

one of the best displays i remember was sid cowans playing at filbert street when martin o neil was the city boss. on an absolute garbage pitch he still had the touch and ability to play his natural game.
sure we won 2-0 with mitch ward scoring and city fans calling for o 'neil out cos of his forest connections.... like he didnt go on to do anything for them

 

[blade too long]

It was more the norm playing on poor pitches in the seventies , but todays game is about speed and accuracy , the scunny pitch looked good yesterday and you ended up with a good game ,
The old days were different balls , heavier and far different boots , sawn off wellies, its very hard to compare so vast is the difference now

 

[Blade for Sale]

state of oldhams pitch got me thinking of past players who could still play there passing game.

one of the best displays i remember was sid cowans playing at filbert street when martin o neil was the city boss. on an absolute garbage pitch he still had the touch and ability to play his natural game.
sure we won 2-0 with mitch ward scoring and city fans calling for o 'neil out cos of his forest connections.... like he didnt go on to do anything for them

Cowans would have looked elegant playing on a cobbled street in high heels. Lovely player to watch. Didn't we used to be nicknamed the mudlarks (way) back in the day for our perceived ability to play well on a less than even surface?

 

[LE3blade]

It was more the norm playing on poor pitches in the seventies , but todays game is about speed and accuracy , the scunny pitch looked good yesterday and you ended up with a good game ,
The old days were different balls , heavier and far different boots , sawn off wellies, its very hard to compare so vast is the difference now

thanks for making me feel ancient lol

 

[blade too long]

thanks for making me feel ancient lol

its the same for me
I remember when dunlop boots were the bees knees
and a pair of Georgie best boots were the future

 

[SwissBlade]

Cantona made a decent transition into beach football, but then he was Cantona

 

[LE3blade]

talking of boots which didnt take off, there used to be a pair advertised in shoot or goal mag i think which had a stud sytem that rotated around to make you turn round quicker

dread to think today how many claims theyd be for wrecked ankle ligaments

 

[Hillsboro Blade]

talking of boots which didnt take off, there used to be a pair advertised in shoot or goal mag i think which had a stud sytem that rotated around to make you turn round quicker

dread to think today how many claims theyd be for wrecked ankle ligaments

Alan Ball swivel studs. My Dad said that all you could hear on local pitches for a month was leg bones cracking when they got stuck in the mud.

 

[snootyfenooty]

Billy Hodgson had a reputation as a "mudlark", as they were called in those days. In contrast, Ron Simpson's shirt was as pristine after 90 minutes as it was at kick-off. The phrase "nesh fucker" hadn't been coined then. The daddy of them all though was George Best, he somehow used to glide and skip over the mud and bumps as though they didn't exist.

 

[I should coco]

The daddy of them all though was George Best, he somehow used to glide and skip over the mud and bumps as though they didn't exist.

Sigh!

That bloody goal again!

 

[snootyfenooty]

Sigh!

That bloody goal again!

It's alright for you, I was stood in that corner from where he "crossed" the ball into the net.

 

[coaxingstar71]

Cowans would have looked elegant playing on a cobbled street in high heels. Lovely player to watch. Didn't we used to be nicknamed the mudlarks (way) back in the day for our perceived ability to play well on a less than even surface?

Our record 11-2 win over Cardiff on 1st January 1926 was dubbed "The Mudlarks" due to the state of the pitch that day and of course our ability to play well on it.

 

[pommpey]

Alan Ball swivel studs. My Dad said that all you could hear on local pitches for a month was leg bones cracking when they got stuck in the mud.

Someone at our school had some of those. They were about £12, whereas a pair of adidas Beckenbaur knock offs (with four stripes and mouldeds which meant to look like screw-ins) were about £5.99 from t'Sheaf Market.

The lad who had the swivels spent most of his time trying to push the ring of studs back onto the central spigot after they popped out almost every time he ran or turned or put a tackle in. It also made him run 'funny' like he'd dropped a conker or two into his drippers. He sold them in the end so some schmuck.

pommpey

 

[Tunstall Fred]

The Derby players of the early 70s performed ok on possibly the worst pitch at that time,similar the great Forest side of the late 70s performed on a City Ground mud heap at times,I recall the semi final v Cologne when there was hardly a blade of grass on the entire pitch

 

[Sean Thornton]

 

[Tunstall Fred]

Billy Hodgson had a reputation as a "mudlark", as they were called in those days. In contrast, Ron Simpson's shirt was as pristine after 90 minutes as it was at kick-off. The phrase "nesh fucker" hadn't been coined then. The daddy of them all though was George Best, he somehow used to glide and skip over the mud and bumps as though they didn't exist.

When George scored 6 at Northampton,that was a mud bath,but then he was a genius on any surface

 

[Alfreton14Blade]

Blades v Millwall from '79, pre-Desso.

To think, Alex Sabella had to play on *that*!

 

[LE3blade]

View attachment 24879

amazing they didnt catch on lol

claims are us would have a field day wouldnt they, fair play to finding the advert

 

[ZoneManWilf]

state of oldhams pitch got me thinking of past players who could still play there passing game.

one of the best displays i remember was sid cowans playing at filbert street when martin o neil was the city boss. on an absolute garbage pitch he still had the touch and ability to play his natural game.
sure we won 2-0 with mitch ward scoring and city fans calling for o 'neil out cos of his forest connections.... like he didnt go on to do anything for them

I was at that Leicester match, part of Kendall's big turnaround that season and we were having a brilliant run of form with Andy Walker and Gareth Taylor up front and Cowans running the midfield from really deep.

We played really well that day and hammered them. They had a protest against O'Neill after the match, but he stayed and ended up taking them up that year and established them in the premiership, proving that fans often know nothing...

 

[HeCanDoMagic]

I reckon Vinnie Jones could do this on ANY pitch.