silverfox
Well-Known Member
From the Star..........
AS ONE of the most gifted and eloquent artists of his generation, he could make a football speak a thousand words.
But even Tony Currie, who manipulated them to such an extent that he raised his arms aloft in anticipation of a goal whenever a pass landed at the feet of Alan Woodward, struggles to make sense of Kevin Keegan's theory that while southerners regard it as simply sport, northerners treat the beautiful game as theatre.
"I'm not quite sure what he meant. Not too sure at all."
And Currie should know.
South Yorkshire's favourite Londoner, who as a player with Sheffield United and England captured the imagination of a nation, is living proof that nothing can help a man cross a cultural divide quite like the ability to control a lump of leather.
"You'd be surprised by the amount of people who actually think I'm from Sheffield," says Currie, who last week celebrated the 40th anniversary of his arrival at Bramall Lane and 20th since his appointment as the club's football in the community officer.
"I always say to them 'yeah right, with this accent!' but I suppose I can understand it because I've spent so long in this part of the world that I'm part of the furniture now.
"And I wouldn't have it any other way."
Currie's career, which also saw him represent Watford, Leeds and Queens Park Rangers, is detailed in 'A Quality Player' by Elliot J Huntley.
Now 58, Currie speaks fondly about an era when fun, not finance, was the most precious commodity in football but, unlike some of his contemporaries, admits he loves to admire some of the current crop of entertainers.
"I love watching the boy (Lionel) Messi," he reveals. "You just can't get the ball off him can you?
"Ronaldinho too and I was a huge fan of Thierry Henry.
"His work rate and movement was superb, something else really, and you can't help but appreciate that.
"I was lucky enough to play at a time when there were some great players around - people like Alan Hudson, Charlie Cooke, George Best - but I still say that the greatest midfielder I ever saw was Glenn Hoddle.
"Gazza could have been the greatest player there ever was - I was never that interested in Italian football but when he went to Lazio I watched it all the time - but obviously things went wrong for him off the pitch and it never happened."Hoddle did it over such a long period of time.
"That's why I've also got huge respect for someone like Ryan Giggs.
"But Ronaldo is some talent too. He hasn't been at the top for as long as Giggs but I've never seen someone run with the ball at such pace.
Not that Currie, now a United ambassador, subscribes to the idea that the greats of yesteryear would not be able to cut it today.
"The players now aren't any fitter than we were. We were all fit - we had to be to play on those pitches - but at least it helped you to trap a ball.
"It just used to plug in the mud.
"Trouble was you'd need a shovel to get it out again!
"These days though the pitches are superb and the players can do all that one touch stuff because of it.
"Players should demand the ball. The man on the ball should always have three or four options and the surfaces nowadays make that easier."
"Defenders like Tommy Smith and Ron Harris - blimey - were they hard men.
"They did what they did because that's what their strength was - destroying - but they'd never be able to get away with it now.
"I can remember playing against Romeo Benetti the Italian when I was with England he was the toughest I ever came up against.
"I ended up having to give as good as I got and that was some challenge. Actually I quite enjoyed it.
"But it's better for the fans these days because they've got it made. I'm not one of those who bangs on about everything being better in my day because it wasn't.
"You can't make tackles like that anymore and so they get to see the runs and the dribbling.
Nor can you, it seems, indulge in the banter Currie and his contemporaries enjoyed with the crowd without being reported by an irate fan or being hauled in front of the authorities.
"You need a bit of that," Currie says, "After all football is all about entertainment.
"We used to do things but none of it was planned - it was just the adrenalin coming out - and although I appreciate there's a line you can't cross it seems people just get into trouble when they do those type of things now.
"We moan about people doing it and then wonder where all the characters have gone."
AS ONE of the most gifted and eloquent artists of his generation, he could make a football speak a thousand words.
But even Tony Currie, who manipulated them to such an extent that he raised his arms aloft in anticipation of a goal whenever a pass landed at the feet of Alan Woodward, struggles to make sense of Kevin Keegan's theory that while southerners regard it as simply sport, northerners treat the beautiful game as theatre.
"I'm not quite sure what he meant. Not too sure at all."
And Currie should know.
South Yorkshire's favourite Londoner, who as a player with Sheffield United and England captured the imagination of a nation, is living proof that nothing can help a man cross a cultural divide quite like the ability to control a lump of leather.
"You'd be surprised by the amount of people who actually think I'm from Sheffield," says Currie, who last week celebrated the 40th anniversary of his arrival at Bramall Lane and 20th since his appointment as the club's football in the community officer.
"I always say to them 'yeah right, with this accent!' but I suppose I can understand it because I've spent so long in this part of the world that I'm part of the furniture now.
"And I wouldn't have it any other way."
Currie's career, which also saw him represent Watford, Leeds and Queens Park Rangers, is detailed in 'A Quality Player' by Elliot J Huntley.
Now 58, Currie speaks fondly about an era when fun, not finance, was the most precious commodity in football but, unlike some of his contemporaries, admits he loves to admire some of the current crop of entertainers.
"I love watching the boy (Lionel) Messi," he reveals. "You just can't get the ball off him can you?
"Ronaldinho too and I was a huge fan of Thierry Henry.
"His work rate and movement was superb, something else really, and you can't help but appreciate that.
"I was lucky enough to play at a time when there were some great players around - people like Alan Hudson, Charlie Cooke, George Best - but I still say that the greatest midfielder I ever saw was Glenn Hoddle.
"Gazza could have been the greatest player there ever was - I was never that interested in Italian football but when he went to Lazio I watched it all the time - but obviously things went wrong for him off the pitch and it never happened."Hoddle did it over such a long period of time.
"That's why I've also got huge respect for someone like Ryan Giggs.
"But Ronaldo is some talent too. He hasn't been at the top for as long as Giggs but I've never seen someone run with the ball at such pace.
Not that Currie, now a United ambassador, subscribes to the idea that the greats of yesteryear would not be able to cut it today.
"The players now aren't any fitter than we were. We were all fit - we had to be to play on those pitches - but at least it helped you to trap a ball.
"It just used to plug in the mud.
"Trouble was you'd need a shovel to get it out again!
"These days though the pitches are superb and the players can do all that one touch stuff because of it.
"Players should demand the ball. The man on the ball should always have three or four options and the surfaces nowadays make that easier."
"Defenders like Tommy Smith and Ron Harris - blimey - were they hard men.
"They did what they did because that's what their strength was - destroying - but they'd never be able to get away with it now.
"I can remember playing against Romeo Benetti the Italian when I was with England he was the toughest I ever came up against.
"I ended up having to give as good as I got and that was some challenge. Actually I quite enjoyed it.
"But it's better for the fans these days because they've got it made. I'm not one of those who bangs on about everything being better in my day because it wasn't.
"You can't make tackles like that anymore and so they get to see the runs and the dribbling.
Nor can you, it seems, indulge in the banter Currie and his contemporaries enjoyed with the crowd without being reported by an irate fan or being hauled in front of the authorities.
"You need a bit of that," Currie says, "After all football is all about entertainment.
"We used to do things but none of it was planned - it was just the adrenalin coming out - and although I appreciate there's a line you can't cross it seems people just get into trouble when they do those type of things now.
"We moan about people doing it and then wonder where all the characters have gone."
