Tony Currie - England’s greatest footballer?

[Deleted member 1486]

Nominations for the "Best right foot" in The Times "build England's greatest footballer" feature include:

Alan Shearer
David Beckham
Glenn Hoddle
Paul Gascoigne
Gary Lineker
Steven Gerrard
Matt le Tissier
Bobby Charlton

and...

"Tony Currie

Equally as good with his right or left, Tony Currie is why thousands of Yorkshire forty-somethings love football. It is not just about hitting the ball hard, it is also about the flicks, the guile, that brilliant curler against Southampton. If you want one reason why England have been perennially bad at football it is because they have largely ignored showmen such as Currie. When not weaving fairytales on muddy battlegrounds in the 1970s, he was sitting on the ball and blowing kisses to the crowd.
Born: Edgware, London, Jan 1, 1950
England caps: 17
Playing career: 1967-84 (Watford, Sheff Utd, Leeds, QPR, Toronto (loan), Vancouver, Torquay)"

You can vote here (although you probably need a subscription, paywall and all that).

Apparently they are discussing it on TalkSport at 11:30am.

 

[GRUMPY BLADE]

Yes




next thread please

 

[Blade_In_Sydney]

Nominations for the "Best right foot" in The Times "build England's greatest footballer" feature include:

Alan Shearer
David Beckham
Glenn Hoddle
Paul Gascoigne
Gary Lineker
Steven Gerrard
Matt le Tissier
Bobby Charlton

and...

"Tony Currie

Equally as good with his right or left, Tony Currie is why thousands of Yorkshire forty-somethings love football. It is not just about hitting the ball hard, it is also about the flicks, the guile, that brilliant curler against Southampton. If you want one reason why England have been perennially bad at football it is because they have largely ignored showmen such as Currie. When not weaving fairytales on muddy battlegrounds in the 1970s, he was sitting on the ball and blowing kisses to the crowd.
Born: Edgware, London, Jan 1, 1950
England caps: 17
Playing career: 1967-84 (Watford, Sheff Utd, Leeds, QPR, Toronto (loan), Vancouver, Torquay)"

You can vote here (although you probably need a subscription, paywall and all that).

Apparently they are discussing it on TalkSport at 11:30am.

England went through a long phase of not picking skillful ball players like TC during the 1970 and 80s.

Stan Bowles, Alan Hudson, Frank Worthington [a very skillful CF] are a few who come to mind. I'm sure there are many many more.

I'd guess all of the above would get a long run under the the current, ball playing, style.

 

[Bayingblade]

If you had to play for England then yes.

But Alan Woodward's right foot was the best I have ever seen!

 

[bornablade]

Can't understand this thread. Was there any doubt?

 

[Nade]

Beckham for me.

 

[Boxer Blade]

Beckham for me.

Brave, stupid but very brave.

 

[Nade]

Bloke could hit a pound coin from the other side of the pitch. Easy choice for me.

 

[Silent Blade]

Beckham for me.

Woody didn't play for England but he and Matt Le Tissier were better at taking dead balls than Beckham

 

[itsinyerblood]

England went through a long phase of not picking skillful ball players like TC during the 1970 and 80s.

Stan Bowles, Alan Hudson, Frank Worthington [a very skillful CF] are a few who come to mind. I'm sure there are many many more.

I'd guess all of the above would get a long run under the the current, ball playing, style.

Respect mate, anyone who rates Hudson and Worthington can recognise a great player. Hudson in his prime was fabulous. He was a star player, at Chelsea, Stoke, and Arsenal. At Stoke his partnership with Greenhoff was exceptional.

 

[Nade]

Woody didn't play for England but he and Matt Le Tissier were better at taking dead balls than Beckham

Le Tisser was left footed though, pillock.

 

[Silent Blade]

Le Tisser was left footed though, pillock.

Right footed!

 

[originaltrueblade]

Tony Tony C U R R I E best player by a mile

 

[Tyler Durden]

He is a miserable bastard though isn't he?

Let's be fair.

 

[oldblade]

Beckham for me.

Beckham was a good player, but Currie had greater all round ability and flair.

If they were players of the same era, choosing Beckham over Currie is precisely what England managers of the 1970s would have done, and is (in my humble opinion) a major reason as to why England got nowhere.

 

[coaxingstar71]

Should be in a thread about players that were either under-used, wasted or ignored by successive England regimes.

 

[Russ]

He is a miserable bastard though isn't he?

Let's be fair.

So would you be if you'd worked for SUFC for so long!

 

[Nade]

Beckham was a good player, but Currie had greater all round ability and flair.

If they were players of the same era, choosing Beckham over Currie is precisely what England managers of the 1970s would have done, and is (in my humble opinion) a major reason as to why England got nowhere.

The question was who had the best right foot. I think Beckham over everyone else. Bloke could kill a fly from 100 metres away.

 

[Silent Blade]

The question was who had the best right foot. I think Beckham over everyone else. Bloke could kill a fly from 100 metres away.

Nowhere as good as Le Tissier's right foot!

 

[sitwell]

Moving ball Currie ,dead ball - Beckham ,shot -Shearer ,control -Le Tissier , dribbling -Gascoigne Finishing - Lineker. Right foots come in all skills. Gascoigne shades it for me.

 

[vorpal blade]

Blades of a certain age would suggest Jimmy Hagan wouldn't they? but I've no-idea which foot he favoured - ambidexterity was a prerequisite in his day wasn't it?

Yet another poll set by a journo who is so blinkered he thinks history started in 1970.

 

[Cyprus Blade]

Blades of a certain age would suggest Jimmy Hagan

I suppose it depends on your era and who you have seen play. Stan Matthews, Tommy Lawton, Jimmy Hagan etc won't get much of a mention because of this.

 

[Eccoblade66]

He is a miserable bastard though isn't he?

Let's be fair.

Used to think that myself. But have met him a few times recently and found him very approachable and quite jovial. Mate of mine says Currie's changed since he was voted United's all time greatest player.

 

[Tyler Durden]

Used to think that myself. But have met him a few times recently and found him very approachable and quite jovial. Mate of mine says Currie's changed since he was voted United's all time greatest player.

Ah fair enough. It's been a few years since I last saw him to be honest.

 

[oldblade]

The question was who had the best right foot. I think Beckham over everyone else. Bloke could kill a fly from 100 metres away.

I know what the question in the newspaper was, and Currie's right foot was just as good. His long passing and through balls were as good and probably better than Beckham's, and his shooting from open play was also just as good. Beckham had the edge in dead ball situations.

But the OP title was different. I wouldn't say Currie was England's greatest footballer, but he was better than Beckham.

 

[seanbeenstattoo]

One of my fave TC goals was one he got in the 71 3-2 home defeat against Stoke ?. On the goaline and some distance toward the corner flag he placed the ball into the net like Steve Davies sinking a long red.

 

[oldblade]

He is a miserable bastard though isn't he?

Let's be fair.

My experience of him is the opposite of that.

 

[seanbeenstattoo]

Anyone remember going to the old Gaumont in Barkers Pool in 1971 ? to watch a footy film and the Blades team were all there ?
I sat in front of them and got all their autographs in one fell swoop.
Buggered if I can remember the film. Escape to Victory?

 

[blade too long]

wheres Chris Waddle on that list I hear owls fans say
well he just missed out by 8735 other players

 

[Silent Blade]

dead ball - Beckham ,.

Here is what I put in here last year. Only Le Tissier can take corners like Woody. Beckham used his instep but didnt use the outside of his foot when taking dead balls

It is interesting to read what great managers and players said about Woodward. Peter Howard wrote in the Green ‘Un on February 19th 1972; “Malcolm Allison, extrovert, talkative boss of Manchester City knows who is to blame for City's loss of a point at Bramall Lane last Saturday. Allison blames ...himself! He said, ‘It's my fault. I take full responsibility. I boobed. I should have told Joe Corrigan to stand in the middle of the line for Alan Woodward's corner kicks. Woodward is the best in Britain in these situations. He hits the ball with the outside of his foot and although he can get tremendous accuracy this way, the power is lessened. So it was pointless Corrigan standing at the far post. He wasn't to know this. This is my job and I should have covered it. I watched Sheffield United just before the game and Woodward did not have a right wing corner. I meant to come to the Dynamo Kiev match but I was ill and missed it. If I had been there, I would have spotted Woodward's trick and it could have saved a point.’”
Bobby Robson said after the Blades’ scoreless draw against Ipswich at the Lane in August 1972, "We came here with a little trepidation after losing 7-0 last season and we knew we mustn't lose an early goal. But in the end our worst problems were created by corners. That fellow Woodward is the best taker of corners I've ever known.”
Rodney Marsh said after a match against Fulham, "Nobody hits 'em better than Woody."
People say David Beckham is the best dead-ball specialist in the world but his right wing corners were very disappointing (his left wing corners were excellent) during the 2002 World Cup and I was thinking, "If only Woody were taking the right wing corners". I think Matt Le Tissier is the only other British player I’ve seen who was as good as Woody at taking corners.