Tony Currie - your vintage moments

[Blackheath Blade]

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 of us 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, your favourite TC moment please?

For me, sitting on the ball at the Lane to return the favour to Alan Ball who previously did the same to TC at Highbury was just sensational and taught 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. 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.

 

[JJ Sefton]

Signing my programme before a draw at home against Everton in the early 90s.

 

[cahill]

As a player scoring the winning goal against West Ham in the mid 1970s. We were 0-2 down and Curries winner was described on MOTD as a "quality goal from a quality player". I can still "see" the goal now. There were hundreds of West Ham on the kop and there was fighting all through the match, plenty of drama in those days !

Second favourite moment was when he had a laugh and a joke with my 8 year old grandson during a ground tour last year and TC was the guide.

I know he's had his difficult momenta and I'm sure he's not everybody's cup of tea but in my book he'll always be a top player and top bloke

 

[georgebernardshaw]

Every time he turned out was memorable for me - if Currie was playing, you knew you would be entertained. This was in the days when if the opposition scored three, we'd try for four, and the thought of upcoming home matches would get you through the week buzzing in anticipation.

John Harris built a side based on a passing game, and there was no better passer of the ball in England than Tony Currie. Sheffield has not had many top class players in my time, compared to other big cities, but he was certainly one of them.

 

[travellingblade]

One of his first, if not the first, game he played for us, I think, was against Tottenham, who I believe also wanted to sign him from Watford, but he came to us instead.

He was just inside the penalty box, with his back to goal and he received the ball, swizzled around in a single movement and scored into the kop goal.

At the moment, I knew we had a "quality goal from a quality player".

 

[Isiah]

Saw that first game as well TB - he was only about 18 if memory serves. Came on and looked fitter, faster and more skillful than anyone else on the pitch. Brilliant debut.
Can't remember the game but once saw him make a 60 yard pass to Bill Dearden at the Lane from way inside our half and you'd swear he put backspin on the ball - proper leather ones in those days mind - 'cos the ball stood up perfectly for Billy to volley and score.

 

[GRUMPY BLADE]

your favourite TC moment please?

Putting on footie boots - simple as.

The hairs still stand on end when I get a sight of him.

 

[jockdodds]

One of his first, if not the first, game he played for us, I think, was against Tottenham, who I believe also wanted to sign him from Watford, but he came to us instead.

He was just inside the penalty box, with his back to goal and he received the ball, swizzled around in a single movement and scored into the kop goal.

At the moment, I knew we had a "quality goal from a quality player".

I was at his debut too, but my recollection is that he scored his goal with a header.

I used to go to United games in those days with my late father-in-law, who was a Derby County fan, and he revered TC - he would say "Doesn't matter how bad a game it is, Currie would always do at least one thing which made it worth the admission fee".

 

[Grecian2000]

Winning goal at Turf Moor an a Saturday night, early Seventies.

1-1, Keith Eddy whilst we were still queueing to get in and a mammoth blunder by John Hope in a comeback game after being dropped for months.
Ball fell to TC from a clearance and he half volleyed it into the top corner from 25 yards. Never seen a ball hit harder (and, yes, I saw plenty of Alan Woodward).

Scoring at the Stretford End to equalise on a Boxing Day after they'd been giving him severe grief from minute 1. Stood and blew kisses to the seething multitude of scum. Topped off by a last minute winner from Woody.

No wonder I get perplexed when I see someone say some of our current "players" are excellent!!!!

 

[Darren]

Winning goal at Turf Moor an a Saturday night, early Seventies.

1-1, Keith Eddy whilst we were still queueing to get in and a mammoth blunder by John Hope in a comeback game after being dropped for months.
Ball fell to TC from a clearance and he half volleyed it into the top corner from 25 yards. Never seen a ball hit harder (and, yes, I saw plenty of Alan Woodward).

Scoring at the Stretford End to equalise on a Boxing Day after they'd been giving him severe grief from minute 1. Stood and blew kisses to the seething multitude of scum. Topped off by a last minute winner from Woody.

No wonder I get perplexed when I see someone say some of our current "players" are excellent!!!!

19th Jan 1974.

It's curious that game was played in the evening, given that the miners were on an overtime ban and everything was being done to preserve energy (I think the 3 day week was in place). Why was it not played before daylight faded?

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

The winner at Everton when they were going for the title.
A thunderbolt against Liverpool at the Lane.
That 5-0 slaughter of Arsenal at the Lane, if memory serves TC got two that night and totally ran the show.
A 3-1 home win against Leeds when again TC ran the game, even with Giles and Bremner in midfield.

 

[Grecian2000]

A 3-1 home win against Leeds when again TC ran the game, even with Giles and Bremner in midfield.

Wasn't it 3-0?

No matter, you've reminded me of the goal in the 1-0 League Cup win in 1970.

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

Wasn't it 3-0?

No matter, you've reminded me of the goal in the 1-0 League Cup win in 1970.

Could well have been. It was the second match of the season, on a Tuesday night following a win the previous Saturday against Southampton (that may have finished 3-1). Age is a bitch!

 

[Darren]

The winner at Everton when they were going for the title.
A thunderbolt against Liverpool at the Lane.
That 5-0 slaughter of Arsenal at the Lane, if memory serves TC got two that night and totally ran the show.
A 3-1 home win against Leeds when again TC ran the game, even with Giles and Bremner in midfield.

19/4/75 W3-2 (Dearden, Eddy, Currie)
4/9/73: W5-0 (Dearden, Currie 2, Woodward, Bone)
17/8/71 W3-0 (Colquhoun, Dearden, Flynn)

 

[Darren]

The winner at Everton when they were going for the title.
A thunderbolt against Liverpool at the Lane.
That 5-0 slaughter of Arsenal at the Lane, if memory serves TC got two that night and totally ran the show.
A 3-1 home win against Leeds when again TC ran the game, even with Giles and Bremner in midfield.

There you are:

 

[Jon Bon]

TC was my childhood hero. I remember my mum taking me to Jack Archer Sports on Bramall Lane to buy me a United shirt and an iron-on number 10 to go on the back. I wasn’t at that game where TC sat on the ball against Arsenal (was it a night match?) but I do remember the older kids at school going round singing ‘Alan Ball, Alan Ball, Is it right what Currie says that you’re fuck all – oh Alan Ball’ for weeks afterwards, holding those picture cards of Alan Ball aloft while singing it. I was there for ‘that’ goal against West Ham and a long range effort against Liverpool sticks in the memory too. I remember him nut megging someone and motoring away, blowing kisses to the John Street terrace as he went. It may well have been Alan Hudson as mentioned previously.


I was devastated when he left for the dirties. When I heard the news, I would have throttled Jimmy Sirrell if he had been stood next to me. A few weeks before the transfer, I was at a Junior Blades (or EDS as it was called then) question and answer session in the old Tudor Room in the cricket pavilion behind the south stand. Sirrell was there along with TC and some other players. During the Q&A, one of the lads stuck his hand in the air and when he was pointed to asked TC directly ‘Why do you want to leave?’ The panel all laughed out loud, Currie put his head in his hands and Sirrell just looked up at the ceiling laughing. Needless to say the question didn’t get answered and a few weeks later he was gone.

TC – true legend though, of that there is no doubt.

 

[Grecian2000]

19/4/75 W3-2 (Dearden, Eddy, Currie)
4/9/73: W5-0 (Dearden, Currie 2, Woodward, Bone)
17/8/71 W3-0 (Colquhoun, Dearden, Flynn)

Perhaps this should be the Billy "Fucking" Dearden thread instead.

 

[Grecian2000]

but I do remember the older kids at school going round singing ‘Alan Ball, Alan Ball, Is it right what Currie says that you’re fuck all – oh Alan Ball’ for weeks afterwards, holding those picture cards of Alan Ball aloft while singing it.

Now that's a proper memory JB. Made me laugh out loud when I read that.

Can't have been our school, we used to burn cards of players we didn't like!

 

[Darren]

Now that's a proper memory JB. Made me laugh out loud when I read that.

Can't have been our school, we used to burn cards of players we didn't like!

I stood a knife into the card of Rodney Marsh after the infamous McAlistar incident. I was 6 at the time!

 

[georgebernardshaw]

Wasn't it 3-0?

No matter, you've reminded me of the goal in the 1-0 League Cup win in 1970.

Yes, my memory says 3-0

Leeds completely lost it after we went ahead, and the third was scored whilst Giles and Bremner were having a go at the referee in United's half.

One of United's best days

 

[norfolkblade]

Telling me what a magnificent save I made at last years Football Aid game, was beyond happy with that!

 

[UnitedBlade]

I was at his debut too, but my recollection is that he scored his goal with a header.".

Yes, surely a header at the Bramall Lane end ? It was the winner and a hero to a generation was born.

My favourite moment was a 3rd round Cup game against Bristol City. The keeper booted the ball, TC in the centre circle let it bounce in front of him and over head his head. He back heeled it back over his head and in one movement dragged it back and then behind his left leg before dropping a perfect ball down the line.

Supreme ability.

I got the chance to meet him years later and asked him about this very incident. He had absolutely no recollection of it at all ! But there again, he had hundreds of moments of skill to try and recall.

The greatest Blade I've ever seen although you could argue that Woody contributed more over a career

 

[Eskimo]

The goal he scored against Liverpool at home for me was the best. But TC was more than a good player he was a style icon. His presence and pesonality on the pitch contributed much to us being percieved at the time as a flair team. For a short time when we were promoted we were very good. But we could be very ordinary and before Hockey a bit lightweight. The very good times didn't last long but were preceded by a couple of years when we misfired a bit but on occasions very entertaining .

By contrast I think people think of our last premiership team as personified by the manager, Warnock rather than individual players. And I believe for a short time in the promotion season very good and entertaining.

So taking the personalities out of it (and discarding the rose garden tinted specs) was the 1972 team so much better than the 2006 version?

 

[Darren]

The goal he scored against Liverpool at home for me was the best. But TC was more than a good player he was a style icon. His presence and pesonality on the pitch contributed much to us being percieved at the time as a flair team. For a short time when we were promoted we were very good. But we could be very ordinary and before Hockey a bit lightweight. The very good times didn't last long but were preceded by a couple of years when we misfired a bit but on occasions very entertaining .

By contrast I think people think of our last premiership team as personified by the manager, Warnock rather than individual players. And I believe for a short time in the promotion season very good and entertaining.

So taking the personalities out of it (and discarding the rose garden tinted specs) was the 1972 team so much better than the 2006 version?

It depends if you mean relatively or absolutely.

If you could magic into existence the 1972 team in all their glory and pit them against the 2006 team, the latter would win easily in my view. Purely, because levels of fitness and organisation have increased by leaps and bounds since 1972.

However, if you compare the two teams to the teams around them at the time, the 1972 one was much better.

 

[JJ Sefton]

A thunderbolt against Liverpool at the Lane.

If you mean in a 1-0 win in September 1974 that's the day my parents got married. My dad phoned Bramall Lane that morning to put his apologies in but he finally got to see the goal when I bought him the YTV video off eBay a few years back.

 

[Darren]

If you mean in a 1-0 win in September 1974 that's the day my parents got married. My dad phoned Bramall Lane that morning to put his apologies in but he finally got to see the goal when I bought him the YTV video off eBay a few years back.

Woodward got that goal (though Currie set it up with a long pass from his own half). He means the one on 30th October 1971 in the 1-1 draw

 

[Putney Blade]

Blowing kisses to the crowd as he beat few Birmingham City players (I think).

Corner kick to Woodward standing on the 18th yard line who vollied it top-corner to the stun silence of the WHU crowd. 2-2 draw.

WHU again, the MOD occasion...

Current lot couldn't lace up his boots..

UTB

 

[sitwell]

How ironic ,Our greatest passer of a ball ,probably wouldnt have been picked by pass obsessed David Weir.

 

[Pedro Verde]

For me, sitting on the ball at the Lane to return the favour to Alan Ball who previously did the same to TC at Highbury was just sensational and taught us to try the same thing at school the next day.

Didnt Ball sit on the ball at the Lane the previous season ?
Remember the 5-0 thrashing of Arsenal think we were four up after 20 mins
For me Woodward was better, but TC is still a legend even though he fekked off to L666s

 

[Darren]

How ironic ,Our greatest passer of a ball ,probably wouldnt have been picked by pass obsessed David Weir.

Did you remember the goal scored by Woody against Liverpool in Sept 74? Currie picked the ball up in his own half and sent a fifty yard inch perfect high ball to Woody running down the right wing. He stopped it in one and pushed it under the onrushing Clemence for a goal.

Don't tell Pinchy about that. It might prove fatal....