Popular Post John Posted February 3, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted February 3, 2014 Sadly Tony Hateley who was one of our greatest ever centre forwards passed away on 1/2/14 at the age of 72. Tony joined us from Notts County in 1963 and scored 86 goals in his 148 appearances for us. These included 4 second half goals scored at Spurs in season 65/66 to bring us back from 1-5 down at half time to 5-5 at the close. Tony was a superb header of the ball and was our top scorer during each full season that he had with us before his move to Chelsea. Tony scored 19 goals in season 63/4, 34 in 64/5, 28 in 65/6 and 5 from his 12 appearances for us in 66/7. We ended those seasons 19th, 16th, 16th and relegated in 21st following his sale so although we banked £100,000 for him when Chelsea were looking to replace the injured Osgood in October 1966 it ended up costing us our place in the top flight in the season that followed England's World Cup win. Tony had scored 8 goals against Chelsea in his time with us so clearly Tommy Docherty had every reason to break their then transfer fee record for him. He went on to score 9 goals in 33 appearances for Chelsea (including the goal at Villa Park that took them and him to their first FA Cup Final in 1967) before Bill Shankly signed him for Liverpool for £96,000 in July where he got 27 goals in his one season (67/8) with them before moving to Coventry, Small Heath, Notts County, Oldham and Boston .At the point of his retirement in 1974 his combined transfer fees were the highest paid for any player in English football. My thoughts are with his family which includes his son Mark who went on to play for England and his grandson Tom who curently plays for Śląsk Wrocław - Holte Ender In The Sky! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GENTLEMAN Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 RIP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 Great Header of the ball, probably the best I ever seen. He could head a ball harder and more accurate than some could kick. Rip Tony and thanks for the memories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMcKenna Posted February 3, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted February 3, 2014 Can't believe it - I met him only 18 months ago and he seems to be very fit, healthy and was on great form!! RIP Tony :-((( terribly sad news Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMcKenna Posted February 3, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted February 3, 2014 Sadly Tony Hateley who was one of our greatest ever centre forwards passed away on 1/2/14 at the age of 72. Tony joined us from Notts County in 1963 and scored 86 goals in his 148 appearances for us. These included 4 second half goals scored at Spurs in season 65/66 to bring us back from 1-5 down at half time to 5-5 at the close. Tony was a superb header of the ball and was our top scorer during each full season that he had with us before his move to Chelsea. Tony scored 19 goals in season 63/4, 34 in 64/5, 28 in 65/6 and 5 from his 12 appearances for us in 66/7. We ended those seasons 19th, 16th, 16th and relegated in 21st following his sale so although we banked £100,000 for him when Chelsea were looking to replace the injured Osgood in October 1966 it ended up costing us our place in the top flight in the season that followed England's World Cup win. Tony had scored 8 goals against Chelsea in his time with us so clearly Tommy Docherty had every reason to break their then transfer fee record for him. He went on to score 9 goals in 33 appearances for Chelsea (including the goal at Villa Park that took them and him to their first FA Cup Final in 1967) before Bill Shankly signed him for Liverpool for £96,000 in July where he got 27 goals in his one season (67/8) with them before moving to Coventry, Small Heath, Notts County, Oldham and Boston .At the point of his retirement in 1974 his combined transfer fees were the highest paid for any player in English football. My thoughts are with his family which includes his son Mark who went on to play for England and his grandson Tom who curently plays for Śląsk Wrocław - Holte Ender In The Sky! John I saw the 5-5 against Spurs, incredible game. I remember their pitch was like a quagmire. We nearly nicked it in the final minute but due to the state of the pitch none of our players could get the ****** ball over the line!! One the greatest Villa come backs I ever saw. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AValon Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 Sad news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deeps Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 RIP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nazvfc Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 Now THAT is a real footballer - not the naby pamby fall down roll over 20 times at the slightest knock. He could take a crunching tackle (and give it). Was honoured to see him play for the Villa - although we had started our descent to the lower echelons. Our problems today are nothing compared to what we were going through then. RIP big man - another honourary Holtender in the Sky!! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briny_ear Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 It was a bad time to be a Villa fan but it was great watching him banging in all those goals. I was hoping there might be something on the web showing him in action but the only thing I could find was the day he signed for Villa: http://www.macearchive.org/Archive/Title/midlands-news-29071963-villa-sign-new-player-tony-hateley/MediaEntry/6275.html?Action=Cookie All that Brylcreem! (Also starring Joe Mercer, methinks.) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 Great Header of the ball, probably the best I ever seen. He could head a ball harder and more accurate than some could kick. Rip Tony and thanks for the memories. My first game at Villa park as a little kid was the derby game 1969 and i stood at the front of the witton end and my only memory from tat game apart from the winner by Dave Simmons was a header from Tony Hateley for Blues which thudded against the cross bar. The power he got into that header was unbelievable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted February 4, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted February 4, 2014 Now THAT is a real footballer - not the naby pamby fall down roll over 20 times at the slightest knock. He could take a crunching tackle (and give it). Was honoured to see him play for the Villa - although we had started our descent to the lower echelons. Our problems today are nothing compared to what we were going through then. RIP big man - another honourary Holtender in the Sky!! Can't add much to that, Naz. Great player, one of my first Villa heroes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted February 4, 2014 Author Share Posted February 4, 2014 "I was hoping there might be something on the web showing him in action but the only thing I could find was the day he signed for Villa". What a great find in any case! Nice to see Joe & Tony back at the start of his time with us. I tried to find something as well and had thought the 2-6 home defeat against Chelsea might have been on there (where he got our second) as it was covered on MOTD but the 5-5 would have been the big one if only... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMcKenna Posted February 5, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted February 5, 2014 "I was hoping there might be something on the web showing him in action but the only thing I could find was the day he signed for Villa". What a great find in any case! Nice to see Joe & Tony back at the start of his time with us. I tried to find something as well and had thought the 2-6 home defeat against Chelsea might have been on there (where he got our second) as it was covered on MOTD but the 5-5 would have been the big one if only... John during the 5-5 v Spurs I witnessed what I think was the best headed goal I have ever seen . IIRC either Willie Hamilton or Jimmy McEwan (probably McEwan) crossed a ball from way out on the right, Hateley was outside the penalty box (20 yards) and headed the ball which such power it shook the back of the net. The header was as powerful as many direct shots - stunning! I was talking about that game with Tony Hateley and Alan Deakin 18 months/ 2 years ago and they were having some banter about the dying moments of the game when they were both trying to force the ball over the line to win 5-6 but it was so muddy they couldn't get a boot on it :-) in the 2nd half, despite the conditions, we were absolutely incredible and ran Spurs ragged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted February 5, 2014 Author Share Posted February 5, 2014 "I was talking about that game with Tony Hateley and Alan Deakin 18 months/ 2 years ago and they were having some banter about the dying moments of the game when they were both trying to force the ball over the line to win 5-6 but it was so muddy they couldn't get a boot on it :-) in the 2nd half, despite the conditions, we were absolutely incredible and ran Spurs ragged". Must have been a great conversation to have had with those two Mike and that goal really sounds a cracker (I wish I had been there to see it myself rather than relying on the radio for the score updates at home). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts