Football Urban Legends

[Zatman]

32 minutes ago, KentVillan said:

Taking up the challenge, I reckon the following 10 continued to develop their career (winning silverware or improving significantly as a player) post Villa:

1. Crouch
2. Hitzlsperger
3. Barry
4. Milner
5. Ashley Young
6. Downing
7. Delph
8. Veretout
9. Gueye
10. Adama Traore

And I suppose Grealish will probably win something with City. But you're right, it takes a bit of head scratching. For a long time, we were a retirement home for players on the decline, or a breeding ground for mediocre talent that had found its level and wasn't interested in kicking on.

I think that will change now with the new owners.

Which (returning to topic) takes me to another classic Urban Legend in football - that all football clubs have a "natural level" that persists for generations, and they'll eventually get back to where they belong. I'm not sure clubs like Wednesday and Forest will ever see top-flight football again tbh.

Gary Cahill in Number 1

Gollinil and Albrighton as well. 

[Mark Albrighton]

One myth that persevered was Zaire not understanding the rules of the game, hence booting the ball away when playing Brazil in the World Cup 1974 as above.

The actual reason for them doing that was far more dark and depressing. A kinda desperate self preservation and protest rather than ignorance of how the game was played. They knew how to play. They’d qualified for the World Cup.

 

[NeilS]

45 minutes ago, KentVillan said:

Taking up the challenge, I reckon the following 10 continued to develop their career (winning silverware or improving significantly as a player) post Villa:

1. Crouch
2. Hitzlsperger
3. Barry
4. Milner
5. Ashley Young
6. Downing
7. Delph
8. Veretout
9. Gueye
10. Marc Albrighton - Won the league with Leicester

 

That is a good list, but I just needed to change that bottom one in my opinion.

[villa4europe]

18 minutes ago, Mark Albrighton said:

One myth that persevered was Zaire not understanding the rules of the game, hence booting the ball away when playing Brazil in the World Cup 1974 as above.

The actual reason for them doing that was far more dark and depressing. A kinda desperate self preservation and protest rather than ignorance of how the game was played. They knew how to play. They’d qualified for the World Cup.

 

im surprised keepers dont do it often for penalties

penalty number 5 in the euros final and pickford does that, takes the yellow, might work might not, might get in the takers head, either way would be hilarious to see

[ferguson1]

Allegedly players changing birth certificates etc, in order to prolong their career?

I’m sure there’s been rumours in the past about certain players?   Kanu perhaps?

[villa4europe]

46 minutes ago, ferguson1 said:

Allegedly players changing birth certificates etc, in order to prolong their career?

I’m sure there’s been rumours in the past about certain players?   Kanu perhaps?

17 years old...

 

[OutByEaster?]

There are some great stories about Ravenelli's time at Boro.

There's a story that goes that when his agent first approached him and said Boro were interested, he'd never heard of them and when he found out they were a smaller team in the cold of the North East, he wasn't interested in leaving Juventus and simply told his agent "Tell them I want £30,000 a week" (or similar, a ridiculous sum at the time). Thinking this would be the end of things he was then surprised when Boro matched his 'go-away' wage suggestion and his agent signed him up.

While there he would often turn up to training with a couple of mates and some girls and had a couple of fights with team mates at the training ground - he also had a habit of going out for meals in the area and simply walking out at the end without paying, knowing full well that everyone knew who he was and the restaurant would simply call the club in the morning and get the bill paid.

"Boro will pay".

Oh and he also managed to talk his way out of a move to Everton because (amongst other things) he insisted as part of the negotiations that the club should pay his gas bill.

[rodders0223]

I've heard that it was infact Boksic at Boro that was the first 100k a week player.

Seems absurd to me that in 90s a local businessmen was paying a footballer in Boro 100k a week but I've heard it on a few pods now.

[Follyfoot]

1 hour ago, OutByEaster? said:

There are some great stories about Ravenelli's time at Boro.

There's a story that goes that when his agent first approached him and said Boro were interested, he'd never heard of them and when he found out they were a smaller team in the cold of the North East, he wasn't interested in leaving Juventus and simply told his agent "Tell them I want £30,000 a week" (or similar, a ridiculous sum at the time). Thinking this would be the end of things he was then surprised when Boro matched his 'go-away' wage suggestion and his agent signed him up.

While there he would often turn up to training with a couple of mates and some girls and had a couple of fights with team mates at the training ground - he also had a habit of going out for meals in the area and simply walking out at the end without paying, knowing full well that everyone knew he was and the restaurant would simply call the club in the morning and get the bill paid.

"Boro will pay".

Oh and he also managed to talk his way out of a move to Everton because (amongst other things) he insisted as part of the negotiations that the club should pay his gas bill.

Another 'white feather' story is that he liked his fireplace so much in his mock tudor mansion (rented and paid for by the club) he had it ripped out when he left and imported back to Italy, like you said, Boro also paid 

[meregreen]

22 hours ago, Follyfoot said:

Pete the Greek 

I assume you mean the Villa fan known as Pete the Greek. If so he was very much the real deal. I remember going to Forest in the early seventies, possibly the promotion year or a bit earlier, it was a long time ago. Villa fans were massed behind the goal, Forests fans were giving it large to us. All of a sudden we could see it going off big time right amongst the middle of them. I saw an individual being frogmarched down the touch line by a very senior officer, he was marched along the front of the Villa fans to raucous applause and shouts of its the Greek. Indeed it was “Pete the Greek”. He’d literally launched a one man assault on the Forest end. Total nutter.

[Follyfoot]

1 hour ago, meregreen said:

I assume you mean the Villa fan known as Pete the Greek. If so he was very much the real deal. I remember going to Forest in the early seventies, possibly the promotion year or a bit earlier, it was a long time ago. Villa fans were massed behind the goal, Forests fans were giving it large to us. All of a sudden we could see it going off big time right amongst the middle of them. I saw an individual being frogmarched down the touch line by a very senior officer, he was marched along the front of the Villa fans to raucous applause and shouts of its the Greek. Indeed it was “Pete the Greek”. He’d literally launched a one man assault on the Forest end. Total nutter.

That's the fella, definitely fits the title of the thread. Amongst other things one of his pastimes was to do one arm press up's outside Blues pubs in town on his own until they came out then would kick off with the lot of them, mad as a box of frogs 

Edited November 17, 2021 by Follyfoot

[rjw63]

18 hours ago, Follyfoot said:

That's the fella, definitely fits the title of the thread. Amongst other things one of his pastimes was to do one arm press up's outside Blues pubs in town on his own until they came out then would kick off with the lot of them, mad as a box of frogs 

I think it was him that punched a police horse. Like you say, barmy.

[Hamburglar]

On 17/11/2021 at 09:58, rodders0223 said:

Lescott's knee injury woes at Wolves were caused by a local gangster taking a baseball bat to his knees for messing with his women.

Legendary tale.

I’ve heard that one from a few dog heads 

[Follyfoot]

6 minutes ago, Hamburglar said:

I’ve heard that one from a few dog heads 

same, my Mrs family come from that neck of the woods and have told me a few times 

[Follyfoot]

33 minutes ago, rjw63 said:

I think it was him that punched a police horse. Like you say, barmy.

headbutted I think 

[Mantis]

On 17/11/2021 at 12:00, HanoiVillan said:

I don't think that's a myth, more a statement of fact. The claim that we've only hired shit managers seems to run into the fact that some of them are considered shit *because* they failed at Villa, I mean I don't remember many people saying Di Matteo was a shit manager when we appointed him, nor Lambert when we appointed him either.

This is true. Lambert was quite highly thought of before he came to Villa. Garde too got linked to a lot of jobs prior to Villa and has unsurprisingly done nothing since.

[HanoiVillan]

5 minutes ago, Mantis said:

This is true. Lambert was quite highly thought of before he came to Villa. Garde too got linked to a lot of jobs prior to Villa and has unsurprisingly done nothing since.

I said the other day, and I think it's right, that the problem is that Villa are widely seen by many people in the footballing world as quite a big team, so failing to win anything and finishing in the bottom half is seen as poor performance, but in reality we're not actually big enough or well-financed enough to really win anything. It's the 'zone of disappointment', think Everton are an obvious comparison as well.

[DeadlyDirk]

Scuba Steve.