Welcome to
my weekly blog “The Igor Bišćan Hall of Fame” every week I’ll be adding two new
additions, one will be a Liverpool Legend or fans favourite, the other a
Player, Manager or Club who have contributed to the world game we all love
(Gary Neville need not worry). Please comment below who you’d like to see make the IBHoF, here are this weeks
entries. YNWA
EMLYN HUGHES
1966/67 -
1978/79
A new
adjective should have been invented for Emlyn Hughes; nothing in the dictionary
adequately captures the essence of a man possessed by an almost demonic fervour
for football in general and Liverpool in particular. Enthusiastic, energetic,
ebullient - they've all been used and deserve to be discarded. Ask his old
Anfield team-mates and they'll tell you that mere words could never do justice
to the man who led them to some of their most memorable triumphs.
Emlyn's
arrival in February 1967 marked the beginning of the end of an era. Bill
Shankly was making his first, tentative moves to dismantle his great sixties
side and the bubbly Barrow boy, who made a handful of appearances at left-back
in place of the injured Gerry Byrne before permanently replacing left-half
Willie Stevenson for 1967/68, was the first newcomer to claim a regular place.
Shanks'
admiration of the rookie Hughes began one spring day in 1966 when he watched
the 18-year-old - who was to become, in the lurid language of the Reds' boss, 'one
of the major signings of all time' - make his debut for Blackpool. Bill was so
impressed that he made a £25,000 offer straight after the game but had to wait
ten months before securing his quarry for £65,000.
Having
moved to Merseyside, Emlyn wasted no time in making an impact. In his first
game, at home to Stoke City, he dominated Potters' play-maker George Eastham
and four matches later he earned a famous nickname. From the day he felled
Newcastle forward Albert Bennett with a rugby tackle - nothing malicious, more
an example of youthful impetuosity - Hughes was branded 'Crazy Horse', a label
that was his for keeps.
Not that
such eccentric acts were needed to draw attention to such a promising player,
for whom Leeds were soon willing to offer Peter Lorimer in part-exchange. Built
like a dreadnought and with strength to match, long-striding Emlyn rampaged
around the football grounds of England like a frisky rhino. If subtlety was
lacking in his early approach, and if he did occasionally commit himself to
rash tackles, his vast potential was always evident. Left-sided but good with
both feet, strong in the air and boisterously inspirational, Emlyn became known
for his dynamic surges into enemy territory. Southampton were on the receiving
end at Anfield in April 1971 when he broke up an attack in front of his own
goal, played the ball wide and steamed up the centre of the pitch. Arriving
with uncheckable impetus on the edge of the Saints' box, he cracked a
first-time shot into the net. Irresistible!
In 1973/74
Emlyn replaced Tommy Smith as captain and moved into the centre of defence,
forming an enterprising partnership with Phil Thompson. By this time his play
had matured, his approach calmer and more reliant on anticipation than the
buccaneering tactics of old. Though not as popular a skipper with team-mates as
Smith or Yeats, Emlyn was a motivator supreme, leading by example and
unflagging in his zest. In five seasons in charge he held aloft two European
Cups, one UEFA Cup, two League Championship trophies and one FA Cup. At such
moments his all-embracing grin - so familiar since his emergence as a TV person
- was an emblem of Anfield ascendancy although, always one to wear his heart on
his sleeve, he could also radiate utter dejection more thoroughly than most.
None who saw him drag himself up Wembley's 39 steps to accept an FA Cup loser's
medal in 1977 will forget his despair.
Emlyn - who
at the time won more England caps as a Red than anyone else - was an emotional
performer and a magnificent one. When he moved to Molyneux it was no surprise
that he helped Wolves to League Cup glory. Somehow, though, that grin looked
out of place above an old-gold shirt...
He had a
spell as player-manager at Rotherham United then played for Hull City, later
becoming a director. He joined Mansfield Town briefly in 1983, but did not make
any appearances for the Stags. Later that year he also turned out for Swansea
City, with whom he brought his playing career to a close.
In 2003, it
was announced that he was suffering from a brain tumour, for which he underwent
surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Hughes continued to battle against the
disease until his death at his home in Dore, Sheffield, at the age of 57.
A minute's
silence was held the following evening at Anfield before Liverpool's game
against Middlesbrough in the Carling Cup and was impeccably observed. The KOP
later sang his song; “Come all without, come all within, you’ve not seen
nothing like the Mighty Emlyn”.
There will
only be one Crazy Horse.
BORN:
Barrow, England. 28.8.47. GAMES: 657. GOALS: 48.
DIED:
Sheffield, England. 9.11.04. (aged 57)
CLUBS:
Blackpool 65/6-66/7 (28, 0); Liverpool 66/7-78/9; Wolverhampton Wanderers
79/80-80/1 (58, 2); Rotherham United (player-manager) 81/2-82/3 (56, 6); Hull
City 82/3 (9, 0); Mansfield Town 83/4 (0, 0); Swansea City 83/4 (7, 0).
HONOURS:
European Cup 76/7, 77/8. UEFA Cup 72/3, 75/6. League Championship 72/3, 75/6,
76/7, 78/9. FA Cup 73/4.
INERNATIONAL
CAREER: 62 England caps (69-80).
*************************************************************************************************************
WILLIAM “DIXIE” DEAN
Statistics
can be misleading, but not in the case of 'Dixie' Dean. He averaged over a goal
a game for England, scored 349 League goals in 399 matches for Everton and in
the 1927-28 season amassed a total of 60 First Division goals - a record that
still stands and is unlikely ever to be beaten. What's more, he only played in
39 of the 42 League matches that season.
Dean - he
apparently hated the nickname 'Dixie' and preferred to be known as William or
Bill - started his career across the Mersey with Tranmere Rovers for whom he
scored 27 goals in just 29 games. This alerted Everton who signed him in 1925
but his Goodison career was nearly over before it had begun when a motorcycle
accident left him unconscious for 36 hours with serious head injuries. Happily
he made a complete recovery and in just over a year was embarking on that
record-breaking season - a third of his 60 goals coming from headers! Peerless
in the air, he could also shoot hard with either foot and was a constant
handful for defenders.
Going into
the final match that season, at home to Arsenal, Dean needed three goals to
snatch the scoring record from Middlesbrough's George Camsell who had scored 59
times in Division Two only the season before. To the delight of the Everton
crowd, Dean responded with a hat-trick - one of 34 he would score in his
career, the most ever by a British player. He also scored 22 goals in other
matches that season (three in FA Cup ties, 19 in representative games),
bringing his overall total to 82.
Not
surprisingly Dean's phenomenal goal haul helped Everton lift the First Division
Championship. Even when Everton were relegated two years later, he netted 23
times in 25 games. His 37 goals in 1930-31, including a run of scoring in
twelve successive League matches, enabled Everton to bounce back at the first
attempt. The following season Dean was again rampant, his 45 goals firing Everton
to another League Championship. In 1933 he won a Cup Winners' medal, scoring
four times on the way to Wembley and another in the final itself as Manchester
City were humbled 3-0. His favourite stage was a Merseyside derby and only Ian
Rush has surpassed his total of nineteen goals in matches against Liverpool.
Curiously, he scored his 200th League goal at the age of 23 years and 290 days
- exactly the same age as Jimmy Greaves was when he reached that milestone
three decades later.
Dean made
his international debut in 1927 against Scotland in Glasgow and scored both
goals in England's 2-1 victory. He went on to score twelve times in his first
five internationals with a sequence of 2, 3, 2, 2 and 3 - not a bad way to
begin a career at international level. He played his final game for England
against Northern Ireland in 1933, the fact that he won a mere sixteen caps
being a tribute to the wealth of talent that was around at the time.
By 1937
Dean's powers appeared to be on the wane and he was allowed to join Notts
County but played only nine games before moving to Ireland where he helped
Sligo Rovers reach the final of the Irish Cup.
He finally
retired from playing in 1939, having scored 379 League goals in 437 matches. A
jovial character who enjoyed banter with team-mates and opponents alike, he
went on to run a pub for fifteen years. He later worked as a security guard for
Littlewoods Pools and then retired to live on the Wirral. He died in 1980,
fittingly enough at Goodison Park after collapsing while watching the derby
match with Liverpool.
BORN:
Birkenhead, England. 22.1.07
DIED:
1.4.80. (aged 73)
CLUBS:
1923–1925 Tranmere Rovers, 1925–1937 Everton, 1938–1939 Notts County, 1939
Sligo Rovers, 1940 Hurst.
INERNATIONAL
CAREER: England 1927-1933, Caps 16 Goals 18.
*************************************************************************************************************
No comments:
Post a Comment