Favourite Forgotten Footballers

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Clyde Best MBE, West Ham United and Bermuda, 218 games, 58 goals.

Laurie Cunningham, Orient, WBA, Real Madrid, Man Utd (loan), Leicester City, Wimbledon and England.

As a kid I loved these players because of their pace and power and they seemed to play for the sheer love of it.

(26-03-2010 11:42 )CaptainVimes Wrote:  Start with

Clyde Best MBE, West Ham United and Bermuda, 218 games, 58 goals.

Laurie Cunningham, Orient, WBA, Real Madrid, Man Utd (loan), Leicester City, Wimbledon and England.

Clyde Best also played for Feyenoord, Tampa Bay Rowdies, Portland Timbers, Cleveland Force, Toronto Blizzard.

Laurie Cunningham also played for Sporting Gijón, Marseille, Rayo Vallecano, Charleroi. He was playing for Rayo Vallecano when he died.

Andy Impey, what a fucking legend, the worst footballer to have played professionally, but what amazing pace.

Stan Bowles
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Bowles

The best player I ever saw at Gresty Road.

Franck the beef! (Lebeouf) was a rock for us for years and took a great penalty.

Julian dicks, west ham legend, also took a great penalty, two of the old fashioned put your foot through it penalty takers.

(26-03-2010 13:45 )TheWatcher Wrote:  Stan Bowles
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Bowles

The best player I ever saw at Gresty Road.

Oh yes and Frank Worthington too. Drinking, gambling, shagging and oh turned out a few times on a Saturday afternoon.

(26-03-2010 13:45 )TheWatcher Wrote:  Stan Bowles
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Bowles

The best player I ever saw at Gresty Road.

When he was at QPR, Don Shanks and him used to go into the bookies every afternoon after training on Bloemfontein road, (Shepherd's Bush, London) then go to Glad's cafe on the corner for pie and chips.

A similar regime as today's pros i guess........

They actually both wound up playing Sunday League football a few times for Pitshanger Dynamo (Ealing, London) in the Marathon Sunday League, i played against him twice.

It seems wrong for a United fan to mention a player strongly associated with City, but Ian Bishop was a player I always had time for. In an era when central midfielders who weren't Glenn Hoddle were still expected to run around a lot and clatter people, Bishop liked to put his foot on the ball, have a look around and see who was making a decent run, then slide in a pass. He was never the quickest, most skilful, or hardest tackling of players, but he could sit in the centre circle and dominate the tempo of a game in a quiet sort of way, just by moving the ball around in an era of Carlton Palmer-esque workhorses. I don't think he ever got the credit or recognition he deserved.

Another player from the same era who I always admired was a United player (briefly, thanks to illness), Danny Wallace. Pacey, skilful and with a fantastic eye for goal, before his illness took hold he had always been one of my favourites to watch.

Carlton Palmer (shudders uncontrollably)

(26-03-2010 15:23 )Mister Gummidge Wrote:  It seems wrong for a United fan to mention a player strongly associated with City, but Ian Bishop was a player I always had time for. In an era when central midfielders who weren't Glenn Hoddle were still expected to run around a lot and clatter people, Bishop liked to put his foot on the ball, have a look around and see who was making a decent run, then slide in a pass. He was never the quickest, most skilful, or hardest tackling of players, but he could sit in the centre circle and dominate the tempo of a game in a quiet sort of way, just by moving the ball around in an era of Carlton Palmer-esque workhorses. I don't think he ever got the credit or recognition he deserved.

Sounds like a very similar player to Jan Molby in his heyday at Liverpool. He very rarely left the centre circle, but for a different reason: He was physically incapable!! Same deal though, very influential and his range of passing was spectacular and hardly ever off.