 A special little celebration here today at Hotspur Towers so we are in party mood, well yes everyday is a party here. Talking which started three years ago has finally reached its century. Who would of thought we would still be here, who knew there was so much twaddle out there. So a change of tempo for this edition. Grab a plate and join us while we have a slice of cake. One of the great things about Talking Tottenham as I empty out a folder there are people out there who send in more stuff! Since the first cake special (1) people have regularly supplied new ones. So if your on a diet look away now.  Firstly a big thanks to everyone who sends in silly pics of tattoos, toys cakes and whatevers. A special triffic to everyone who labours to produce these for their loved ones Your amazing. Feel free to comment if you recognize your own culinary masterpiece.  As there is a limit to what I can say about these it means another trip to the trivia mine, which also seems to fill up faster than I can empty it. A couple of gems from Danny Blanchflower who was asked if a player like Hoddle was a luxury in the team he said “Hoddle, a luxury? it’s the bad players that are a luxury.” Danny was always willing to speak his mind, once when a Director said to him “Your trouble is you think you know all the answers” he replied “Oh Bless, you don’t even know the questions.”  I wouldn’t normally inflict upon you the thoughts of an Arsenal player, but this might amuse you. Arsenal of course shared WHL during World War 2 and their George Male remembered “The Highbury pitch was used twice daily as part of the Islington Borough ARP’s training programme. We were still being paid by the club and played some friendlies against the local ARP wardens. I use the word friendlies in the loosest possible sense of the word, mind, as some of those wardens couldn’t wait to get stuck into professional footballers.  Most of them were Spurs fans, I reckon!” Incidentally both Highbury and their training ground unlike White Hart Lane suffered bomb damage during the air raids.  A couple of quotes from Jimmy Greaves who came out with - ‘He hit the post and after the game people will say he hit the post.’ On a more serious note ‘The biggest regret of my whole footballing career was leaving White Hart Lane in 1970, My interest weakened I was heartbroken.  And Jimmy on his strike partner Bobby Smith, ‘I can assure you that over the years he created a lot more chances for me than I did him. Although he scared a lot of people on the pitch everyone loved him off it. We’ve been good friends for over 40 years and I can honestly say that as Long as there’s not a football about he is one of life’s true gentlemen.’ You don’t have to worry that Terry Medwin grew up spending much of his youth in Swansea Prison. His father who had played for Southampton was a warder. He also went to the same school as Cliff Jones but was two years older.  When we played the semi final of the UEFA Cup with AC Milan in 71-72 the goalie was one Fabio Cudicini - the father of Carlo who played for as as a goalie. Whenever there was a band playing on the pitch before the game, Paul Gascoigne would manage to land a warm up ball in the middle of them whilst they were playing.  This from a long term West Ham fan after they qualified for Europe by winning the fair-play league, - I thought the only way we would ever get back in Europe was if we took the cross channel ferry for a shopping trip. They don’t make refs like they use to --- Next time you watch an incident from 25 different angles and at various speeds before deciding the ref got it wrong have a thought about how it use to be. I came across a reference recently to a Cup game in 1930 when the ref disallowed a goal for Manchester City against Tottenham.  A minor story and you may think and there is little to add except that then the City players swarmed around the ref and finally persuaded him to consult the linesman, he then awarded the goal. The ref was one Percy Harper, by day a County Court Clerk. Percy did not usually refer to his linesmen, he said in an interview (Refs giving interviews!) That he felt referring the game was a one man job. Percy was not a stranger to decisions that would be contested. When he was in charge of the 1932 Cup Final Arsenal were leading when Newcastle attacked.  The ball had passed out of play by about a yard when it was pulled back and Newcastle scored. They would go on to win the game. The press and newsreel film show the ball was out. Harper however claimed that it was possible the photos had been faked by the London press in support of their team. On several other occasions press photos suggest that he made errors giving or disallowing goals and we know that on at least one occasion when this happened he received death threats. So refs giving interviews ?  notes -1 - If you are still feeling peckish then there are some more cakes at Talking Tottenham 56. http://www.indiaspurs.com/blog/talking-tottenham-56 Just make sure your in the gym nice and early tomorrow to burn it off OK. You can leave the washing up but remember to blow out the candles before you leave.  I'll leave you with this one of the happy couple.
COYS Keith Harrison. t- Keith 16024542 f- https://www.facebook.com/keith.harrison.9659 You can my full archive at - View Full Bio
1 Comment
|
Features
Flying Down to Rio History of T.H.F.C. Tribute to Bill Nicholson Talking Tottenham Early Legends The Road to Turin International Connections Hotspur Towers Most Read Articles
The 100 Year War Interview with Marina Sirtis A Long Dark Shadow By Royal Appointment School Report: An Insight into the Younger Eric Dier Dear Jimmy All Change At Spurs Hotspur Towers History Of THFC: Part 1 Passage to India: Rohan Rickets Thanks For The Memories Our Tommy Carroll The AVB Files: Part1 The Lilywhites You The Jury The Hand Of Hugo Connection - Argentina Creating a Reputation One Hotspur Archives
August 2018
Categories
All
View all titles
|
RSS Feed
