Football and Sports News Blog from former Charlton Athletic, Newcastle United and West Bromwich Albion Professional Footballer Andy Hunt, including Current Football News, blog feeds from Football Fans, Football Videos and Articles
Showing posts with label wembley stadium. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wembley stadium. Show all posts
Wembley has had quite an overhaul since I played there for the Baggies in the 1993 play off finals. I wish them luck in the final against Derby, and hopefully I will still see 2 of my former sides lining up in the Premier League next season.
It's been a long time since I was up in the North East. I was signed to Newcastle United for 2 1/2 seasons, although my contribution to the first team squad was limited to the first 18 months (Moving to Newcastle United Football Club and Life with Kevin Keegan). When I was resident in Newcastle the stadium held 28,000 ish and although it had 2 impressive stands, the Gallowgate and Leazes ends of the stadium were in a state of disrepair. I had the great pleasure of returning to the Geordie stronghold for Charlton Athletic in the 2000/2001 season. What an experience that was. The stadium had been completely redesigned with the wrap around of the 2 stands behind the goals completed. It was an amazing experience with over 50,000 spectators seated in luxury.
The main entrance of the Milburn stand was still the same, as was the changing rooms and the players lounge area. The only difference was entering the away Dressing Rooms, which in my 2 1/2 years at NUFC, I don't think I had ever seen. Walking out onto the pitch though, felt a bit like being at Wembley, Beranbeu or the Nou Camp. Peering around the stadium and looking up and up and up at the gigantic new stands brought goosebumps to my skin. I have been to the Nou Camp and visited the Museum, and then walked out into the stands. NUFC felt a bit like this.
We beat the geordies that day, so I am sure the atmosphere was a bit subdued. I can only imagine that once the Geordie faithful have something to be proud of that this will be a very intimidating atmosphere for away teams and many special nights will be held here.
Intimidation
The old stadiums with the spectator standing areas close to the pitch used to create a hostile atmosphere for away teams and their players. I remember playing at the Old Den (Millwall) many years ago, and warming up, literally within touching distance of the hostile fans. I was playing for Newcastle United and received some charming comments as I jogged up and down the side of the pitch. F**k Off, you Geordie Wan**r was one of the verbal blasts from the stands as tat toed, crop haired mean looking diehards, worked their menacing intimidation tactics on our substitutes. Funny thing I thought to myself is that I was born only 20 miles away from Millwalls stadium. I got the call to play from the manager and took my waterproof coat off to find a stream of spit oozing down the back of the jacket!! I am not picking on Millwall because this used to happen at many of the old style stadiums where the fans were right on top of the players. Although Millwall Fans did produce a higher than average volume of spit.
The new stadiums, with the All seater arrangement tend to be further back from the playing area, creating less intimidation for the players. I believe that Newcastles stadium, although a grand structure in every way, has certainly lost some of the fear factor for opposition players. I didn't feel at all intimidated when I played at St James Park in 2000 and in fact revelled in the opulent surroundings.
I'm sure old time football players and fans will look back with fond memories of these pre-taylor report stadiums, but I certainly feel the game has improved with the new mega stadiums. Many of the modern games young premier league players will rarely be exposed to this kind of intimidation, only when they play in FA Cup matches against lower league opposition and pre-season friendlies. I for one am glad I never have to be spat at again.
I was off to Wembley just a few months after my loan move from Newcastle United to West Bromwich Albion. These were the heady Days of life at WBA as we surged to the promotion play off finals against Port Vale. For me it was a roller coaster ride of thrill after thrill, and I couldn’t have written a better story after my arrival from Newcastle United.
Kevin Keegan had left me in the reserves at Newcastle United, giving me no opportunities to play in his team that was marching towards promotion in Division 1. So when the chance to join my old boss Ossie Ardiles at West Bromwich Albion came along I snapped it up. I could not have imagined the start of my career (see my previous post) going so well.
I scored 9 goals in 11 games as myself and Bob Taylor blasted in goal after goal to lead our march to the play off finals. We brushed Swansea aside in an epic 2 game semi final. The second game at home was a classic match with rain pouring down and 2 sides totally committed to victory and the chance to run out at Wembley in the final. I remember sliding in to score a goal in one of the most competitive matches I have ever played in. Tackles were flying in, players getting sent off but in the end we won the game and the semi-final. The crowd at the Hawthorns stormed the pitch after the final whistle and I made it back to the dressing room with just my boots and underwear on. Some lucky fan got a pair of stinky socks for their troubles!!
Life was very good during this period. My fitness levels had improved significantly since my arrival in the midlands and I was now playing to my potential, in a team that was creating numerous chances for the strikers. We had ridiculous goal scoring celebrations, parties to celebrate each victory, relaxed training sessions every day, reflecting Ossie Ardiles’ easy going nature.
I made some great friends during this time including Daryl Burgess, Darren Bradley, Mickey Mellon and Kwame Ampadu. 4 players who were also having a great time in a rejuvenated Albion side.
Training sessions during the last few weeks of the season had become a lot of fun, especially for the attacking players in Ossies team. Ossie loved to play little keep ball “circles” and Keith Burkinshaw often had to stop Ossies games so we could start the proper training session. They made a good partnership with Keith’s stern, serious outlook on the game, making sure the team was organized and prepared as opposed to Ossies more carefree attitude. Naturally I enjoyed working with Ossies more relaxed approach.
Preparations were underway for our Wembley Final against Port Vale. This was serious stuff. The winners would be promoted into Division 1; the losers would get to keep their memories of a day out at Wembley, the nations stadium.
I had been to Wembley before as a spectator but arriving at the stadium in the coach as one of the players was, well, surreal. Souvenir stalls, fans everywhere, hotdog stalls, the vibrant colours of the team flags all around us was just breathtaking. Our fans dominated the stadium and its surroundings. Some estimates suggested that we had 40,000 of the 55,000 fans in the stadium. (Thanks to the WBA Fans Forum for spotting my error). As you can imagine this gave us a real boost.
Driving into the stadium was also a very unusual experience. The big gate swung open and then the clamour and chaos of the Wembley walkways was behind us, as suddenly we were inside the tunnel, now surrounded by reporters who were all trying to get a sound bite for their papers. I didn’t really know what to expect, once inside. Gold paths, ivory bath taps, opulence everywhere!! Sounds stupid but you just don’t know what to expect when you enter the stadium. Actually the changing rooms and surrounding area were spacious but not very much different to other stadiums I had played at. Of course it was only when you entered the pitch that the heart started to jump a beat.
Wembley looks huge from the inside, We walked the field in our terrible Wembley suits, many of the players had got their trousers mixed up, so the trousers were an inch too long or and inch too short.
We soaked up the atmosphere. I even found my brother, Ian and friends, who although they were not Albion fans, had painted their faces with the Albion colours. They came down to the front of the stands and I chatted with them for a long while. I think they were having a great day too.
For me the game was the culmination of a tremendous period at West Brom. The field was immaculate, I felt very strong and we played some good football against a dogged Port Vale side. It took us a long time to break them down and the turning point was Port Vales main defender being sent off for a foul on my strike partner.
We scored not long after this and it was yours truly who opened the account for West Brom. Twisting like an eel, I directed a soft header into the corner of the net. WOW. Scoring at Wembley. Off I ran to the corner flag to dance my little jig, and celebrate like crazy with the team. My god. You have never had Adrenaline pumping like this unless you’ve hit a home run or sky dived from an aeroplane. The hard part was “coming down” again to cool my head and carry on the game. I did cool down as did the team and we went on to score another 2 goals and coast to victory.
The rest of the day was all a bit blurry after this. We celebrated, we talked to reporters in the tunnel, we did laps of honour, we celebrated some more, we got changed eventually, we watched the stadium empty out, we celebrated a bit more and eventually I got to see my friends and family outside the stadium. Champagne was aboard the bus and I headed back to the midlands to complete the season in style with a night out to celebrate a bit more.
One more thing was left to do and that was our open top bus ride around Smethwick and a final celebration at the Civic Centre. I sang and danced on the balcony and enjoyed myself as much that day as I did at Wembley. The season was over and we were now looking forward to the summer break and a shot at Division 1 next year. Of course Ossie Ardiles took the steam out of the end of season celebrations by leaving the club to take over at his beloved Tottenham. But who cared. We were still loving every minute of our promotion success and even the loss of our manager was something we could surely deal with.
Even if it meant joining the West Bromwich Albion Manager lottery. Over the next 5 years we slowly lost all the momentum of this glorious season, changing managers every year, sometimes more often. This was my biggest disappointment of my time at West Brom, in that we were never capable of building on the smallest scraps of success. But that’s another story…….
Read the rest of my story on "How To Become a Professional Footballer"
I am going to take a small break from World Cup 2006 to continue my series “From Ashill to Arsenal”. My last article was about Life with Keving Keegan and Newcastle United FC in the early 90s. My professional career started there and lasted for 2 ½ years before being sold to West Bromwich Albion (WBA). Keegan had asked me to his office to inform me that WBA had made a bid of £100,000 for me, but due to the fact that the club had no money they were going to take me on loan until the end of the season.
With only 11 games left of their season WBA were on the fringes of the play-offs in Division 2 of the English league and needed to put together a fantastic run in to make the play-offs. Keegan told me that Newcastle United had accepted the bid and that it was now up to me to decide what to do. I was languishing in the reserves at Newcastle and jumped at the chance to resurrect my career.
I hired an agent to represent me in my talks with Ossie Ardiles and WBA, as I felt I needed some assistance in my discussions with the new club. With Agent in tow, I met with Ossie in his office. Ossie asked the Agent to leave and told me that he would not be necessary as they would not be able to pay me much more than my previous club. Then asked what I wanted to do. I thought that was very fair of Ossie. I think he knew that I was going to be paying a cut of my salary to this guy for no reason. However I had made my mind up and the agent came back into the office to continue the discussions. Ossie was right. They were not going to pay me any more money, no matter how we tried to argue the case.
We agreed the 3 year contract and Ossie invited me to stay that evening in the Moat House hotel next to the Hawthorns, WBA compact stadium. WBA had a match that evening and so Ossie gave me a ticket to savour the atmosphere at the Hawthorns. I was very excited to be a part of a team again and quietly entered the stadium to join the throng of passionate Baggies fans. I was standing on the Terrace with the other fans, none of them knowing that I was their new Striker, anonymously watching my new team for the first time. I had butterflies in my stomach watching the game and couldn’t wait to get started.
I had let my fitness levels drop considerably in my time at Newcastle, due to a total lack of motivation and opportunity in Keegans new look squad (see my previous post). But that wasn’t going to dampen my spirit and I was so excited to be playing football again. My first game was away against Bradford. I was a substitute and made my debut late in the second half scoring with a soaring header in the final minutes of the match.
Now I was in with a chance for the next game at home and sure enough I was given the nod to start. I’m sure the fans were interested to see who the new center forward was. I made my debut with Bob Taylor as my strike partner, who I struck up a great partnership over the coming few seasons.
This game however was to prove how bad my fitness levels really were. We were losing the match by half time and I was treading water after only 30 minutes of the match. The pace was fast and furious and I was unaccustomed to this speed of play, having only seen the slow paced reserve team football for the last 2 years. I was very tired after the first half hour and I was off the pace of the game. The WBA fans soon let me know what they thought of me as I was getting booed by a large percentage of the 15,000 or so home fans.
Oh dear.
The team was losing and we could not really afford to lose any more games otherwise we would slip further behind in the race to the play-offs. Ossie Ardiles was under a lot of pressure from the fans to substitute me, and had a fans favourite sitting on the bench to replace me. If he had made that substitution I think my career at WBA would have been very different as the fans picture of me would have been very different to the one that did actually materialize later in the game and for the rest of the season.
About 70 minutes into the match I pounced on a half chance to score the equalizing goal. The crowd went crazy. We were back in the game and I had also taken some pressure of myself. Then I scored a second only minutes later. We were winning and suddenly I had gone from Villain to Hero in a matter of minutes. Then incredibly I scored a third goal. In just 7 minutes I had scored 3 goals, we had won the game and I had made my mark in Baggies history, and also gave myself a lifeline with my new club.
I remember reading the papers and the marks out of 10 the following week. I must have been the only player in history to get 4s and 5s out of ten and yet score the winning hat-rick. Yet it was fully deserved as my performance had been awful. The line between success and failure is so thin and this series of events just goes to prove it. Had I been substituted who knows what would have happened.
The remaining games of the season saw the team put together an incredible run and I was able to get my fitness back during the next few matches. I was fortunate to be playing in an attack minded team that created lots of chances, and scored 9 goals in the final 10 games as we made the Division 2 play-offs.
Next we had to endure the nerve wrecking final few games of the season to see if we could gain promotion. Including a home and away 2 leg semi final against Swansea, followed by what was the ultimate game of my career, the Play off Final at Wembley Stadium (the home of English Football), in front of 80,000 fans.
Coming soon – the 1992 play off matches and the 5 year WBA manager lottery.
Read my other Articles about becoming a Professional Footballer :
