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 west bromwich albion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label west bromwich albion. Show all posts
Commiserations to West Bromwich Albion after stumbling at the final premier league hurdle at Wembley. Congratulations of course to Derby County who go on to reap the rewards of a fantastic Championship season.
Of course after finishing 3rd in the regular season many observers will say justice has been done.
I was trying to gauge blogger opinion from West Brom fans before the game but it seems that West Brom Fans do not blog. Charlton fans on the other hand seem to be old hands at Blogging. A selection of a few Charlton Blogs that have caught my attention :
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.
West Brom v Wolves in the Play offs. I played in a few of these local derbies and really wish I was there for this one. Good luck to West Bromwich Albion Football Club, my old Team. I was playing for West Brom in 1992/93 in the play offs when we were promoted from the old division 2 in the Play Off final at Wembley Stadium. (heading to Wembley in 1992/93 - my story).
I remember how nervous we all were then but to be up against their long time arch rivals in the play offs is doubly cruel for all concerned.
And commiserations to Charlton Athletic Football Club (another of my old teams) on being relegated from the Premier League. A big blow I am sure to the Club. Pardew is obviously used to life in the Championship and knows his way around that division very well, so they will be hot favourites to return.
Myself scoring at Wembley Stadium in 1993 for West Bromwich Albion Football Club v Port Vale
Ferguson, Mourinho, Wenger, Ronaldo, Drogba and the rest of the premier league circus that inspires us week after week are revving up for the showdown of the century. A finale to the Premier League football season whipped into a tantalizing display of the best footballers and teams in Europe, and showcased by the best new technology of high definition TV, a million different camera angles and a host of media bustling to give us every little titbit we can devour.
I am heading back to England for a few weeks break from Belize, full of excitement to see the Premier League finale and the culmination of the Coca Cola Championship. I have a special interest in the Championship as I lived in Birmingham for 5 years playing for West Bromwich Albion Football Club for that duration. I know the passion and rivalry between Birmingham, Wolves and West Brom, and the tension must be at breaking point. The possibility of West Brom and Wolves playing each other in the Play-offs is incredible for the people of the midlands, especially as Birmingham may be joining them if they cannot secure one of the top spots.
I have often said that I do not believe Footballers deserve the money they earn. Yet when the teams serve up a season of endless possibilities: First All English Champions League final; 2 teams in search of the treble; Premier league and Championship all going to the wire, I can only congratulate everyone involved. The Gladiators on the field, the Generals directing from the sidelines all have played a huge role in creating the end of season spectacle we are now witnessing.
Whether you are a Barnsley, Kings Lynn (my first team), Wigan or Kettering Town (my second team) Fan you will all be picking your favourites for the end of season run in regardless of whom your first football love is. The stars of the show will have the world talking about them in a never-ending barrage of compliments, abuse, admiration, despair, frustration and disappointment. They will be the talk of the town up and down the country and although their salaries resemble telephone numbers, Ferguson, Mourinho and the rest of the premier league crew deserve enormous credit for bringing English Football a season’s finale to be proud of.
The only problem I have is finding a good spot to soak up the last few weeks of football as my family don’t have Skysports…..
Today was one of them defining moments in a football players career. This morning, looking forward to my lunchtime game, I had to search to the back of the medicine cabinet to find ibuprofen, the magic painkiller tablet. Actually anything would have sufficed but ibuprofen was the painkiller of choice at all my old football clubs, so habits die-hard.
I needed it because my back/ribs and my body were generally hurting from a little game I had during the week. But a Sunday game was too much too resist, so out came the painkillers. 2 x 200mg did the trick.
Oh for the days when my enthusiasm and a bit of arm twisting by the coach meant I would play with a broken foot, cracked ribs, and half my lip hanging off!
West Bromwich Albion was the scene of my three heroic injury ravaged games. The first was when Paul Mardon tackled me in a training session on a Monday. All week I received treatment for the excruciating pain in my foot. No chance of playing on Saturday, I thought to myself. Friday, the boss asked me to do a fitness test. Our physiotherapist watched me hobble around the field 3 times.
“How is it”? He asked me.
“Very painful”, I told him.
“You will be ok though for tomorrow”
I looked at him in disbelief. “You’re kidding”, I said
But he wasn’t. The next day I sat in the spacious home dressing room at West Bromwich Albion, wondering how on earth I could play a professional game of Football with a limp. The physio called me into his treatment room and out came the doctor and a needle. They pumped something into the side of my bony foot and a few minutes later I could have run the marathon. The injection got me through 25 minutes of the first half before the pain started to creep back into my foot. By the end of the first half I could hardly walk straight. Half time arrived and I thought I would finally get my relief. Not so, as I was given a second injection. This was getting a bit crazy, as there was definitely something wrong with my foot. I played for a short time in the second half before having to come off. The club sent me to the Hospital for x-rays, which revealed a broken metatarsal.
The next injury was playing with a cracked rib. Ugo Ehiogu had elbowed me in a pre-season game against Aston Villa, and cracked my rib. Apart from being extremely painful it is possible to play with this injury. The consensus of opinion at the time was that as long as you can handle the pain, then you could play. A few hefty doses (2 x 600mg) of ibuprofen and I was able to continue playing.
The last of my injury woes was splitting my bottom lip open v Halifax, away at their stadium, live on T/V, with West Bromwich Albion succumbing to the unfortunate 1st round cup exit syndrome that afflicts all Professional Teams.
I met a cross at the near post and scored. In doing so, the defender had headed my bottom jaw and knocked my top teeth into the flesh of the inside of my mouth and bottom lip. There was blood everywhere, and no chance to be substituted as we had used all of our players. We were losing so the only choice was to carry on. I held some gauze over the chunk of flesh that was hanging out of my lip and played on. The final whistle confirmed our cup exit and I was sent to the physiotherapist room to have my mouth stitched up. I always felt bad when I lost a game, but this was a shock cup exit (us being the Golliath) and a smashed up mouth. The weekend was not a good one....
Which brings me to this very funny video I found on You Tube.
Just got back from a relaxing Sunday league game of Football In Belize. Still able to play 90 minutes, although in 85F heat it's a bit of a stroll for me these days. I know we all complain about referees and linesman, but today I was strangled around the neck (no penalty - in fact the foul was given against me), had a header cleared off the line with a hand (no penalty - and it wasn't the goalkeepers hand) and was given offside almost every time the ball was cleared up-field to me.
I really enjoyed the game though and don't get too stressed about these issues anymore..I even had a laugh and a joke with the Referee about the awful decisions, although for some reason he told me he is a coffin maker (during the half time break), which kind of threw me a bit. Not sure if he was suggesting I shut up and leave him alone.
Best to leave the stresses and pressures to the Premier league managers and players. Fox Sports TV our American Channel that shows the Premier League has just had the EPL premier league review, which I tuned into at the Belize Jungle Dome.
Thierry Henrys 1st goal today against Reading looked so simple but I just want to comment on the quality of Henry. His composure was so perfect before he slotted the ball home, it bordered on arrogance. Many players would have snatched at the shot and pulled it wide of the goal or more commonly lashed it high over the bar. Not Henry. He just calmly placed it first time into the bottom corner and the Reading Goalkeeper did not even move. Sheer Class.
After a shaky start it looks like Arsenal are firing on all cylinders now. With their game in hand over Manchester United and Chelsea and 5 straight wins, I think this year is going to be a cracking Premier League Football season. Hopefully right to the wire.
As for my old Football Clubs, Charlton and Newcastle United do not seem to be in for a good season. Charlton especially must be getting a bit nervous now, after missing out on 3 points against Watford. Amazing to think that with such a poor start to the season, Darren Bent is the joint second top scorer in the Premier League. He is undoubtedly a great talent and it won't be long before Charlton start fending off phone calls enquiring about him. If they can't start picking some wins up then keeping Bent could be tricky, especially now he has England credentials.
The Geordies will also be getting nervous and extremely disappointed as another year of failure looms. With the size of their stadium and transfer budget, anything less than top 6 is unacceptable.
Congratulations to West Bromwich Albion Football Club, who won the Black Country Derby. I played in many of these games and know that tomorrow morning the Baggies faithful will be happy to tease their Wolverhampton counterparts at work. Looks like the Baggies are marching back to the Premier League.
Watching several of my team-mates chat up Transvestites in a Night Club in Florence, Italy after we had played against Fiorentina in the Anglo Italian Cup. They didn't know until we pointed out the bulges in their dresses. Cue scene from "Crying Game"
Arriving on the team bus we were given the “v” sign and wa**er sign by a dad and his 2 sons (probably 6 & 8 years old) on arrival at Oxford United. Makes you wonder what the Dad is telling his kids at home
Guerilla warfare at a Sunderland vs Newcastle United game. In a pub at 7am on derby day between Sunderland and Newcastle United. A fleet of cars full of well oiled fans, me, Steve Watson, Robbie Elliott and Alan Thompson (none of us in the team and none of us drinking I hasten to add) departs Newcastle for the derby day game against Sunderland. After parking the cars, a barrage of stones, bricks and any other debris come flying over walls as Sunderland fans locate us. Rapid organisation by our crew keeps us out of trouble and we negotiate our way to the stadium to watch the match. Very scary and not something I would like to repeat
As a kid, being stuck behind a fence with my brother Ian and my Dad, exiting the Norwich City stadium after playing Stoke. Bricks, insults and anything else being hurled at each other. Being stuck in the middle of a North East fans battle was scary but this was worse
Repetitive Mobile phone abuse by a Wolves fan, who somehow found out my Telephone number when I was a West Bromwich Albion player. Had to change my number
Being spotted for the first time abroad on holiday in Ibiza, and signing an autograph for a West Bromwich Albion Fan. Good for the ego
Another Ego boost, seeing my name on teletext for the first time
Meeting a drunk Jim Davidson with my Dad (Jim is his hero) in the Charlton players lounge. Having to ask for Jims autograph for my Dad because he was too shy
Standing in the tunnel at Charlton Athletic Football Club with my Grandad as Alan Shearer, Bobby Robson and the rest of the team came trotting out. Have you ever seen an 80 year old man become a little boy again. My Grandad was in awe. I wasn’t playing as I retired the previous year but it made me realize what a great job I used to have
Charlton Life without Alan Curbishley – Is Relegation that Bad?
3 months into the 2006/2007 season and life without Alan Curbishley is proving to be a bit tricky for Charlton Athletic. I recently did an interview with www.addickted.net and they asked me about my thoughts for Charlton’s prospects this year.
In this interview I said that I would not be surprised to see the settled South London club get relegated this year. Of course I hope that they do not get relegated but I am writing this article without any bias and based on my many years of playing as a professional footballer. The one thing that disturbs a club the most is instability and change. I experienced this on a yearly frequency at West Bromwich Albion, where the club hired and fired new managers with random glee, which creates confusion and lack of loyalty within the club. Existing players have to adapt to every managers new philosophy on Football, new tactics, new systems, 4-4-2, 4-5-1, 5-3-2 etc. New players have to integrate into the club and so it goes on.
I do not know why Charlton and “Curbs” (as he liked to be called) parted company but I suspect that the 2 had reached a point where they both needed change and felt they could no longer progress. I think that Curbs has been a revelation for Charlton Athletic and should be given the freedom of South East London for what he and his staff achieved. To bring the club from the brink of bankruptcy to a constant fixture in the premier league was a monumental achievement. This rise was steady and constant, taking many years to build up the momentum to finally being able to proudly boast of being an accomplished premier league side. They have proved to be a fine example of how to rise through the ranks of football. Whether they can be the club that breaks through the invisible barrier of the top 6 and maybe even break the stronghold of Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United is another chapter in this clubs history.
But Curbs just seemed unable to push the club into the higher levels of the premier league. It must be the ambition of every team to want more, otherwise what is the point of competing. Charlton had reached a plateau under Curbs reign and were/are seeking to move onwards and upwards. This is no easy achievement in the world of Premier league football. To sustain yourself as a top 6 club with your peers such as Newcastle United struggling to do this will take a shift in thinking, such as bringing in a new manager.
It may take several years for this to happen, as new managers historically take time to “bed” into their new clubs, with many not surviving their first year. I hope this doesn’t happen to Iain Dowie as he has proved himself to be an intelligent, dedicated manager. However, getting back to my original point, it may not be a bad thing for Charlton to be relegated this year. If they did, they would be able to re-group in the Championship, with a very strong squad and have a season to re-establish themselves back in footballs elite by gaining promotion.
If this happened Dowie and his staff would have the full support of the fans, who would be excited to have another Championship season of success, winning games, scoring lots of goals and renewing the excitement of strolling up to the Valley. The players would be playing with a renewed confidence and I am sure would revel at another bite of premier league action. With this momentum behind him, Dowie may just be able to take the Club on to its next level of achievement by pushing themselves into the top 6 of the premier league. Maybe relegation doesn’t come and Charlton and Dowie can continue this success story from within the Premier League, which would be much less scary for the fans and the board.
After all, if you do get relegated, and can’t climb back into the premier league (see Ipswich, Leeds, Sunderland etc) life can get fiendishly difficult.
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 :
