Thetownend.com

Growing up who was the players you really looked up to. Obviously i had my town players but away from them it had to be the following player he was a genius.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB9HjYmYwpk&feature=related

Peter Withe for me.....although look at this Curetonesque miss below!

He used to go mad as if he was a fan!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYX1zbly3_c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82K460g2-VU&feature=related

Shearer for me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWNCwHNsuuU

Was a big fan of Le Tissier as well DRS. Also for the occasional moment of genius I used to love this guy...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsvhBnKBohk&feature=fvw (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsvhBnKBohk&feature=fvw)

Eric Cantona was fucking awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QrPJZjDUK0

Gazza

As I'm an old fuck I used to idolise David Wagstaffe of Wolves - a good old fashioned winger - haven't looked on youtube as can't believe there would be anything on there.

Glenn Hoddle, and it topped off his career when playing for the Town :

(This clip includes a goal against Pox when he walked through their defence)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4a2pX6_rCfY

And of course THAT goal against Sunderland : 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EYx48rLAK4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QSQyk_zHJY

Kings of Total Football - Cryuff,Neeskens etc etc playing the type of football i just loved.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_06oUCT0A_c

Didnt see the stamp on Moncur or the Kung Fu kick...

Deserves a lot of respect for being the only frenchman to look for a fight!

For me this was awesome, one of the great WC goals of all time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hlvq2KQ4Y48

Oggy Hunt.

A class act

Fola Onibuje.
Alan Reeves.

That's about it.

Wagstaffe was indeed a very useful player....

I used to rate Ernie Hunt, then he fucked off to Wolves in 65, and I realised idolising footballers was a a mug's game.

Well, apart from Don Rogers (who really wasn't as successful after he left Town), it would have to be the skills of Brooking, Heighway, Beardsley, Eddie Gray..... beautiful to watch

Due to growing up in the nineties and being left footed, I idolised Ryan Giggs.

Always expect the unexpected with Frank!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0z_arXZ8nM&feature=related

In the late 80s I went to Stockport v Scarborough as I was up that way. McHale was player manager of Scarborough and Worthington and Asa Harrtford played for Stockport. Worthington must have been in his late 30s but still class then.

I think that Frank Worthington goal may be my favourite of all time. What a fantastic player. I don't really think of myself as having idols or heroes but I guess the closest I ever got was this bloke who I thought was pretty untouchable...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_C7V2LiiQkA

muzzy izzet, matt elliott, steve claridge. Think I had a kasey keller goalkeeper shirt too at one point

Different class the Worthington goal. Not many could do that now a days

Great bloke!

Tony Currie was a bit good as well..similar sort of player to Frank Worthington. They don't, as they say, make them like that any more :no:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xczc8h_tony-currie-v-southampton_sport

Tony Cottee, but not because I liked Everton or even knew who he was. I was about 8 or 9 and asked for a Barcelona kit (because the word Barcelona was cool, I had no idea who or where they were). My Dad took me to Terry Warner sports and they had no Barcelona kits and I liked the blue Everton Kit so got that instead. A friend told me Cottee was their best player and for the next few weeks, I was an Everton supporter.

Bryan Robson. Shame his managerial career was the inverse of his playing career.

Hoddle. In his prime. Although he was still a bit good while here.

Don Rogers was my idol....saw him play for Palace twice and believe me when i say he was even better for them....should have got a cap.
Liked Charlie Cooke as a lad also(Chelsea) but the best player i ever saw live was Kenny Dalglish..........could do it all...remember one goal he scored for Scotland in Belgium...the whole stadium seemed to go silent at the quality of the goal for a split second.....cant find it on youtube so if anyone can find it would be good.

La La La Zola, Gianfranco Zola

I've just finished watching 'Looking for Eric' which was good, and he's the one I watched as a kid. This was genius:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vAOUgmRXsc

stan bowles, easy.

john barnes

bennett

 :love: :love: :love:

As a nipper

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMTL9Dm-nYo

Later on

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIUZkvxuWFk

Peter Ndllllllllllllllllllllooooooooove

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DFry3sQxu0

David Ginola:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwy_MrjR3R8

Alan Shearer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOAyCHV2ql0

Faustino Asprilla:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9LV9DJRMEw

Any Newcastle player who was involved with in this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOhu9SdMTjI

And Tony Yeboah:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KxdTwXa23k

Fraser Digby. Easy.

Always a huge favourite of mine. Criminal he never played international football. Also a player capable of taking some stick without getting arsey. I can still remember his reaction to getting taunted mercilessly throughout the game at the CG in our Premiership season. At a corner in front of the bank, late in the game, with Southampton trailing and Le T having had a poor game, several hundrend town fans launched into a chorus of "Big nose, you've got a fucking big nose", to which he mugs, looks over his shoulder, does a double take and mimes a "What? Surely not me!" response".

A proper footballer.

Sejad Salihovic - You will probably not know him, but he is by far the best free kick taker in the world at the moment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SN2yWPp3hr4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLtuD4l78N8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtXWHoo1B0E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfcGmvrsZDM

^ 1.30 ^ for the last vid.

YAY!

Ty Gooden or fB for me

Ian Culverhouse (in my fledgling football 'career')
Gazza
David Ginola
George Weah
Romario

I almost forgot chris hay!

As a (fat) center back myself; John Terry.

Pah - Simon Cox away at Scunthorpe was better...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0z_arXZ8nM&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6s8QRzXnjA&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4a2pX6_rCfY&feature=related

He did to be fair. Just not as much as he should have done.

What about Steve Walsh as well?

nah, he was a dick

You win.  The number 4 shirt still belongs to Glenn in my eyes.  I know some still have not yet forgiven him for packing his bags so soon after the Wembley triumph, but he was always going to move on.  I doubt we will ever see talent like his again on a regular basis at the County Ground.

Andy Rowland.

Always liked him, but was elevated to idol status after scoring the winner against the Arse on my birthday :D

David Hirst.

Think i had low standards as a kid.

Gazza, Klinsmann and Sheringham were the main non-Swindon favourites of mine as a wee nipper. Although for some odd reason Marian Pahars was my favourite player for a few years when I was a bit older.

He was a very good player but injuries stopped him realising his full potential I wouldn't be too embarassed having him as a childhood idol.

George Best.  Phenomenal football player and all round bad boy off the pitch. he ripped teams apart, then started on the booze and the women.  Glory days when your heroes could be bad boys too.

Swindon idol- Mark Walters

Swindon Idols - Fraser Digby, Shaun Taylor, John Moncur and Jan Age Fjortoft.

I always appreciated the works of Stuart Pearce and Tim Flowers for some reason too.

Marian Pahars flip flop used to hang in pride of place in the CG bootroom, a trophy from when Rory Fallon crocked the diminuitive Latvian.

Darren Bullock was one of mine too

You jest surely or you've had some real fucking bleak times

Does that one abandoned match in Ireland even count as a cap?

No at all, I loved his flair and trickery, the Ozil of the 90s i feel..

I was hoping someone would say Bullock. He's one of my favourite players too.

Frank Rijkaard, Marco van Basten and Ruud Gullit. Basically that Milan side but primarily the three Dutch men who added so much flair, creativity and power. Gullit particularly will surely be judged by history as a brilliant player. He played in do many position and scored and set up so many superb goals.

:toocool:

well if we're talking town hero's my first was chris kamara.

Mine was Charlie Henry after he scored that peach of a 20 yarder against the Pikeys. I wad 10 years old and my dad was mates with him, well proud!

He got 8 caps according to Wikipedia. He should have got far more though.

I think you have to be quite young to have an idol and like Leefer it was the Don for me. 

He could win any match by scoring from anywhere single handed and he could do this against any team, witness West Ham, Liverpool, Arsenal and so on.

It was no surprise he could do the same in the top league when he eventually joined the Palace.  He missed the first 2 or 3 months but could otherwise have been the player of the season that year.

However his bad hip and relegation for the Palace in spite of Don's best efforts meant that Town enjoyed nearly all of his best days.  Rarely do you see such extravagant talents in so modest an individual.

Kammy was a slightly later hero - enduring monkey chants from Pompey fans whom he had left for the Town on his first game against Pompey and pretty much ending his Town career I think (Reg will correct me) by responding to racist taunts by breaking the Shrew's Jim Melrose's nose at the end of 90 minutes at Gay Meadow .... and picking up an ABH for his trouble. 

In between his sliding tackles were as mesmerising as Hendrix with his guitar  (well maybe not quite)

So he did. He'd even started at least one competetive game.

My first Town hero was Steve Aizlewood - a very underrated defender. The biggest hero is obviuosly Steve White.
For foreign players the first one was Gerd Muller - still in my mind the best finsiher I've ever seen. The Brazil World Cup 70 side was the best team ever. I also liked Batistuta and Davor Suker and I also had a bit of respect for the French defender Boil who went toe to toe with Psycho and came out better.

Chris Kamara was my first Swindon idol. I remember the diving header against Pompey in the late 70's in the 3-1 win (I believe). Coming from a Pompey father I could have taken the "blue" road instead of the "red"
I recall writing "we've got Kamara - STFC" on a wall in Portsmouth and later remember that great diving header.
I also recall the Pompey fans after the game on Swindon Station and my scarf being well hidden whilst boarding the train back home. Now they were some nutters.

As for slide tackling Kammy was a genious.