Thetownend.com

soapy tit wank Quality article. Grazioli's family stopping him from playing for the Scum!!!!!

GIULIANO Grazioli will risk the wrath of the dreaded in-laws tomorrow when he bids to cause a second FA Cup upset against the club he once called "home".

The former Town striker is desperate to play some part for current club Barnet when the League Two side visit the County Ground for an exciting third-round clash.

Grazioli netted a late winner for Stevenage in a shock 2-1 victory at Swindon in 1998 before joining the Robins the following summer.

advertisementAlmost a decade later Grazioli returns to Wiltshire looking to repeat the feat, but revealed he must do so at the risk of upsetting his nearest and dearest.

Grazioli explained: "I married a girl from Swindon called Laura and all her family are die-hard Town fans.

"There came a point when I nearly signed for Oxford and my father-in-law said he would not come to watch me any more if I did.

"He loves his football but he was prepared to stop coming if it was Oxford. That's how much he loves Swindon.

"All the family will be there on Saturday but I think my wife will be the only one cheering for me."

Grazioli was a substitute for Tuesday's goalless draw at Wycombe but hopes to twist manager Paul Fairclough's arm for a starting berth tomorrow.

Fairclough was manager of Stevenage when the non-League side dumped Town out of the FA Cup in 1998 and Grazioli hopes his boss has not forgotten.

He said: "I always remember that day because the weather was terrible. Lots of games were called off but we played.

"Mark Walters scored a screamer for Town after about five minutes and I thought here we go.

"But we got back into it and we had the wind in our favour in the second half.

"I remember Fraser Digby took a goal kick and the ball almost blew back to him. I got my toe to it and poked it into the top corner- the rest is history."

Grazioli was overwhelmed with the reception he received from supporters the last time he stepped foot on the County Ground and hopes the Town fans will be just as welcoming tomorrow.

Should he grab the goal he desires, Grazioli insists he will not celebrate out of respect for his former club.

He said: "I had a great time playing at Swindon and it really felt like home.

"The supporters were fantastic the last time I went back there and I thank them for that.

"If I do play some part and manage to score I won't be celebrating the goal.

"But I will be celebrating the result because everyone wants to be in the hat for the fourth round of the FA Cup."

:bow1: Graz is a legend even more superb from his in laws nothing but respect for that, a quality read  :clap:

Superb!  :D



Nice touch but I wouldn't have any qualms if he did!

That is a nice touch but Graz mate...if you score fucking go for it!

Top bloke got a lot of time for him.

I think the lack of celebration would not be on a part of him having used to play for us but more of the reaction of his in laws after the game!

I miss Graz .. chatting up the fit birds in the corner of Edwards .. oh glory days!

I can still remember the screamer he scored for us live on Sky, against Ipswich I think. We ended up getting battered though, 4-1 if my memory serves me correctly.

Yeah that's my ever lasting memories of Grazioli too.   :|

:Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

So you used to stand at edwards watching footballers chat up birds? oh dear.

i don't think i ever saw him play, so i'm going to abuse him 8)

Fair play for the not-celebrating thing, I've always respected that.

I won't jeer him but I don't like it when our fans applaud the opposition.

Yep thats right, he smashed it from outside the box, off the underside of the bar and in to put us 1-0 up. Like you said, we then got thumped 4-1. Quality goal though and an absolute legend! He will defo get a great reception if he gets to play.

No i used to watch Graz chat up and take home the girls who I had been chatting to for hours previously ... oh well .. thats life ..  :wink:

thats YOUR life.  :wink:

A top bloke and deserving of a good reception

I think the biggest mark of respect you can pay to a player is to show your appreciation when he returns playing for another side.  Doesn't happen often, and rightly so.

I'll never forget the standing ovation we gave Colin Calderwood at the start of our Premiership game at White Hart Lane.  The two teams swapped ends just before kick off so the great man had to jog over towards our stand.  4000 Town fans got up off their feet and gave him an ovation that made the hair stand up on the back of my neck.  Just brilliant.  And then to cap it all, I think (but memory's a little hazy now) that he was partly at fault for the goal we scored that day.  Legend.

I wonder if Dennis Wise will get a similar reception?  :soapy tit wank:

Graz was one of those players who was a bit limited,  but you could tell he was giving it his best shot.  He could  finish, but was living on scraps in poorish sides.

    My 2 favourite Graz moments would be scoring the winner with a late header in front of teh TE, v Scum on their last visit, getting the first at teh MadStad on our last visit in the 3-1 win.

We should go in for him once the embargo is lifted

:Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

Bart in joke shocker

One of my favourite away days  :D

 I'm all for giving ex players who merit it a rousing reception....the ones that don't just ignore.

 A few that spring to mind.....Peter Noble.  The TE used to jump up and down and sing No ball No ball No ball no ball no ball......repeat Not original but it worked.

 He revisited some years after he'd left us for Burnley....but the TE obliged with a great rendition.  Fine player hugely under rated.

 Dave Bamber....used to love it coming back to Swindon.  The chant was Bambi Bambi Bambi.  He'd make sure he did his legendary warm up in front of the singers on the South Side.  Against Stoke he obliged with an own goal.

 Chris Kamara... after his first departure, came back to the CG with a Stan Bowles inspired Brentford...scored with a header from the edge of the box in front of the TE, then slide on his knees to celebrate.  Didn't go down too well.  All was forgiven though after the success of his second spell, which lifted him into STFC hero status.....received good reception on second return with Luton,  included sliding tackle on own player to prevent him scoring.

  Fraser Digby....got the total respect he deserved, when visiting with Palarse in 98.  For some reason though goalkeepers don't seem to have their own chants.  A bizarre match....Palarse were managed by Venables and they had Attilio Lombardo playing for them.  I'd seen a lot of him on C4, an dhe was a wonderful player....Sol Davis marked him out the game.

My friend and I had huge crushes on Graz when he was here. We both cried when he left!

Are you sure you didn't have a crush on the bloke in Edwards who used to stare at Grazioli getting hold of birds?  Apparently he used to stand there with a visable boner, and used to go on about Paul Trollope when approached.

   :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

Jans got a way with words!

I do like Fatbury, he's a character and a half!!!

Although I don't think I've ever met the bloke, he always comes across as a decent enough fella.

that was quality

graziloi was a bit rubbish really.

In some ways he was, hes a good finisher but thats it.  He still could have scored a lot of goals in a better, more creative side though

nothing against him and he did his best for us.i just think players including him were not good enough and the reason we struggled.he found his level and thrived

because he was fat and slow he was offside a ridiculous amount of times

he's alright with an open goal from 3 yards most of the time though

no thanks, couldn't score for toffee in league 2 with herefud last year

Fleetwood has looked good this season, good movement and can finish but he has a reputation for being a trouble maker, we dont need that

fleetwood's off to chelt isn't he

same as Robbo really if he keeps his head down and works hard will be a good player

i think fleetwood will end up at gillingham.

he has them queueing up though.

good player, against us he was on the defender's shoulder constantly and very quick over the first 5 yards.

think ifil would have had him though  8)

Agree, i think Fleetwood has found his level.

you mean like a certain ex-managers son we currently have

Graz was a lot better than Sturrock though. Graz played in very poor teams. When he played for us we had some of the worst midfields Ive ever seen. We would be total rubbish, but he'd pop up to score a goal you werent expecting. He did have the eye for the corner of the goal.

I enjoyed the late winner against Fulham. And the nod in against the Scum obviously.

meh, i only ever saw him play when he was at stevenage, so i dont really know how good he was. I won't boo him though because he seems a nice guy

Oh yeah, and I think he scored an overhead kick at QPR? It was down the far end of the field.

We had loads of fans there that day, even though everyone knew we were down. They beat us on a dodgy penalty. Gutted.

Meaker played brilliantly that day