Ken McNaught - behemoth and all round good egg

[Mister E]

Piece in today's S.T. about Ken McNaught - makes you realise how lucky we are to have had a great team with some great professionals in it (even if it was 30 years ago now).
No linky from the web but I'll try and scan it in below.

[Mister E]

I don't seem to be able to scan it in - can anyone suggest whether an attachment can be made to the OP?

[Legion]

Upload to Photobucket or similar then post img here.

[Dave Clark Five]

Ken still looks like he always did. Same haircut, rugged and daunting. He still turns out for the old stars and is a regular at Villa Park. It is a far cry to the days when Charlie Aitken was the only legend ever to be seen. I suppose we should thank Mr. Lerner for that.

[Chico Hamilton III]

There was a nice photo of him as wel, in the classic umbro away kit ( with white shorts) heading a ball against barcelona.


BEST & WORST; KEN McNAUGHT European Cup-winning centre-half
Interview by Barry Flatman
921 words
4 December 2011
The Sunday Times
English
© 2011 Times Newspapers Ltd. All rights reserved

KEN McNAUGHT European Cup-winning centre-half What was the best moment of your career?

Winning the European Cup by beating Bayern Munich in Rotterdam 29 years ago stands out. Villa's strength at the time was that we were such a unified team but that night I was the only one who knew in advance that our goalkeeper Jimmy Rimmer was struggling with an injury. I was his roommate. He had an injection just before the game and I wasn't hugely surprised when he had to be substituted after only nine minutes.

And the worst?

Being forced to retire prematurely at 31 because of a deep vein thrombosis after knee surgery.

I wanted to play on for another four or five years but the time that followed was awful. My insurance payout was affected because a condition rather than actual injury forced me to quit. I became a real pain to my wife because I had no job and no career. I was worried sick for two or three years because there was no money coming in and mentally it's very tough. I was thinking: "What do you do for the rest of your life when you have given up the thing that you know, the thing that you love most of all?" This is why the Professional Footballers' Association is doing such a good job in warning about the pitfalls and addressing the problem.

Who was your best opponent?

I played against Johan Cruyff twice when he was with Barcelona, home and away in the Uefa Cup. He was something very special and controlled the game for an hour of the first leg, so much so that I could only applaud him when he went off. He could play anywhere on the park, had such great balance and so many gears. You thought he was running at full pelt and then he would just stop and go in a different direction.

Who is the best player today in your position?

Nemanja Vidic of Manchester United. He is strong in the air, commanding on the ground and leads by example. It's not easy being a central defender these days because football has become almost a non-contact sport but he shows tremendous consistency.

What is the worst thing in contemporary football?

I get very annoyed when I see players cheat in trying to get their fellow professionals booked or even sent off. For me the only thing that is worse is to be spat at by an opponent. We weren't angels and because there was only one television camera following the game rather than 12 or 15 you could get away with certain things while the referee wasn't looking. But I don't think we repeatedly tried to con the officials to weaken the opposition.

What was better in your day?

When Villa won the First Division title we did it using just 14 players. There was no such thing as squad rotation and consequently there was a much deeper team spirit. We had cohesion and an understanding of one another, which was the basis of our success. I still firmly believe that a good team is a settled team.

What was your favourite away stadium?

I was fortunate enough to play at Camp Nou three times and that was special. The noise generated by more than 90,000 fans when the teams walk on the pitch is the most exhilarating thing I've ever heard. Once when we played there, we were taken to the stadium the night before the game. Just as we walked out they turned the lights on and it was stunning. The place means so much to me that I took my wife on the official tour last year when we went to Barcelona on holiday.

Who was the best manager or coach you played for?

Ron Saunders — and I still call him The Gaffer. His manmanagement was brilliant and although he was perceived to be a hard man, he allowed his players to show their own personality and express themselves. There was no director of football — he decreed everything, from what brand the tea lady would brew to who played for the first team.

What was the best piece of advice given to you?

My father, Willie, a Scottish international defender and holder of a record number of 657 appearances for Raith Rovers, was naturally my biggest influence.

But I remember being a young professional at Everton when Brian Labone took me to one side and said: "When you get a chance to win the ball, make sure beforehand you know what you are going to do with it."

Interview by Barry Flatman

MARCH 15, 1978 KEN McNAUGHT RISES HIGH FOR VILLA AGAINST BARCA

WHERE ARE YOU NOW?

After retiring I switched to golf and managed the facilities at Crieff Hydro Hotel in Perthshire. A spell as an academy manager in China ended when I didn't get paid for two months. Returning to Scotland, I spent nearly 10 years as golf manager at Gleneagles. In 2002 we emigrated to Western Australia and I looked after the catering and accommodation of the gold mining industry near Kalgoorlie. We returned home in 2009 and I'm now general manager of the Aston Villa Former Players' Association, with an office overlooking the Holte End.

[john e]

Ken still looks like he always did. Same haircut, rugged and daunting. He still turns out for the old stars and is a regular at Villa Park. It is a far cry to the days when Charlie Aitken was the only legend ever to be seen. I suppose we should thank Mr. Lerner for that.

probably still just as fast as he was to !

[The Left Side]

Nice article that, thanks for posting!

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Thanks for posting that, Chico. Cracking read.

[Chico Hamilton III]

The one thing from that interview that really startled me was the fact the next year will be the 30th anniversay of Rotterdam.

[Pat McMahon]

The one thing in that article that didn't startle me was that he wasn't paid for 2 months in China.

[Mister E]

Cheers Chico.

[Chris Smith]

Good read that, I wonder if he'd swap offices with me?

[avwebby]

Cheers Chico, remains one of my all time heroes. And Fuck me nearly 30 years since the Greatest night in our history. Hope the club do something to celebrate this next year

[davevillan]

He came to our Bournemouth Lions Club B-B-Q as a guest, and he is a genuine god guy. Had time for everyone and told some great stories, inc how he got Withy to sort out the Barcelona centre half to allow Gary Shaw to score the 1st goal of the super cup 2nd leg!