Random Stories About Footballers

[peter w]

The only football player I've met more than a passing glance is Magnus Hedman (ex-coventry keeper), I worked in a hotel on the edge of Northampton when i was at Uni and he used to be in pretty regularly, really quiet guy but incredibly polite and down to earth.

Much more importantly though, my dad was a local Councillor from the late 70s until the late 90s and has a lot of photos with the league winning team and the European cup winning team, his favourite is one with Peter Withe and the European Cup.  He met Gregory a few times as well and said that he was also a really nice guy.  He also got to meet Pele when Santos came to play again through his council connections (he joined the council after years of working with the local labour MPs).  I'm not in the slightest bit jealous, honest.

Pele's Labour? Never knew that.

[danlanza]

Had a fight with Stan Collymore once. Old night club in Cannock called the Bowling green.
Well, not really a fight as much as a push and shove with missed punches.
It was just before he went from Palace to Bindippers as i remember.
Good fun and i spoke to him in Cannock town centre a few months later and wished him all the best.
Good lad is Stan and wrongly had a bad reputation.

[rob_bridge]

Had a fight with Stan Collymore once. Old night club in Cannock called the Bowling green.
Well, not really a fight as much as a push and shove with missed punches.
It was just before he went from Palace to Bindippers as i remember.
Good fun and i spoke to him in Cannock town centre a few months later and wished him all the best.
Good lad is Stan and wrongly had a bad reputation.

Clearly you are not a female.

Also I thought he went from Palace to Southend to Forest to Bindippers.

[OCD]

Again at a nightclub, Collymore once burnt a £50 note in my mate's face in an attempt to show everyone that he was better than them.

[danlanza]

Had a fight with Stan Collymore once. Old night club in Cannock called the Bowling green.
Well, not really a fight as much as a push and shove with missed punches.
It was just before he went from Palace to Bindippers as i remember.
Good fun and i spoke to him in Cannock town centre a few months later and wished him all the best.
Good lad is Stan and wrongly had a bad reputation.

Clearly you are not a female.

Also I thought he went from Palace to Southend to Forest to Bindippers.

You are more than likely right. This was about 1989. My memory is a bit abscent for a few years around that time. To many raves.

[Dave]

Had a fight with Stan Collymore once. Old night club in Cannock called the Bowling green.
Well, not really a fight as much as a push and shove with missed punches.
It was just before he went from Palace to Bindippers as i remember.
Good fun and i spoke to him in Cannock town centre a few months later and wished him all the best.
Good lad is Stan and wrongly had a bad reputation.

Clearly you are not a female.

Also I thought he went from Palace to Southend to Forest to Bindippers.

You are more than likely right. This was about 1989. My memory is a bit abscent for a few years around that time. To many raves.

So when he was in Walsall's youth team then. A year before he joined Stafford Rangers and three years before he left Crystal Palace.

If you say so Dan.

[olaftab]

He came to our school in fifth year, and we were delighted in the football team to have gained this talent, it was like Villa signing Cristiano Ronaldo.
I'd played against him in the Birmingham Boys league a few times, he played for Erdington Star with Darren Byfield and they were untouchable, Byfield in particular roasted me for 90 minutes when I was up against him at left back once.
He was never as quick as the other rated lads but he had so much skill and time on the ball, and he never gave it the big one despite being as good as he was, he was a proper team player.

Doesn't sound like Brian Little?

Lee is on about his name sake Lee Hendrie. Hendrie was my neighbour for a few years until he got his second contract, a fat one, at Villa and than moved out and started wasting his money.

[paul_e]

The only football player I've met more than a passing glance is Magnus Hedman (ex-coventry keeper), I worked in a hotel on the edge of Northampton when i was at Uni and he used to be in pretty regularly, really quiet guy but incredibly polite and down to earth.

Much more importantly though, my dad was a local Councillor from the late 70s until the late 90s and has a lot of photos with the league winning team and the European cup winning team, his favourite is one with Peter Withe and the European Cup.  He met Gregory a few times as well and said that he was also a really nice guy.  He also got to meet Pele when Santos came to play again through his council connections (he joined the council after years of working with the local labour MPs).  I'm not in the slightest bit jealous, honest.

Pele's Labour? Never knew that.

There's somethings he labours at, according to the adverts.

[villan from luton]

We were on holiday in Fuerteventura during world cup in 2002, England fecking went out. The night before the final we were having dinner and the missus saw this lad jumping in the pool and said he better watch his bleached hair. Didnt think nothing of it until the young lad said that is Alan Smith of Leeds. Few minutes later he came up and asked if we knew where he could hire a bike. Spoke to him for a little while and then met him again later and him and hislovely girlfriend sat with us. He hadbasically been left out of world cup squad for Darius but he would not have a badwordsaid against him. The world cup final between Germanyand Brazil was the following day and asked if he wanted to come down to hotel mymate was at which was mainly German to have a laugh and he politely refused. He was teetotal and my missus was gushing about what a lovely lad he was. She called me a liar when I said what he was like on the pitch, but like he said to me, it washis joband that was how he got his focus. My lad hada few top pictures with him and have tosay he was such a nice lad 

[brontebilly]

I saw bosnich in a pub near randwick all suited up, having a cheeky livener, on his way to the fox sports studios for the football.

met him about a year ago, it was a sad experience to be honest. was about the get a photo taken with him outside the Sydney football stadium. he was in conversations with some guy who he cleared owed money to and was giving him a few free tickets to an A-league game as a way of temporary compensation. Bosnich looked absolutely terrible, cheap looking suit, fat, not sure if its a wig on him these days. He just seemed a pathetic individual, I walked on and left him to it. Id well believe that coke story as he seems off his head routinely on fox sports.

Kevin Doyle was a good mate of mine in school. hadnt seen him in a few years as I moved away but when I got in touch, he was dead sound got me tickets to a villa v reading game. the game sidwell scored twice in. told me that Villa had made an offer to get him at the time but he turned it down to sign a new contract at Reading.
He was a really good underage player but never seemed to get the breaks with trials etc. eventually got going with cork city, got into the Irish u21 side and made his luck from there. Was a very mobile hard working forward in those days. Bulked up too much, got a bit lazy and a bit sad where he is playing his football now. Seems to be happy drawing his wages out of Wolves because I do know other clubs like Everton have been in for him.

Shane Long was over in Sydney a couple of years ago visiting his brother and some friends of his. Had to cut short the holiday to have his medical with West Brom. You would have thought a millionaire footballer would have booked out a penthouse in Bondi beach for his trip but no Long stayed on his brothers couch and spent his time on the beer with the lads in the local irish bar.

[ACVilla]

Saw Petrov in The Fox and Dogs in Mere Green yesterday, up in the Kids soft play area, I didn't want to disturb him as he was with hs friends and family but as he left I just asked him if I could shake his hand, which he duly obliged me with.

Spent Xmas 2012 with Weimann and Bannan as my brother in law is good friends with them, Weimann was originally meant to be coming around my house this Xmas day but he ended up spending it in Sheffield with a mate, which was a bit disappointing.

[se16]

I remember going into the chippy in Walmley in the summer of 2002 and queuing behind Marcus Allback. Nobody recognised him even though a few weeks earlier he had played for Sweden against England in the World Cup in Japan. Seemed a bit surreal at the time.

[Singapore Villa]

Loving this thread, just wish I had a story to share!

Keep 'em coming pls...

[Rancid custard]

About 4 years ago a guy at the Coach & Horses in Beckenham asked me if I could change a fiver into coins so he could play the fruit machine. The next day at work my mate said that Kenny Sansom was a raging piss head who spent all day in the coach and horses playing the fruit machine. Didn't even recognize him.

Geoff Hurst used to regularly buy flowers for his mum in my mums flower shop, I persuaded her to hold off cashing a cheque he once wrote for payment because technically it was an autograph and would be worth a lot more when he was dead.

NRC at the lights on Brighton road in south Croydon, he has family in the area, it was about a week we beat spurs 2 -1. His windows were open so I congratulated him on a goal, good game and fantastic result.

[Grande Pablo]

Many years ago I worked for a metal bashers in Darlaston, owned by a family big in the club cricket scene.  All were jumping on the bandwagon of getting foreign players in to improve their side, whilst the player themselves would work to earn their board & gain 'life' experience.

One day there were 2 tanned, skinny blokes being shown around our factory, whilst the Jabba the Hut-esqe 'gangmaster' filled reception dressed in literally rags - moth eaten joggers & t-shirt, that didn't meet in the middle showing his greasy gut off in all his glory.

I engaged in a bit of small talk - he clocked my Villa mug.  He rustled in his bag & produced a newspaper clipping, stating these were his boys & they were going to make it big.  It was a clipping of Lucas Radabe & Phil Masinga, & the sloth agent was Marcelo Housman.  He's now made it huge in the movement of African players to Europe, with hopefully better fitting leisure wear.