[Albion] 2018 who's the flairest of them all? Round 1 Group B

[Stumpy Tim]

Biley's going to be FURIOUS he's only got two votes. That haircut alone should have guaranteed him progression into the next round

 

[Eric Youngs Contact Lense]

Frank will win this, and rightly so, but Biley should be streets ahead of others.. haircut, talent, when he wanted, nasty at times, and crucially he always (in my mind) wore long sleeves and often held them over his hands by the cuff..

 

[Exile]

Frank Worthington should have this in the bag from the off.

Worthington can't win (for all he was the most naturally gifted player I saw for us).

Easy win for Worthington this one. Makes everyone else look like Harry Potter.

Although I voted for the great Frank Worthington,

I used to work with a guy who was a massive Bolton fan.

The stories he told about Frank Worthington turning up to training with an attractive lady on each arm. Made George Best look like a choirboy.

I know I keep banging on about this, but FW is too good a player to be considered truly flair. He actually got international caps!

A long time ago (2011, to be precise) I wrote a piece about (amongst others) Frank...

https://nortr3nixy.nimpr.uk/content.php?125-Faded-Glories

In that other era - before footballers interested gossip columnists, and when there were a total of a dozen sports broadcasting jobs available - the same footballer knew that once he hung up his boots, he could either open the obligatory pub or sports shop, drive a taxi, or 'coach' random children for the summer season at Butlins in Minehead.

With only such mundane inevitabilities awaiting them, the star player of yesteryear clung to his playing career for as long as his tired legs would carry him - dropping down the divisions, in search of an ever dwindling pay packet. As he descended to each subsequent level, the last lingering lustre of that stardom, raised a glimmer of excitement in his new club's fans, at least in the short term.

It was in such circumstances that Brighton fans greeted the arrival of 38 year old ex-international Frank Worthington, in 1984, with a sense of great anticipation. Although the club were only in their second season out of the top division, a new, starker reality was already very much evident, so the arrival of such a household name was big news locally.

To my 13 year old eyes, Worthington appeared to stroll casually around the Goldstone pitch, showing the occasional flash of brilliance, but contributing little of note. The records state that he actually scored a respectable seven goals in thirty one appearances that season, which surprised me somewhat.

My recollection is of a succession of 'clever' flicks, into spaces noticeably absent of fellow Albion players. Those who knew better, explained to me that this was because Frank was "too good" or "two steps ahead of the rest", although truth be told, it did seem to my nascent football brain, that kicking the ball to nobody, wasn't really very 'good' at all. The Albion have had plenty of players since, who have done much the same, without the same generous suggestion ever being afforded them.

At the end of that season, Worthington moved onwards (and downwards) as was the way, sprinkling his remaining stardust at Tranmere, Preston and Stockport, then a further ten non-league and amateur clubs, before finally hanging up his boots at the age of 44. At the majority of those clubs he achieved little, but his presence added something to the history of every one of them. Fans love to see a star name, however far his glory has faded.

 

[Exile]

Biley's going to be FURIOUS he's only got two votes. That haircut alone should have guaranteed him progression into the next round

Frank will win this, and rightly so, but Biley should be streets ahead of others.. haircut, talent, when he wanted, nasty at times, and crucially he always (in my mind) wore long sleeves and often held them over his hands by the cuff..

To add a little more to Biley's credentials - the rumour inside the club at the time he signed, surprisingly sold by Portsmouth, where he was loved by the fans, was that he had to get out of Dodge / Fratton quick, after it was discovered he was knocking off the chairman's wife.

 

[Stumpy Tim]

To add a little more to Biley's credentials - the rumour inside the club at the time he signed, surprisingly sold by Portsmouth, where he was loved by the fans, was that he had to get out of Dodge / Fratton quick, after it was discovered he was knocking off the chairman's wife.

I want my vote back

 

[Jack Straw]

A long time ago (2011, to be precise) I wrote a piece about (amongst others) Frank...

https://nortr3nixy.nimpr.uk/content.php?125-Faded-Glories

No ARTWORK!

 

[Exile]

No ARTWORK!

Hadn't been invented then.

 

[Jack Straw]

Hadn't been invented then.

No excuse now though!

 

[Cheshire Cat]

The problem with Worthington was that although he knew exactly what he wanted to do and what the others should be doing, by then his legs had gone. He couldn't get there anymore, and the others didn't have the vision to exploit what he was trying to create. I saw him laying off balls into a space that cried out for someone to score from, but Worthington was now two yards too slow to catch up and nobody else had been mentally quick enough to anticipate what he was about to do and be there waiting for the ball on a plate to score from.

I don't recall him ever flouncing though, for all it must have been frustrating. As a spectator it was more a case of "if only he was ten years younger". He just oozed class and charisma, even though he was effectively past it.