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[Football] For what duration of a match could an elite side hide a pub player?
- Thread starter Guinness Boy
- Start date
I think I've said before, at severl points in the 90's, we in our 20's were commenting how bad some of our players were and the team weas utter gash, that we still played a bit and in some instances wouldn't be much worse.
None of us would have got away with it @ PL standard but Div 4? probably for half an hour at least!
None of us would have got away with it @ PL standard but Div 4? probably for half an hour at least!
Worthing, Isthmian premier at the time.
They had a great team when he was there.
ATFC Seagull
Aberystwyth Town FC
Related story:
In our 9 a side Aussie Rules league, we once travelled to a game with 8 fit players and a bloke (not the best player when fit) with a broken collarbone. After much discussion, it was decided that he'd squeeze a guernsey on and take off his sling, and then just jog up and down on the sideline, run away from the ball if it came anywhere near him, and that none of us would kick his way. One of their players marked him for the entire 80 mins.
In our 9 a side Aussie Rules league, we once travelled to a game with 8 fit players and a bloke (not the best player when fit) with a broken collarbone. After much discussion, it was decided that he'd squeeze a guernsey on and take off his sling, and then just jog up and down on the sideline, run away from the ball if it came anywhere near him, and that none of us would kick his way. One of their players marked him for the entire 80 mins.
maresfield seagull
Well-known member
- May 23, 2006
- 2,317
Effectively div 7 Ish
Interestingly, casting my mind back they missed out on promotion due to the grade of their ground, and a certain Wycombe Wanderers went up instead......
KeegansHairPiece
New member
- Jan 28, 2016
- 1,829
Not a chance. Usain Bolt fastest man in the planet and no doubt pretty fit wasn’t even given a moment to answer the question of playing at an elite level.
Depends what level you played at initially IMO, even switching between County League and National League there is a significant step up in pace both physically and mentally. Even playing in goal the mental element can’t be underestimated, which makes it so specialised (as you probably know having played).
Park football, no chance.
Definitely happened a few times over the years though cant give any examples of exactly that scenario.
I know Kaka brought his brother Digao to Milan and he spent six years there despite not being anywhere near Serie A level.
Also in Milan we have the case of Harvey Esajas. He is Clarence Seedorfs childhood mate and played a couple of games in the Dutch top league in the 1990s, before retiring. In 2004, having not played any football for about three years, he visited Seedorf in Milan and talked about how fun it would be to play professional football again. Seedorf told Ancelotti, as a joke, to sign the defender.
Surprisingly, Ancelotti thought it would be a fun challenge to see what he could make of Seedorfs fat buddy and he was allowed to train with the team. After dropping about 15-20 kg Ancelotti gave him a one year contract, obviously with no intentions to play him but to keep him around as he was a nice bloke. Later on in that 04-05 season, Ancelotti decided to reward Esajas for his hard work by allowing him to play a few minutes in the Italian cup, making his comeback at age 31 after not having played professionally for about five years.
For those of you old enough, this was kind of done for a TV programme - must have been in the 70s. Memory a bit sketchy but it was a club player who thought he was decent and the programme was ‘The Big Time’ presented by Esther Rantzen I think (it spawned Sheena Easton). The guy was called Lol Cotterill, a scouser and spent a week training with Liverpool before playing in a Testimonial. Can’t remember if he was any good or not, but I do remember the team had a penalty and he took it. It was saved, so the ref made up a spurious reason to have it retaken, then it was saved again.
Edit....there is a bit on Wiki referring to it and a decent article on Reddit.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Time_(TV_series)
https://www.reddit.com/r/LiverpoolFC/comments/epb6l3/the_iron_man_and_the_pie_man_or_why_i_feel_the/
Edit....there is a bit on Wiki referring to it and a decent article on Reddit.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Time_(TV_series)
https://www.reddit.com/r/LiverpoolFC/comments/epb6l3/the_iron_man_and_the_pie_man_or_why_i_feel_the/
Last edited:
albionalbino
Well-known member
Nice story
sydney
tinky ****in winky
Tommy Smiths testemonial ....i remember watching it , he wasn't that bad as i remember.
Higher than park football, yes, but nothing amazing. I specifically said in a game for Man City against somebody shit -ie you'd not actually have to do anything, bar be okay with your feet and spray a few passes about. That would have been no problem.
Sadly, I'd have to let Pep down if he calls this week though, as I'm sidelined, due to taking a knee to the FACE on Monday night, saving a one-on-one.
Higher than park football, yes, but nothing amazing. I specifically said in a game for Man City against somebody shit -ie you'd not actually have to do anything, bar be okay with your feet and spray a few passes about. That would have been no problem.
Sadly, I'd have to let Pep down if he calls this week though, as I'm sidelined, due to taking a knee to the FACE on Monday night, saving a one-on-one.
You’re quite young still then [emoji6][emoji2], to be able to get down [emoji23]
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Anyone can get down. Its the quickly getting up again bit that can be the challenge!