Byron Walton, You dont get many 5ft9 forwards as tough and fearless as him. I heard murmurs at the time that his reckless charges/tackles/assaults were due to poor eye sight rather than malice ? Not sure what Yeovil Bully boy Tony Ricketts would make of that ?
Paul Hyde needs a mention. Never let the fact that he was a goalkeeper get in the way of getting involved in any on-field scraps. Was also hard as nails.
Think I remember him throwing the ball into touch once so that he could confront an opposition striker
That game where we beat Slough in front of a big midweek crowd. Valley End was full so I had to go on Hillbottom Road end (it wasn’t an away terrace back then) and was treated to a close up view of a Hyde / Cousins double act assault.
Slough striker went in fairly on Hyde who pinned him down in one of those ‘accidental’ tangles as Cousins, who had fallen over the pair of them, administered a series of rabbit punches to the kidneys while the referee’s view was obscured.
Didn’t Martin Blacker get sent off in a pre-season friendly for violent conduct? I had forgotten about Byron Walton and his bad eyesight - some horrific challenges!
I though it was on Tony Ricketts ? It was a midweek game in either the GMAC or A.C. Delco cup ? It was an awful challenge, I can't remember if Byron was even cautioned ?
Gary Smith (currently coaching in America at Nashville) is a friend of mine. I’ve played football with and against him and I can assure you that the former is infinitely preferable to the latter!
I always felt that Gary Smith wasn't a nutter as such, he just had a technical flaw in his approach to tackling that meant any 50/50 ball would end up in both feet leaving the floor and him jumping into tackles.
You'd never get away with it today, he'd get sent off virtually every week.
To me, its the nutters you have to look out for, the ones with some kind of psychological imbalance that sees them view their opponent's mere existence as some kind of personal insult.
Doherty's definitely in that bracket, Branston and Blackler too, I think Gary Silk had that streak in him but we didn't see enough of him.
There's also the guys whose sheer physical presence qualifies them as 'hard' regardless of their personalities - Terry Evans, Andy Rammell and Bayo are all very much in that bracket.
Was there any truth to the Tommy Doherty accosting Michael Ballack in the tunnel before one of the League Cup semi matches? I've been looking online and couldn't find any but did notice Tommy seemed to play with his tongue out a lot!
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Tommy Doherty
Byron Walton, You dont get many 5ft9 forwards as tough and fearless as him. I heard murmurs at the time that his reckless charges/tackles/assaults were due to poor eye sight rather than malice ? Not sure what Yeovil Bully boy Tony Ricketts would make of that ?
Paul Hyde needs a mention. Never let the fact that he was a goalkeeper get in the way of getting involved in any on-field scraps. Was also hard as nails.
Think I remember him throwing the ball into touch once so that he could confront an opposition striker
Second vote for a Tommy Doherty, one of my favourite players partly because of it.
It’s got to be Akinfenwa, hasn’t it? Not at all an aggressive character, but I’m pretty sure he could defend himself if required.
That game where we beat Slough in front of a big midweek crowd. Valley End was full so I had to go on Hillbottom Road end (it wasn’t an away terrace back then) and was treated to a close up view of a Hyde / Cousins double act assault.
Slough striker went in fairly on Hyde who pinned him down in one of those ‘accidental’ tangles as Cousins, who had fallen over the pair of them, administered a series of rabbit punches to the kidneys while the referee’s view was obscured.
Didn’t Martin Blacker get sent off in a pre-season friendly for violent conduct? I had forgotten about Byron Walton and his bad eyesight - some horrific challenges!
@ChasHarps, against Yeovil, I remember Byron Walton committing a shocking tackle on Alan Pardew, who complained bitterly. Sidelined him for weeks.
I though it was on Tony Ricketts ? It was a midweek game in either the GMAC or A.C. Delco cup ? It was an awful challenge, I can't remember if Byron was even cautioned ?
@ChasHarps, you are right about Ricketts but I also have a memory of a challenge on Pardew in a Saturday game.
I’ve got to go with a third vote for Tommy Doherty. Hard as nails, as they say.
It may be a false memory, but I have this notion that Gary Smith once took out two players with one tackle.
Gary Smith (currently coaching in America at Nashville) is a friend of mine. I’ve played football with and against him and I can assure you that the former is infinitely preferable to the latter!
Jason Cousins and Terry Evans
And of course the greatly missed Paul McCarthy. (Apologies if someone's mentioned him already).
I always felt that Gary Smith wasn't a nutter as such, he just had a technical flaw in his approach to tackling that meant any 50/50 ball would end up in both feet leaving the floor and him jumping into tackles.
You'd never get away with it today, he'd get sent off virtually every week.
To me, its the nutters you have to look out for, the ones with some kind of psychological imbalance that sees them view their opponent's mere existence as some kind of personal insult.
Doherty's definitely in that bracket, Branston and Blackler too, I think Gary Silk had that streak in him but we didn't see enough of him.
There's also the guys whose sheer physical presence qualifies them as 'hard' regardless of their personalities - Terry Evans, Andy Rammell and Bayo are all very much in that bracket.
No mention of Tommy Doherty?
Ignore me, I answered at the end of the last page, and the very first post on this one was "Tommy Doherty"
Was there any truth to the Tommy Doherty accosting Michael Ballack in the tunnel before one of the League Cup semi matches? I've been looking online and couldn't find any but did notice Tommy seemed to play with his tongue out a lot!
Jason Cousins didn't take prisoners ask Keith Scott
It's mention of things like the "AC Delco Cup" that bring back such vivid images of my mis-spent youth in and around Loakes Park.
I'm constantly grateful for @ChasHarps for freshening up my boyhood non-league memories.
Sorry to go back so far but the 40/50s full backs Bunce and Jackson deserve a mention in tyhis company.