188: Raymond Wilkins, AC Milan, Panini Calciatori 1986-87

Mat Jolin-Beech has been on his travels again and is once again delving into a more internationally flavoured subject. As a result the 848 professional appearances, 84 England caps and place in the English Football Hall of Fame are somewhat skirted round. Clearly after his trip to the Austrian capital it meant nothing to Mat.

The other week I went all Ultravox and travelled to Austria for a work conference. I finally hit the big time and made it into Europe! And much like Celtic in the Champions League, it was intense but all too brief and I was back home before I knew it. Unlike Celtic, getting there wasn’t smooth sailing. But, after rushing through security following traffic and parking delays at Heathrow, I managed to get to my seat on my Austrian Airlines flight. Now, over some odd looks as I type away furiously in my window seat and munching my free chocolate, I’m thinking about those Brits who have gone abroad and into Europe for work.

Many have been successful. Gary Lineker, David Beckham, Steve McManaman, Gareth Bale, and more recently, Jude Bellingham. Even Michael Owen can be said to have had a good spell abroad before coming home to eventually warm the bench for Stoke City. No, really, just look at his record of games to goal involvements. It’s surprisingly good, especially for someone playing second fiddle to the Brazilian Dean Ashton.

Then there are those who are not as successful. Those who have gone abroad more out of a lack of options, but with the draw of still playing in the Champions League. Much like how Gillingham play in the FA Cup. They’re in it, and may even have a decent run every now and then. But, let’s be honest, they will never win it. Ravel Morrison somehow getting to Lazio, Aaron Ramsay at Nice, and anyone who has gone to Galatasaray or Trabzonspor in recent years.

But then you get those, in the very small minority, who have gone abroad and done alright. Not terrible, but you can’t really say it was a success either. This is where we can look at, well, this is where I stumbled a bit and had to reach out to the other A Sticker’s Worth 500 Words guys. Various names came forward, including, and in no particular order: Brian Deane, Lee Sharpe, Chris Waddle and his Diamond Lights companion Glenn Hoddle, Steve Harkness, Ross Barkley (although he may be more in the failure category) and Des Walker. None of those, for various reasons, including the fact some have already graced the pages of this esteemed blog, have been chosen. The one who was chosen had a five-year stint at Manchester United adorned by the iconic Admiral/Adidas red shirts.


I’ll be honest, I never really followed Ray Wilkins’ career, the excuse of having not been born should suffice to all but the most pedantic, so never really realised where he played. Starting at Chelsea before his United stint, he then swapped the red of Manchester for the iconic red and black of AC Milan.  His stint there wasn’t actually too bad but AC Milan were struggling, with off the pitch scandals impacting the atmosphere. That and a lack of goals from the team. A move to Paris Saint-Germain came and went within only a few months, before he went to Scotland and to Rangers (does that count as abroad?) where he helped the Ibrox outfit win the 1988/89 title. A nomadic career-end then followed, with spells at Queen’s Park Rangers, Wycombe Wanderers, Hibernian, Millwall, and finally, Leyton Orient.

There is a lot more to be said about the man, including his record for England and coaching career, but I’m out of words. Plus would that really fit with just being alright in Europe?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

N/A: Chris Kamara, Sheffield United, Chris Kamara’s Street Soccer, Midas Games

Image
In November 1972 the arcade game Pong made its debut and the gaming industry was born. While not the first attempt to make some computer pixels do not very much for the amusement of the masses it was by far the most commercially successful and, by the end of the decade, the first ever football game was unleashed on the world in the form of NASL Soccer. Judging by the YouTube footage it seemed to involve lots of brightly coloured stick men over hitting through balls and running in the opposite direction to oncoming forwards which may well be what the likes of Trevor Francis , Johan Cruyff and Gerd Muller were getting up to over in the US at the time. Throughout the 1980s the games became more realistic and a host of star players and managers put their names on products of variable quality. Peter Shilton’s Handball Maradona (not that he is anyway bitter about being out jumped by a midget) gave youngsters the opportunity to fulfil their goalkeeping fantasies in a range of scenarios with r
Read more

269: Trifon Ivanov, Bulgaria, USA ’94 World Cup, UK and Eire Edition

Image
The 1994 FIFA World Cup in the USA was my introduction to football and, nearly thirty years later, probably the international tournament I remember most fondly despite the fact that I realistically don’t remember too much about it. I can attest to having witnessed Ray Houghton’s wonder goal/flukey lob in the Republic of Ireland’s shock victory over Italy as it was the centrepiece of a First Holy Communion celebration my family was attending. The joy and shock experienced by the predominantly Irish and Italian guests crowded around what seemed like the world’s biggest telly spilled over into the garden for all of us kids present and led to an inevitable kickabout. A few weeks later the quarter finals coincided with a primary school barbecue which, again, saw lots of people crowded around a telly watching Italy take on Spain . I remember very little about the game as my primary focus was the kickabout in the school playground and trying to digest ropey veggie burgers but one parent said
Read more

138: Gennaro Gattuso, Italy, Topps Match Attax Trading Card Game, England Collector Binder

Image
We are finally responding to a request from the excellent Anglo Italian Pod for a post on a member of Italy’s victorious 2006 World Cup squad. Mat Jolin-Beech may have already covered Francesco Totti and missed out on the opportunity to cover Alessandro Del Piero or Marco Materazzi but there were a host of exceptional footballers he could have chosen from their inspirational captain Fabio Cannavaro to the impossibly handsome Mauro Camoranesi. This blog being what it is though Mat has decided to focus on a loveable shithouse and his time in Scotland. We hope this does the trick lads. This is the first that may end up being a series of pieces from me with the theme “I forgot they played there” and the opening salvo in this possible theme is Gennaro Gattuso. The midfield hardman is synonymous with AC Milan where, in no particular order, he claimed two Champions League titles, the Coppa Italia, two Serie A winner’s medals, two Italian Super Cups, two UEFA Super Cups, and a FIFA Club
Read more