Frank Worthington failed a medical for a dream move to Liverpool in 1971 because he had high blood pressure biamed on excessive sexual activity. He was told to go on a relaxing holiday and report for a second check-up. He failed that as well because in Majorca he had continued with his womanising high life.
An ltalian football manager found himself out of a job via a text message on his mobile phone. Daniele Carassai, the coach of semi-professional outfit Gotico, was expecting a friendly call from a friend when his phone bleeped. A text message simply said: «You’re sacked» and, amazingly, the man doing the sacking, Gotico chairman Andrea Pollastri, thought he was being kind. He said: «I thought it was a far friendlier way of breaking the news.» Carassai disagreed saying: «It’s not exactly the best way to find out you’ve lost your job. I was amazed when I read the message and at first thought it was a joke.»
Some Spanish sun shone on Lancashire and Cheshire League B Division team Old Chorltonians for a short time in 2003 when an unexpected star landed. Leading Spanish goalkeeper Jonay Cabrera Padron, used to playing in front of 20,000-plus crowds for Las Palmas in the Spanish league, turned up and asked to try out for the amateur side in Manchester. In Britain studying English for only nine months, Padron wanted to stay fit. His experience and skill soon helped Old Chorltonians launch a successful run before his time in rainy Manchester was up. Padron said: «The weather was not great. Several times I had flu.»
Andrea Silenzi became the first ltalian to play in the English Premier League when Nottingham Forest paid £1.8m for his goalpoaching abilities. He failed to score a league goal in two years.
An 11-year-old schoolboy player set a new world record in 2003 for scoring goals direct from corners. Steve Cromley grabbed a first-half hat-trick for Ash Green United in the Coventry Minor League. Each kick sailed in without anyone else touching it with the boy insisting he meant every one. Inspired by the dead ball excellence of players such as then England captain David Beckham, Steve said he practised for hours swinging the ball. It paid off for Ash Green as Steve’s tricky trebLe helped them to a 10-3 win over Dunlop FC. Steve’s impressive feat surpassed that of another schoolboy, Daniel White from Somerset, who several years before scored three by the same method but over 90 minutes instead of in just the first half.
For devout Christian players such as former Middlesbrough midfield hard man George Boateng there is the question of balancing their faith against illegal acts on the field such as a fouling. Dutchman Boateng once defended his red-and-yellowcard-littered disciplinary record with gusto. How does he reconcile being a devout Christian with his no-nonsense style on the pitch? «I read the Bibie but nowhere does it say I must pull out of a tackle,» said Boateng. «Just because I’m a Christian it doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to get a booking.»
Top international referee Massimo Busacca was suspended for three matches in 2009 for making hand gestures to fans at a Swiss cup game between FC Baden and Young Boys. The incident, captured by a photographer, came after a pitch invasion.
David Beckham admitted that his mother doesn’t always approve of his often-changing hairstyles – and she’s a hairdresser. Mickey-taking by opposition fans about his hairstyles is water off a duck’s back to Becks, but they also provide humour for his own supporters too. When still with Manchester United he ran out against Deportivo La Coruna with a new longer style, which looked uncannily like a mullet. He was greeted by an unfamiliar chant from the adoring Stretford End: «There’s only one Rod Stewart.»
It was a tall order for non-teague side Farnborough Town in the 2003 FA Cup. No pressure – all they had to do was not only beat Premier League Arsenal, but also go on to win the cup for a charity to get £1m. Local newspaper proprietor and lifelong supporter Sir Ray Tindle shelled out £1,000 in bets with £650 riding on Farnborough beating Arsenal at 40/1; £250 for the underdogs to score the first goal of the game at 12/1; and £100 on them to win the FA Cup at odds of 10,000/1. lf all three bets came off, Sir Ray pledged the £1m to a local hospital appeal. Unfortunately Surrey side Farnborough lost Sir Ray’s stake at the first hurdle by losing 1-5 to the Gunners.
Out of the squad to play Liverpool in 1992, Arsenal midfielder Ray Parlour relaxed with several pints of beer in the hospitality lounge at Highbury, only to be told a substitute was injured and he was needed for the bench. A giddy Parlour’s worst fears were realized when he was called into a game of which he remembered little.
Four thousand Charlton Athletic fans were issued with Zorro masks in 2003 to be used as a goal celebration. They were to be put on if their team scored against Fulham in an FA Cup fourthround tie. The idea was a mickey-take of Fulham’s Argentinianborn striker Facundo Sava whose own goal celebration was to pull on a mask from his sock every time he scored. The Zorro mask jape made for a fun atmosphere in the London derby but it backfired on Charlton because they didn’t score in the game. Fulham, however, did – three times.
Manchester United’s Dimitar Berbatov was the victim of a kidnapping as an up-and-coming young player in his native Bulgaria. The striker was abducted in 2000 aged 19 from the CSKA Sofia training ground by henchmen of a Bulgarian gangster. The idea was to force the emerging star to sign for the gangster’s team. It needed tense negotiations and the intervention of Berbatov’s father, himself a respected player in Bulgaria, to get the young Dimitar freed without harm. Berbatov later moved abroad to play for Bayer Leverkusen i1n Germany, and Tottenham and United in England.
