WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN
Dailly Junior School team in Ayrshire featured two future Scottish internationals. Eventual Arsenal and Manchester United centre-half Ian Ure played in goal whilst Tommy Lawrence, who would go on to great success keeping goal for Liverpool and his country played at inside-left!
‘I’LL JUST TAKE A LITTLE BIT MORE OFF THE BACK ALFREDO’
Unknown to him Alfredo Di Stefano’s barber used to sell packets of his hair to fans.
ONE TO WATCH
‘I very rarely make forecasts about young players, but in two years time I believe he will be really outstanding.”
Birmingham City manager Stan Cullis talking about then 3rd team striker Bob Latchford.
ROVERS OR UNITED?
Former Blackburn Rovers, Manchester City and Stoke City star Peter Dobing (seen here alongside Stoke manager Tony Washington signing for the club) was picked to play for the “A” teams of both Rovers and Manchester United when the club’s were due to face each other at The Cliff, United’s training ground. Fortunately for him the match was postponed due to fog.
Dobing, whose father played Rugby League for Salford, eventually signed for Rovers and went on to make almost 600 appearances for his three clubs, scoring more than 200 goals and lifting the League Cup as skipper of Stoke in 1972
WANTED MEN
A young Billy Bremner was forbidden by his dad from signing for Celtic, then had trials with both Arsenal and Chelsea, but didn’t like London so he signed for Leeds United whilst 35 (!!) different clubs (although not Celtic who he wanted to join) tried to sign Eddie Gray before he decided to sign for the Yorkshire club.
‘FANCY A GO UP FRONT?’
Geoff Hurst started his career at West Ham United as a wing-half. He was a promising cricketer appearing for Essex second XI and considered switching full time to the ‘summer game’ before being converted to forward by Manager Ron Greenwood as he hadn’t been able to get into the first team in his original position as a certain Bobby Moore was blocking his path.
A GOALDEN GUNNER
Reg Lewis (seen here scoring one of his two goals for Arsenal in the 1950 FA Cup Final against Liverpool) was born in Staffordshire but raised in South London.
A promising cricketer, he was on the ground staff at Surrey as a youngster. He played junior football first for Nunhead and then Dulwich Hamlet and was recommended to Arsenal manager George Allison by Jimmy Hogan who worked with the great Austrian and Hungarian sides and is widely regarded as one of the most influential coaches of all time.
After being sent to play for nursery team Margate, Lewis returned to Highbury and netted on his debut against Everton. He would go on to score 118 goals in 176 official games for his only club, good enough for 12th place in the club’s all-time list.
Like many from his era, Lewis had his career badly interrupted by World War 2. He was stationed mostly in England and could therefore continue playing for the club before seeing time in the British Army of the Rhine in occupied Germany. Lewis scored 143 times in 130 war time games for the Gunners (including four in the 1943 Football League Cup Final) giving him a total of 261 goals in 306 official and unofficial games for the club – war time games are unofficial.
As well as his famous cup final brace Lewis played a huge role in Arsenal’s 1947-48 League title success alongside strike partner Ronnie Rooke.
In the 1950s injuries begun to take their toll and Lewis hung up his boots in 1953.
After retiring Lewis followed a familiar ex-player’s course, running a pub and selling insurance. He passed away in 1997 at the age of 77.