Who are football’s greatest cult figures? We love them and hate them with equal fervor and frustration. These are the players who endear themselves to their club and country’s fans: sometimes through dedication to the cause; sometimes through sheer brilliance with a football. And once in a little while, because they thump an opponent.
by Jon Langford
Robin Friday
Robin Friday didn’t give a fuck. That was his problem. And that was why his professional career lasted only three years. And why he died aged just 38.
The former Reading and Cardiff man smoked, drank, womanized, and took just about any drug he could get his hands on. But he also scored great goals.
One such goal came in a league game for Reading against Tranmere in 1976. With his back to goal, 25 yards out, Friday jumped to control the ball with his chest. As he fell, he hooked the ball ferociously toward goal. It flew into the top corner, stunning the fans, the players, and officials.
Friday scores ‘unforgettable’ goal
Sadly, this goal was scored in the days before television cameras were present at every ground for every game. Subsequently, it’s lost forever, living on only in the memories of those fortunate enough to witness it live.
Referee Clive Thomas, who officiated at two World Cups and one European Championship, said of the goal: “I’ll never forget it. Even up against the likes of Pelé and Cruyff, that rates as the best goal I have ever seen.” When Thomas shared this sentiment with Friday after the game, Friday retorted, “You should come down here more often; I do that every week.”
Former Oasis bassist Paul McGuigan wrote a book about Friday along with journalist Paolo Hewitt ‘The Greatest Footballer You Never Saw’, Super Furry Animals dedicated a song to him, and a movie about his life is currently in the works.
Matt Le Tissier
Born on the small island of Guernsey in 1968, Le Tissier was one of the most naturally gifted footballers of his generation.
After having unsuccessful trials with Oxford in 1984, Le Tissier signed for Southampton a year later. His starting wage was £100 a week, and he remained with the Saints for the rest of his career.
On the field, “Le God”, as he was affectionately known by The Dell faithful, was capable of unimaginable moments of individual brilliance, and he boasts the inhuman penalty record of converting 48 from 49 career spot kicks. Unfortunately, Le Tissier’s club form never crossed over to the international stage, and he only won eight caps for England, depriving the country of one of its most unadulterated talents.
Rene Higuita
Ex-Colombian international Higuita loved nothing more than showing off his silky ball skills. Although his primary position was goalkeeper, he simultaneously operated as a sweeper. He often came way out of his area to mop up at the back. This was to costly effect during a 1990 World Cup second round game against Cameroon.
He’s the fourth-highest goal-scoring goalkeeper of all time, he invented the scorpion kick, and he served jail time in 1993 for his involvement in a kidnapping. Only a female flogging sanctuary is more cult than this guy.
Roger Milla
The man responsible for pickpocketing René Higuita in the famous Italia ‘90 incident mentioned above is worthy of his place on this list for many reasons, but perhaps the most remarkable is that when this soccer mugging took place, Milla was 38 years-old.
The Cameroonian striker had announced his retirement from international football two years earlier, but was persuaded by the President of Cameroon (the actual president, not the president of the Cameroon FA) to dust down his shooting boots and join the national team for the tournament.
His four goals at Italia ’90 meant he became the oldest goal-scorer in World Cup history. He led the team to unchartered territory in Italy, as they became the first African nation to reach the quarterfinals.
Four years later, at USA ’94, Milla was back, and at the age of 42, broke his own record as he grabbed a goal against Russia. Oh, and who could forget that hip-wiggling Makossa dance around the corner flag when he celebrated a goal?
Duncan Ferguson
When a burglar attempted to rob Duncan Ferguson’s home in 2001, he felt the full wrath of the giant Scotsman. The former Everton hero detained the criminal until police arrived; however, Big Dunc made sure the con subsequently spent three days in hospital (all in the name of detainment, obviously). Unfortunately, “Duncan Disorderly” had a penchant for scuffles outside of defending his home.
Two such incidents were taxi rank bust-ups, one of which resulted in him beating the crap out of a fan on crutches, and another saw him assault a fisherman in the small Scottish town of Anstruther.
But it was an on-field headbutt against Raith Rovers’ John McStay that would alter the course of Ferguson’s career. McStay pressed criminal charges, and Ferguson was sentenced to three months in prison. This led to a falling out with the Scottish FA and a refusal to ever wear the national shirt again. It was Ferguson’s gritty performances for Everton that earned him cult status at Goodison Park, though. There were goals and sending-offs aplenty in two spells with the Toffees. He loved pigeons, too.
Billy Bremner
The wee Scotsman was a giant on the field, skippering Leeds United through their glory years of the late 1960s and early 1970s, winning every domestic honor possible along the way.
After being rejected by Arsenal and Chelsea for being too small, Bremner evolved into an uncompromising midfield general who bossed games with his tireless running, precise passing, knack for scoring big goals, and, of course, his tough tackling.
One of football’s most famous photographs is of Bremner’s compatriot Dave Mackay grabbing Bremner by his collar following one such tackle.
Little Billy is such a legend at Elland Road that he has been voted the club’s greatest player of all time and has a statue erected in his honor outside the ground.
Eric Cantona
Actor, artist, philosopher, and err… footballer. Not the fourth word you would normally associate with the preceding three, but then nothing about Eric Cantona could ever be described as normal.
Cantona grew up in southern France in a family home that was essentially no more than a modified cave. Yes, I said cave. His undisputed footballing genius was often overshadowed by his fiery temperament.
In France, he constantly fought physically with his teammates and was banned from the national team for a year after calling the manager “a shitbag” on live television.
His playing time in England was as fruitful as it was eventful and he won five league titles in as many years with Leeds and Manchester United. He is perhaps best remembered for his infamous kung fu kick on a Crystal Palace fan during an away match in 1995. More bizarre, was his statement at a press conference following the incident:
“When the seagulls follow the trawler, it’s because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea. Thank you very much.”
Now a film and stage actor, Cantona’s next movie is an erotic comedy. He plays a character called ‘The Stallion.’
Joe Gaetjens
In 1825, Joe Gaetjens’ great-grandfather, Thomas, migrated to Haiti from Bremen, Germany (birthplace of a certain Bert Trautmann) under the order of King Friedrich Wilhelm III to take up a position as a business emissary.
The arrangement proved prosperous, and by the time Joe was born in 1924, the Gaetjenses had built a thriving dynasty. At 14 years-old Gaetjens signed for local club Etoile Haïtienne, where he won two league championships in 1942 and 1944. However, football paid little in Haiti, and in the late 1940s Joe was sent to New York City to read accounting at Columbia University.
By the time Gaetjens was selected for the U.S. national team in 1950, he was scrubbing dishes at Rudy’s café in Harlem to pay his way through college. In addition to his wages at Rudy’s, he was earning $25 per game turning out for American Soccer League (ASL) outfit Brookhatten. He finished the 1950 season as the league’s top scorer and the national team came calling.
1950 World Cup
It was at the 1950 World Cup in Brazil that Gaetjens ensured his name would forever be associated with football legend. In one of the greatest upsets of all time, the U.S. national side defeated the much-fancied England team with Gaetjens scoring the only goal of the game. Most media outlets around the world presumed the result was an error on the part of the telex operator and printed the result as a 10-0 England victory. One U.S. publication that did print the correct score line, The New York Times, made no mention of Gaetjens and credited the goal to Ed Souza.
After the World Cup, Gaetjens dropped out of Columbia and moved to France to pursue his footballing ambitions. He signed for Racing Club De Paris, but a recurring knee problem plagued him throughout his time in the French capital, and in 1954, he returned to Haiti, where he became a spokesman for Palmolive and Colgate.
Although Gaetjens himself wasn’t active in politics, his family was, and in the 1957 presidential election they publically supported Louis Dejoie, to whom they were related (Joe’s aforementioned great-grandfather, Thomas, married Leonie Dejoie, Louis’s grandmother).
Gaetjens vanishes
After Francois ‘Papa Doc’ Duvalier won the election, he sought to persecute those who had opposed him, and the Gaetjens family went into hiding. Except for Joe, who (wrongly) believed he would be of no interest to Papa Doc, as he had nothing to do with any of it because he was just a footballer.
On the morning of 8 July 1964, Joe was arrested by Haiti’s notorious secret police, Tonton Macoute, and taken to the infamous police prison at Fort Dimanche. Although his body has never been found, it is widely assumed that Joe Gaetjens was assassinated at Fort Dimanche on 10 July 1964.
Shaun Goater
“Feed The Goat, And He Will Score!” Perhaps the sweetest thing for Manchester City fans about Shaun Goater is that his first club was Manchester United.
After failing to break into Alex Ferguson’s team, however, “The Goat” was allowed to leave Old Trafford, and after plying his trade in the lower leagues of Britain for the best part of a decade, he eventually ended up at City, where his goals led the club from third-tier obscurity to Premier League big boys.
Goater was held in such high regard by City fans that when he made his final league appearance before retirement (for Southend United in a game against Bristol City), an estimated 400 City fans traveled to the game to show their respect.
Goater’s legacy in his native Bermuda is even more impressive: He has been awarded the freedom of the country, and June 21 has been declared “Shaun Goater Day.”
Arthur Wharton
Arthur Wharton was born in Jamestown, Gold Coast, a former British colony (now Accra, Ghana) in 1865. He was brought to England as a young boy and educated in London. After school, he moved to Grenada, West Indies, where he lived with his family before returning to Britain in 1882 to train as a missionary.
This plan was soon abandoned in favor of pursuing athletics after Wharton excelled at every sport he tried his hand (and feet) at. A keen cricketer and cyclist, Wharton was a frighteningly fast runner and set a new world record in 1886 when he ran 100 yards in 10 seconds.
In a beautiful footballing twist, Wharton made no use of his gift for speed, excelling as a goalkeeper while playing for amateur side Darlington in the mid 1880s. He was soon spotted, wooed, and lured by top club Preston North End.
Tragic end for Wharton
Wharton went on to play for a handful of other English clubs, sometimes employing his pace by playing as a winger, and in the process became the first mixed-race professional footballer. At the height of his footballing prowess, there were calls for Wharton to win an England cap. He was denied this honor due to the color of his skin. It would be almost one hundred years before a black player eventually did play for England (Viv Anderson in 1978).
After football, Wharton became a miner and took part in the 1926 general strike. Sadly, he died a penniless alcoholic in a Doncaster sanatorium in 1930.
Bert Trautmann
Merely by virtue of playing on in an FA Cup Final after breaking his neck, Bert Trautmann has the right to be on any list of cult football heroes. But what makes Trautmann’s story even more extraordinary is how he got there in the first place.
Born in Bremen, Germany, in 1923, Trautmann served as a paratrooper in the Nazi’s Luftwaffe division during the Second World War and saw plenty of action on both European fronts. During his service, Trautmann was captured by both Russian and American forces and the French Resistance, but managed to escape them all, earning the much-coveted Iron Cross for his troubles.
When the war ended in 1945, Trautmann was being held as a British PoW and was eventually transferred to a prison in Ashton-in-Makerfield, Cheshire. Football matches were often played in the camp and Trautmann played regularly as a center-half. It was only after he got injured during a game that he went in goal for the first time, aged 25. Upon release, Trautmann opted to stay in England – a brave thing to do considering the circumstances. He found work on a farm in Milnthorpe and played for non-league outfit St Helens Town.
Trautmann plays final with Broken Neck
Word of his outstanding performances soon spread to bigger clubs, and in 194,9 Manchester City offered Trautmann a professional contract. The German goalkeeper accepted and seamlessly made the jump from non-league to top-flight football. With the painful memories of World War II still fresh, many City fans were less than impressed with the club’s decision to sign a former German paratrooper. Season ticket-holders threatened a boycott, and more than 20 000 fans turned out to protest against the new signing.
Unfazed by the drama, Trautmann let his performances do the talking, and he eventually won over the naysayers, making over 500 appearances for City from 1949 to 1964. But it was his heroic performance during the 1956 FA Cup Final against Birmingham City for which Trautmann is best remembered.
Following a heavy collision with Birmingham inside left, Peter Murphy, Trautmann was briefly knocked unconscious and badly hurt. There was no such thing as substitutions in 1956 (they wouldn’t come into the game for another decade), so Trautmann played on, and Manchester City won the game 3-1 (thanks to a string of crucial saves from the city’s keeper). Four days later, an X-ray revealed Trautmann had dislocated five vertebrae, the second of which was cracked in two.