The Accidental Footballer by Pat Nevin

Author:Pat Nevin [Nevin, Pat]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781913183394
Google: YPLyDwAAQBAJ
Amazon: B08DKD8VYQ
Published: 2021-05-20T00:00:00+00:00

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1 Still, am I embarrassed by it now? Well, no. I was asked about it a lot over the last decade because Colin Murray and I had a running joke for years about that commentary on a Radio 5 Live show we did. So, maybe surprisingly it was me who asked someone to put it up on YouTube. In fact I’m now slightly jealous if anyone says they have seen a worse penalty. I do think that if you take yourself or your image too seriously and cannot laugh at yourself, it is dangerous for your sanity. 2 Maybe I should have paid some attention, particularly to Bryan Robson – he was an incredible opponent. There was one game when he seemed to be everywhere, so much so I thought there must be two of him on the pitch. On one occasion he was at the back post winning a header and nearly scoring against us. Eddie Niedzwiecki our keeper saved it, turned and immediately threw it to me on the right wing towards the halfway line. I managed to trick my way past the full-back only to find Bryan Robson tackling me, and not just any old tackle. As he won the ball clean with his left foot, his right came through and mangled my knee. Even as the pain hit, I was amazed by his reading of the play as he knew where the danger would be. I was bewildered that he got there so quickly and even secretly impressed by his skulduggery. I don’t think I even got a foul! 3 In the dying seconds I got on to a through ball and lobbed the keeper for a consolation goal which had no bearing or interest – except for the fact that there was a horse galloping in the other direction in the same penalty box just beside me. It was one of, if not the most surreal moment of my career. I am pretty sure the police horse was offside but the officials, who were in shock, didn’t call it, so the goal stood. 4 The Chelsea–Rangers love-in grew, much to my chagrin. We played one cold winter’s day at Anfield, memorably standing toe to toe with a great Liverpool team, leaving with a point from a 1-1 draw. It was also the only time in my Chelsea career when I was booed from start to finish by most of the fans in the Chelsea end! Unbeknown to me, the Rangers game was cancelled that weekend, so thousands of Gers fans came down to rekindle their relationship with Chelsea. They gave us fantastic support throughout, except for yours truly who got the usual constant stick. I was a bit miffed at the time, but it had the effect of making me play with a bit more anger than usual. It worked and I scored our equaliser. For once my celebration wasn’t with the Chelsea fans but at them. 5 I made a not dissimilar schoolboy error years later in South Korea.

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