the foreign players who lit up English football in the 1970s and 80s

September 15, 2014 3:27 AM

There are many foreign players in English football today, but back in the 70s and 80s there were only a few. Some became club legends, others had disappointing spells with their club. This Daily Mail article has lots of lovely 70s and 80s style pictures of many of these players, including Ardilles, Grobelaar, and, of course, a young Alex Sabella.
posted by marienbad (4 comments total)

Gives me the op to tell one of my very favourite football stories - Ardiles and Villa's first training session for Tottenham - the coach (Berkinshaw I believe) had the players line up on the outside of the penalty area and then proceeded to first show them the ball ('Ball' he says) and then place it in the goal ('Goal' he says). After twenty or so minutes of this then Villa steps forward and says 'Excuse me Sir, but we speak very good English', to which the manager replies 'I'm not talking to you two, I'm talking to the rest of the team...'
posted by Monkeymoo at 3:37 AM on September 15, 2014 [5 favorites]

Johnny Metgod! This free kick happened in, I think, the third football match I ever went to.

Sigh. Jumpers for goal posts etc.
posted by Hartster at 3:50 AM on September 15, 2014 [1 favorite]

Jan Molby with the turning circle of the Titanic. What a player.
posted by Webbster at 6:50 AM on September 15, 2014

It worked the other way around, too, when English players went to foreign teams. For example, it was a big deal when Kevin Keegan's hair (along with Keegan himself) went from Liverpool to Hamburg.

P.S. Hey, Bruce Grobelaar! Vancouver Whitecaps represent!
posted by e-man at 11:13 PM on September 15, 2014