Brian Greenhoff (1953-2013)

Anyone that collected football stickers or collector cards in the late-1970s will know the name Brian Greenhoff. The former Manchester United, Leeds United and England defender who died suddenly earlier today was a competent and much admired player who started his career at Old Trafford in 1968.

In the 221 appearances he made there, he quickly became a fans' favourite, epitomising the youthful passion for the game that many of his recent predecessors at Man United were seen to be lacking.

Promoted from the youth team ranks by Tommy Docherty, Greenhoff formed a steely partnership in defence alongside Martin Buchan and was present in the Red Devils sides that won the 1975 Second Division title and the FA Cup Final in 1977.

Scoring 13 goals during his time at Old Trafford, he eventually came to play alongside his older brother Jimmy who arrived at Manchester United in 1976. It was in this year that Brian Greenhoff made the first of his 18 appearances for England in a 1-0 win over Wales in Cardiff, his last being in a 2-1 win over Australia in Sydney in 1980.

In 1979, Greenhoff moved to Leeds United for £350,000 - still a sizeable amount of money in those days - but his arrival at Elland Road coincided with a downturn in the fortunes of the Yorkshire club. In 1982, Leeds United were relegated to the Second Division and Greenhoff was released from his contract.

In 1983, he spent a year at Rochdale as player-coach alongside his brother Brian (who by that time had been made player-manager), but it proved to be a million miles away from his glory days at Old Trafford - metaphorically if not geographically.

We remember Brian Greenhoff here, however, as a player who made his mark by being good at what he did and was therefore seen as a hero to many fans during his career. He will be missed.



(Video courtesy of Fooball Gaffes Galore)

Retro Random Video: Man United NOT appearing on Top of the Pops

We've seen it so often before, the sight of a football team appearing on Top of the Pops, singing (or rather 'miming') badly to their latest chart hit (if indeed 'hit' is the word we're looking for there).

But in 1983 there was one occasion when a football team were due to appear in the BBC studios to perform their song but didn't. This was because Manchester United, the team in question, were rendered unavailable on account of their participation in the 1983 FA Cup Final replay at Wembley against Brighton & Hove Albion.

What to do? The answer: Simply show a selection of recent Man United goals (and one Brighton one) with their song "Glory Glory Man United" playing in the background. This rendered the 21st May 1983 edition of Top of the Pops (already shortened because the match was shown directly afterwards) nothing more than a musical version of Football Focus. As for the song, it proved to be as unconvincing as Pat Sharp's presenting style, yet it still hauled its way up to number 13 in the charts. If anyone knows how that happened, please get in touch.

So here it is then - Manchester United's non-appearance on Top of the Pops, preceded as it is by Big Country's rendition of 'In a Big Country'.

If you want to get straight to the Man United bit, you'll need to fast forward to 05:06. If, on the other hand, you want to know when the Man United bit starts so you can avoid it, you'll need to hit the stop button at 05:06.

Warning: Video contains images of Pat Sharp pretending to be interested in the FA Cup Final replay.

Subbuteo Team Collections - Andrew Rockall

We received an email from Andrew Rockall (Statto_74) yesterday, showing us his recently discovered collection of Subbuteo teams. We're very happy to showcase them here as it's damn impressive! Over to Andrew for the background...

Twenty years ago I made a conscious decision to save my Subbuteo things for any future children I might have. I came across the box of goodies last week and thought it was time to dust it down and take a nostalgic look.

I was amazed to find I still have 33 teams. As you can see from the kit designs, I made almost all of my purchases during the 80's. What surprised me were several teams I know I had but have somehow mislaid.

My brother and I used to play for hours and fought for nearly as long. We had a traditional cloth pitch for several years but our Dad made a plywood base with wooden sides which we covered in adverts from papers and magazines. He also pinned an Astropitch to that and painted the base for extra realism. I was distraught to discover he broke this up in 2000 whilst I was in Australia.

We also had the 5-a-side pitch that we got in a jumble sale (an indoor boot sale, for any kids out there!) which was great fun, especially at the time of year when Soccer Six was broadcast from Manchester's GMex.

I do now have a son. He's only 10 months old at present so I will be packing these bits away for another 4 to 5 years, but I cannot wait for then. My biggest fear is him saying "Dad I'd rather play FIFA 18..."

No son, no!

Click on the image for the full size version... it's worth it!

Back Row: England, Netherlands, Denmark, Honduras, Wales, Brazil, Northern Ireland, Ireland Away, Wales, Germany, Scotland, England (I had 2 teams numbered 1-22)

Middle Row: Wimbledon, Norwich, Ajax, Manchester City, Everton, Manchester United, Leeds United, Ipswich Town, Oxford United, West Ham United, Chelsea

Front Row: Arsenal Away, Birmingham City, Chelsea, Watford, Juventus, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Nottingham Forest, Celtic

Many thanks to Andrew for allowing us to share this. If you'd like to share your nostalgia memories with us, why not get in touch? Just drop us a line to admin [at] thefootballattic [dot] com and we'll do the rest!