4 - 2 Down to Norwich with ten men and Jason Lee pulls one back. Leaburn comes off the bench to a few boos and scores a diving header to make it 4 - 4. Whole stadium shouting LEEAABBUURRNN. One of my favourite games ever. Legend.
[quote][cite]Posted By: Chunes[/cite]4 - 2 Down to Norwich with ten men and Jason Lee pulls one back. Leaburn comes off the bench to a few boos and scores a diving header to make it 4 - 4. Whole stadium shouting LEEAABBUURRNN. One of my favourite games ever. Legend.[/quote]
One of my favourite games as well. Fickle lot us fans! Remember the Ipswich game as well. No-one else was going to take that penalty. Didn't they have an outfield player in goal though?
The Battle of the Bridge, a lifetime of aggression in just few moments.
Clive Mendonca,cited Carlo as his preferred partner of choice.
Unlike our youth players of today, we had not time to gently ease Carlo into the first team, so he did his apprenticeship in the top division fighting off relegations, battered and bruised, knocked around by big hairy assed top flight defenders and for that reason I don't believe he ever reached his potential,he never quite attacked the ball, well not never,once or twice he did and scored great headed goals and showed what he could have done had he been able to develop in the way he should have been able to develop. Instead he became a good support to others, looking slightly gangly,a little awkward but also one of the best holders up of the ball we have had.
Great to read about the big guy again. Brings back many memories. The article quoted earlier is an absolute disgrace - patronising, unfair, inaccurate and spiteful.
Carlo finally came of age in '91/92. That year my sons and I sponsored his boots, partly out of sympathy for him as a whipping boy and partly because I just had a feeling in my left one that maybe this was going to be his year.
He played many games, of course, but it should have been so many more.
He started as part of an exciting front line including Williams, Mortimer and Bennett. As the song says - young, gifted and black, and FAST. The Battle of The Bridge was an unforgettable day.
His career lost a bit of momentum when he was injured in a pre-season friendly against Chelsea. He was out for some time and I felt it took him a long while to get back to his best. He then ran into his contract dispute with the club and was considered to have committed what to AC was the ultimate sin - disloyalty. In '97/98 he got back into the team - on as sub at home to Ipswich, he really made his mark - and as his pitch time gradually grew he developed a superb understanding with Mendonca, culminating in that fabulous Cup victory against a strong Forest side in a monsoon. It was tragic that just at that moment he finally got his release from the club, going to Wimbledon for an absolute pittance.
As one of our most iconic players he should rightly be held in very high regard.
@glasshalffull didn't he start well before Williams? Played with crooks, rivalled Andy Jones for the starting berth and later played alongside Nelson, Williams and Mendonca
I think Carlo started at the end of '86/87 - Willo started 15 months later in Aug '88. Lennie put together Mortimer (Fulham reject), Williams (ex Woodford Town) and Mickey B and Leaburn from the youth team - very adventurous for Division One. Our strength and experience lay in some outstanding defenders.
He formed a really good partnership with Mendonca, then suddenly he was gone. I was so upset, I sent an angry email to Richard Murray - and got a rather angry reply back, and a letter of apology afterwards! Leeeeeaaaaabuuuurn will always be a cult hero for me.
The article is a bit cruel and exaggerates his failings but there is some pretty strong revisionism on this thread. I think that if anyone had said that Leaburn "makes watching CAFC such fun" in the early '90's they would have been committed.
Comments
Still don't believe that happened.
One of my favourite games as well. Fickle lot us fans! Remember the Ipswich game as well. No-one else was going to take that penalty. Didn't they have an outfield player in goal though?
Clive Mendonca,cited Carlo as his preferred partner of choice.
Unlike our youth players of today, we had not time to gently ease Carlo into the first team, so he did his apprenticeship in the top division fighting off relegations, battered and bruised, knocked around by big hairy assed top flight defenders and for that reason I don't believe he ever reached his potential,he never quite attacked the ball, well not never,once or twice he did and scored great headed goals and showed what he could have done had he been able to develop in the way he should have been able to develop. Instead he became a good support to others, looking slightly gangly,a little awkward but also one of the best holders up of the ball we have had.
Leaburn,leaburn,leaburn,leaburn,leaburn,leaburn,leaburn,leaburn,leaburn,leaburn,leaburn,leaburn,leaburn,leaburn,leaburn,leaburn,leaburn,leaburn,leaburn,leaburn,leaburn,leaburn,leaburn,leaburn,leaburn,leaburn,leaburn,leaburn,leaburn,leaburn,leaburn,leaburn,
Great to read about the big guy again. Brings back many memories. The article quoted earlier is an absolute disgrace - patronising, unfair, inaccurate and spiteful.
Carlo finally came of age in '91/92. That year my sons and I sponsored his boots, partly out of sympathy for him as a whipping boy and partly because I just had a feeling in my left one that maybe this was going to be his year.
He played many games, of course, but it should have been so many more.
He started as part of an exciting front line including Williams, Mortimer and Bennett. As the song says - young, gifted and black, and FAST. The Battle of The Bridge was an unforgettable day.
His career lost a bit of momentum when he was injured in a pre-season friendly against Chelsea. He was out for some time and I felt it took him a long while to get back to his best. He then ran into his contract dispute with the club and was considered to have committed what to AC was the ultimate sin - disloyalty. In '97/98 he got back into the team - on as sub at home to Ipswich, he really made his mark - and as his pitch time gradually grew he developed a superb understanding with Mendonca, culminating in that fabulous Cup victory against a strong Forest side in a monsoon. It was tragic that just at that moment he finally got his release from the club, going to Wimbledon for an absolute pittance.
As one of our most iconic players he should rightly be held in very high regard.