I remember when he returned to the Valley to play against us for Wednesday and got quite a hostile reception from the North Stand, could never quite work out why, he was a terrific forward for us.
I remember when he returned to the Valley to play against us for Wednesday and got quite a hostile reception from the North Stand, could never quite work out why, he was a terrific forward for us.
Queensland: Somewhere, someone may say that Willo gave a V-sign to his mate's Charlton-bird in a pub in Harlow. In the last few seasons, our only players with the acceleration to even compare with Willo are Danny Haynes (pulled up: hamstring gone) and Simon Church - let down by his own lousy midfield.
Willo was not just physically quick - he was mentally acute.
I remember when he returned to the Valley to play against us for Wednesday and got quite a hostile reception from the North Stand, could never quite work out why, he was a terrific forward for us.
Queensland: Somewhere, someone may say that Willo gave a V-sign to his mate's Charlton-bird in a pub in Harlow. In the last few seasons, our only players with the acceleration to even compare with Willo are Danny Haynes (pulled up: hamstring gone) and Simon Church - let down by his own lousy midfield and complete lack of ability.
Willo was not just physically quick - he was mentally acute.
Remember going to the Old Den to see him play for England B against Yugoslavia in 1989. Press coverage was all about the match being the chance for Paul Gascoigne to force his way into the World Cup squad. Dennis Wise (then at Wimbledon) and Ian Wright and Nigel Martyn (both at Palace) were all playing. Remember the 'Can you see a Millwall player, no, no' chant being sung by others from SE London. Just checked the Yugoslavia team for that night - included Suker, Pancev, Prosinecki and Boban
Nice one, JJDD, although your mention of Dennis Wise has suddenly made me feel very queasy. From 1989, you will also recall Willo at the Old Den when he had scored and we were 2-0 up with five minutes to go. We were crammed in to the corner of the Ilderton Road end, craning our necks round the concrete base of the pylon and peering through the multiple fences. And, somehow, we managed to blow it - 2-2.
Remember going to the Old Den to see him play for England B against Yugoslavia in 1989. Press coverage was all about the match being the chance for Paul Gascoigne to force his way into the World Cup squad. Dennis Wise (then at Wimbledon) and Ian Wright and Nigel Martyn (both at Palace) were all playing. Remember the 'Can you see a Millwall player, no, no' chant being sung by others from SE London. Just checked the Yugoslavia team for that night - included Suker, Pancev, Prosinecki and Boban
I was at that game as well, I had actually forgotten Williams played in it! I remember Gazza playing but not much else!
Remember going to the Old Den to see him play for England B against Yugoslavia in 1989. Press coverage was all about the match being the chance for Paul Gascoigne to force his way into the World Cup squad. Dennis Wise (then at Wimbledon) and Ian Wright and Nigel Martyn (both at Palace) were all playing. Remember the 'Can you see a Millwall player, no, no' chant being sung by others from SE London. Just checked the Yugoslavia team for that night - included Suker, Pancev, Prosinecki and Boban
I was at that game as well, I had actually forgotten Williams played in it! I remember Gazza playing but not much else!
My first ever live match.
One fella chucked a mars bar. "Oi gazza ur shit mate"
How right he was ; )
Hated the atmosphere. We didnt fancy that much." Go play the guitar son
SPARROWS land soccer school not long after. What a difference! ! Phew, lucky escape.
Just saw the end of Paul Williams. Icy finisher.
in fact u Jokers then nicked our ready made replacement....what a horrible injury Watson then suffered
The Class of '88 - Williams, Leaburn, Bennett and Mortimer - electric !! That must have been one of the paciest Charlton teams ever. Williams was a great find by Lennie.
Pigster - you lot had quite a collection of ex-Addicks around 1990, I think. Besides Willo, there would be Shirtliff, Watson and maybe one or two more. No wonder you had a good season, lucky b'stards !!
Love ur optimism GHF. Always positive. But that's ridiculous. Straight speed? Leaburn cant run at all, Morts cant run fast and benno can run just a little bit.
A fine player soured only (if my memory is not playing tricks), by him giving the Covered End the w***er signs when playing for Palace against us in the Anglo-Italian Cup.
A fine player soured only (if my memory is not playing tricks), by him giving the Covered End the w***er signs when playing for Palace against us in the Anglo-Italian Cup.
Were you down the front or on someone's shoulders? :-)
Harsh, CR, very harsh but you may have a point - perhaps in reality it was just a handful of exciting matches where these young and fresh talents could play an open game without inhibition. Leaburn I can give you, but on the other hand he didn't need great speed - a few of those giant strides and he was away. Morts - known more for his close control. Mickey B - I still think he was a pretty speedy guy then.
Harsh, CR, very harsh but you may have a point - perhaps in reality it was just a handful of exciting matches where these young and fresh talents could play an open game without inhibition. Leaburn I can give you, but on the other hand he didn't need great speed - a few of those giant strides and he was away. Morts - known more for his close control. Mickey B - I still think he was a pretty speedy guy then.
Ah then I am sorry....as I said the GHF approach is a great one.
Great 5 a side team they were...actually it was 6s wasnt it? Bobby Bolder found his calling. STAY on your line Bob.
I remember Mickey more as an Engine than a paceman. Run all day long but not express pace.
Morts was like santa claus. You'd see them et skinned by a fat man defending, then with te ball they slalom through the Oppo. Do the hands Morts, do the hands.
I think I only ever saw Carlo score one goal where he out paced a back line (sure there were others but obliterated from memory by all the times he got caught by the last man!) Derby away. If your going to score the only 1 on 1 of your career, do it against Shilton.
Harsh, CR, very harsh but you may have a point - perhaps in reality it was just a handful of exciting matches where these young and fresh talents could play an open game without inhibition. Leaburn I can give you, but on the other hand he didn't need great speed - a few of those giant strides and he was away. Morts - known more for his close control. Mickey B - I still think he was a pretty speedy guy then.
Ah then I am sorry....as I said the GHF approach is a great one.
Great 5 a side team they were...actually it was 6s wasnt it? Bobby Bolder found his calling. STAY on your line Bob.
I remember Mickey more as an Engine than a paceman. Run all day long but not express pace.
Morts was like santa claus. You'd see them et skinned by a fat man defending, then with te ball they slalom through the Oppo. Do the hands Morts, do the hands.
I think I only ever saw Carlo score one goal where he out paced a back line (sure there were others but obliterated from memory by all the times he got caught by the last man!) Derby away. If your going to score the only 1 on 1 of your career, do it against Shilton.
Williams and Bennett were both really quick. Watch Bennett's burn down the wing at home to Everton (he's squares the ball for Williams to ram in on the run)....it was electric. But then Bennett badly injured himself in a tackle with Alan McDonald at home to QPR and lost his real pace.
Remember Williams getting couple against top of the table Chelsea midweek at Selhurst. One of them a great lob against Beasant.
Morts got the other one in a 3-1 (?) win that took us up to 3rd I think.
Remember getting back to the car to hear the capital gold rerun of the commentary for the goals in their round up and Jonathan Pearce going mad about the Morts goal.
Harsh, CR, very harsh but you may have a point - perhaps in reality it was just a handful of exciting matches where these young and fresh talents could play an open game without inhibition. Leaburn I can give you, but on the other hand he didn't need great speed - a few of those giant strides and he was away. Morts - known more for his close control. Mickey B - I still think he was a pretty speedy guy then.
Ah then I am sorry....as I said the GHF approach is a great one.
Great 5 a side team they were...actually it was 6s wasnt it? Bobby Bolder found his calling. STAY on your line Bob.
I remember Mickey more as an Engine than a paceman. Run all day long but not express pace.
Morts was like santa claus. You'd see them et skinned by a fat man defending, then with te ball they slalom through the Oppo. Do the hands Morts, do the hands.
I think I only ever saw Carlo score one goal where he out paced a back line (sure there were others but obliterated from memory by all the times he got caught by the last man!) Derby away. If your going to score the only 1 on 1 of your career, do it against Shilton.
Williams and Bennett were both really quick. Watch Bennett's burn down the wing at home to Everton (he's squares the ball for Williams to ram in on the run)....it was electric. But then Bennett badly injured himself in a tackle with Alan McDonald at home to QPR and lost his real pace.
Indeed. Bennett was not that quick off the mark - Williams was - but once Bennett got motoring it was "shut the gate" time because he was gone.
As you say post-injury he never had the same burst of pace, which made it a big surprise that Wimbledon bought him.
Thanks, gents - what great memories these are. The classic Mickey B action was indeed that quite superb move vs Everton, collecting the ball and turning past his man in one instant, belting down the wing and then the square pass for Willo to hammer in, a beautiful, fluent move.
The Morts goal against Chelsea followed two from PW - quite rightly Jonathan Pearce went mad. The 3-0 carried us up to 3rd after 3 games - Millwall were top, I think. Sadly it never lasted - we both went down that year.
As you say, CR, Morts had great style, not just in the tackle, of course, but with some spectacular goals such as Norwich away '88, Forest home '96 and Bradford home '97 to name but three, as well as the a/m Chelsea blockbuster that got Jonathan Pearce so worked up. Oh dear, we seem to have wandered away from Willo a bit, but all in a good cause ....
A fine player soured only (if my memory is not playing tricks), by him giving the Covered End the w***er signs when playing for Palace against us in the Anglo-Italian Cup.
Agree with this. The other thing that soured his reputation was when he proclaimed his lifelong desire to play for West Ham shortly after he had scored there for us at Upton Park.
There was a hint of Willo a couple of weeks ago: Church was on the left, the Bolton defender was defeated, Church cut inside and chased down the back-pass to the keeper. The keeper tapped the ball in readiness for a safe clearance - and Churchy sprinted like lightning to block him.
Should it have been a pen? The keeper - unwittingly - kicked Church's ass. OK, I've seen it given. Honestly, can you imagine Obika worrying a defender like that? Or Sordell? Or Joe Piggott?
Instead of waiting until we are 0-1 down at home with 30 minutes to go, I think we should start every single game with insistent, aggressive and unsettling attack.
Remember going to the Old Den to see him play for England B against Yugoslavia in 1989. Press coverage was all about the match being the chance for Paul Gascoigne to force his way into the World Cup squad. Dennis Wise (then at Wimbledon) and Ian Wright and Nigel Martyn (both at Palace) were all playing. Remember the 'Can you see a Millwall player, no, no' chant being sung by others from SE London. Just checked the Yugoslavia team for that night - included Suker, Pancev, Prosinecki and Boban
I was at that game as well, I had actually forgotten Williams played in it! I remember Gazza playing but not much else!
I went down to the Den to see Willow too that night. It was the game where a particularly gobby Millwall fan threw a Mars bar at Gascoigne as he hurled abuse at him for being fat. Gazza picked it up, tore off the wrapper, took a pass in midfield and a chomp as he ran forward and then another before laying the ball off. All around me were roaring with laughter and there was no more abuse after.
Remember going to the Old Den to see him play for England B against Yugoslavia in 1989. Press coverage was all about the match being the chance for Paul Gascoigne to force his way into the World Cup squad. Dennis Wise (then at Wimbledon) and Ian Wright and Nigel Martyn (both at Palace) were all playing. Remember the 'Can you see a Millwall player, no, no' chant being sung by others from SE London. Just checked the Yugoslavia team for that night - included Suker, Pancev, Prosinecki and Boban
I was at that game as well, I had actually forgotten Williams played in it! I remember Gazza playing but not much else!
I went down to the Den to see Willow too that night. It was the game where a particularly gobby Millwall fan threw a Mars bar at Gascoigne as he hurled abuse at him for being fat. Gazza picked it up, tore off the wrapper, took a pass in midfield and a chomp as he ran forward and then another before laying the ball off. All around me were roaring with laughter and there was no more abuse after.
Superb. At that time there was nobody better to watch than Gazza.
Remember going to the Old Den to see him play for England B against Yugoslavia in 1989. Press coverage was all about the match being the chance for Paul Gascoigne to force his way into the World Cup squad. Dennis Wise (then at Wimbledon) and Ian Wright and Nigel Martyn (both at Palace) were all playing. Remember the 'Can you see a Millwall player, no, no' chant being sung by others from SE London. Just checked the Yugoslavia team for that night - included Suker, Pancev, Prosinecki and Boban
I was at that game as well, I had actually forgotten Williams played in it! I remember Gazza playing but not much else!
I went down to the Den to see Willow too that night. It was the game where a particularly gobby Millwall fan threw a Mars bar at Gascoigne as he hurled abuse at him for being fat. Gazza picked it up, tore off the wrapper, took a pass in midfield and a chomp as he ran forward and then another before laying the ball off. All around me were roaring with laughter and there was no more abuse after.
Excellent, Cardinal. What about that League game at the Old Den when we were all queuing on the lovely apocalyptic wilderness at the Ilderton Road end, and one of our lads got physically stuck in the turnstile. The fire engines were called, for their cutting gear. Early 1990s?
Wasn't that the game when we were 2-0 up (Willo) with ten minutes to go - then caved in, 2-2?
Remember Williams getting couple against top of the table Chelsea midweek at Selhurst. One of them a great lob against Beasant.
Morts got the other one in a 3-1 (?) win that took us up to 3rd I think.
Remember getting back to the car to hear the capital gold rerun of the commentary for the goals in their round up and Jonathan Pearce going mad about the Morts goal.
Morts cut in from the wing and just let fly if I remember correctly. Pearce was right to go mad. Is this the game where us beating Chelsea meant the Spanners went top? Fortunately only briefly!
Willo was a proper bargain and he was all about pace and speed of thought but I'm pretty sure he had a powder puff shot not in Spongefoots league but not the most powerful , he had decent enough accuracy tho
Willo was a proper bargain and he was all about pace and speed of thought but I'm pretty sure he had a powder puff shot not in Spongefoots league but not the most powerful , he had decent enough accuracy tho
Massive bargain!! Basically straight from non-league to established 1st Division striker in a flash. Not only quick but he was strong and used to hold off defenders as he wriggled free to score. The sort of player I hope Reza will become!
From memory Williams did manage at least one from outside the box....think it was a low shot v Sheff Wed or Villa (Sainsburys End) but his forte was the dart through and tuck past the goalie.
He didn't need a hard shot - he rarely shot from long range - speciality was getting in behind and scoring one on ones and also picking up scraps in the box.
Comments
wasis the Charlton way I suppose....................Willo was not just physically quick - he was mentally acute.
One fella chucked a mars bar. "Oi gazza ur shit mate"
How right he was ; )
Hated the atmosphere. We didnt fancy that much." Go play the guitar son
SPARROWS land soccer school not long after. What a difference! ! Phew, lucky escape.
Just saw the end of Paul Williams. Icy finisher.
in fact u Jokers then nicked our ready made replacement....what a horrible injury Watson then suffered Love ur optimism GHF. Always positive. But that's ridiculous. Straight speed? Leaburn cant run at all, Morts cant run fast and benno can run just a little bit.
Harsh, CR, very harsh but you may have a point - perhaps in reality it was just a handful of exciting matches where these young and fresh talents could play an open game without inhibition. Leaburn I can give you, but on the other hand he didn't need great speed - a few of those giant strides and he was away. Morts - known more for his close control. Mickey B - I still think he was a pretty speedy guy then.
Great 5 a side team they were...actually it was 6s wasnt it? Bobby Bolder found his calling. STAY on your line Bob.
I remember Mickey more as an Engine than a paceman. Run all day long but not express pace.
Morts was like santa claus. You'd see them et skinned by a fat man defending, then with te ball they slalom through the Oppo. Do the hands Morts, do the hands.
I think I only ever saw Carlo score one goal where he out paced a back line (sure there were others but obliterated from memory by all the times he got caught by the last man!) Derby away. If your going to score the only 1 on 1 of your career, do it against Shilton.
One of them a great lob against Beasant.
Morts got the other one in a 3-1 (?) win that took us up to 3rd I think.
Remember getting back to the car to hear the capital gold rerun of the commentary for the goals in their round up and Jonathan Pearce going mad about the Morts goal.
As you say post-injury he never had the same burst of pace, which made it a big surprise that Wimbledon bought him.
Thanks, gents - what great memories these are. The classic Mickey B action was indeed that quite superb move vs Everton, collecting the ball and turning past his man in one instant, belting down the wing and then the square pass for Willo to hammer in, a beautiful, fluent move.
The Morts goal against Chelsea followed two from PW - quite rightly Jonathan Pearce went mad. The 3-0 carried us up to 3rd after 3 games - Millwall were top, I think. Sadly it never lasted - we both went down that year.
Morts had his own fifa combo. Slide..trip man up with the ball...and off u go. Had such a style to the tackle...jocky jockey slide...and off
As you say, CR, Morts had great style, not just in the tackle, of course, but with some spectacular goals such as Norwich away '88, Forest home '96 and Bradford home '97 to name but three, as well as the a/m Chelsea blockbuster that got Jonathan Pearce so worked up. Oh dear, we seem to have wandered away from Willo a bit, but all in a good cause ....
Agree with this. The other thing that soured his reputation was when he proclaimed his lifelong desire to play for West Ham shortly after he had scored there for us at Upton Park.
Should it have been a pen? The keeper - unwittingly - kicked Church's ass. OK, I've seen it given. Honestly, can you imagine Obika worrying a defender like that? Or Sordell? Or Joe Piggott?
Instead of waiting until we are 0-1 down at home with 30 minutes to go, I think we should start every single game with insistent, aggressive and unsettling attack.
Wasn't that the game when we were 2-0 up (Willo) with ten minutes to go - then caved in, 2-2?
Jonathan Pearce shouting 'the ball was hit with such, such venom that Beasant had no chance'
From memory Williams did manage at least one from outside the box....think it was a low shot v Sheff Wed or Villa (Sainsburys End) but his forte was the dart through and tuck past the goalie.