Search: ' Peter Beagrie'

Harry Golighty talks about Scunthorpe Utd – the fans, the management and the club's ambitions

Brian Laws has had his controversial moments. How is he regarded by Scunthorpe fans?
You would struggle to find anyone in the town who would question his passion and commitment. I think most people feel he’s doing a decent job. There is always the promise in the air of “some­thing might hap­pen” and that’s a feeling we’ve not had in many years. His reworking of the English language has become terrace legend – I once asked him in a fan­zine interview about heavyweight stri­ker John Gayle’s disciplinary record. Laws replied: “Defenders go down like he’s absolutely pum­mel­ised them.” I could say more but I’m saving them for the book.

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Dear WSC
I found Rob Smythe’s comments on Juan Pablo Angel to be a heart-warming defence of life as an assimilating millionaire. I agree that the lazy journalists of which he speaks should “get off their fat arses and make their way up to Villa Park”. Perhaps they could give some of the absent Villa fans a lift while they are at it. For every London-based hack missing out on “the best Villa side for a number of years” there are 1,500 Villa fans out shopping on a Saturday. Oh hang on, Newcastle v Villa is game of the day on tonight’s show. It looks like the team forgot to turn up to this one. Twen­ty minutes prime time and you blew it. Note to Des – only show extended coverage of Villa when they win. Happy, Mr Smythe?
Chris Wright, via email

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For a season at Stoke City he could do almost anything, except pass to a team-mate. Mark Blakemore celebrates a talent before it was made to conform

Earlier this season, while enduring the sight of Exeter City thrashing helplessly about in the bottom division, I beheld something won­d­rous. The opposition’s left midfielder watched a high ball as it fell over his left shoulder, cushioned it out of the air with his instep, and brought it instantly to rest in front of him. Then he immediately placed an inch-perfect pass through the middle of Exeter’s defence, enabling a team-mate to run through and sky it hopelessly over the bar, which didn’t matter be­cause his team was already 4-0 up. It was comfortably the most beautiful thing I’d seen on a football pitch in four seasons of watching Third Div­ision football.

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Players in the "old days" knew how to behave, unlike the overpaid prima-donnas of today. Not at all, says Steve Field

Think of an example of boisterous, drunken or oafish behaviour on the part of a highly-paid football personality. It might be Peter Beagrie’s Great Escape re-enactment in a hotel foyer, Brian Law’s hijack of a West Midlands Travel single-decker, Stan Collymore doing just about any­thing. The alleged misdemeanour could be sex­ual (Pleat, Shilton), financial (Macari, Venables), addiction-related or violent (too many to men­tion). Whatever, you can be sure of one thing. Within hours of the story breaking, pundits will be queuing up to proclaim that such a thing would never have happened in The Old Days.

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WSC readers keep spotting players in the unlikliest places…

I was humbled when Archie Gemmill spotted me driving into the Forest car park to fetch some tickets, at what he regarded as an excessive speed. Before I had had a chance to park and get out of the car he ran over to me, told me to wind down the window and called me “a bloody moron”, before turning and walking away. James Crosby

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