Top Ten: Journeymen Strikers
Dan Gilmore
Posted on: 21 October 2009 - 15:14
Football
From Old Trafford to Blundell Park, from freshly mown grass to festival trench foot, from scoring the injury time winner to apparently consuming all the pies: life as a Journeyman Striker is a long and twisted road. A man who has drunk from the selective delights of the old First Division or Premier League but can also recall the bruising sting of defeat in the lower echelons of Conference Football, deserves both respect and abuse in equal measure.
Indeed the ‘Journeyman Striker’ is a peculiar breed of footballer; all to often a cult figure amongst former fans and neutrals alike, whose popularity has as much to do with their amusing paunch, as that thirty yard volley they scored back in 1983. As every woman worth her salt will tell you, a man with ‘experience’ is a man indeed, and these ten old timers, who resemble Adam’s family tree in Genesis Chapter 5, have had more collective ‘experiences’ than Joey Barton has prison dinners.
Notice as well how the ‘journeyman striker’ is for the most part a relatively modern concept; advances in medicine coupled with an increasingly ‘mercantile’ culture within English football, has allowed players to extend careers and enjoy the extra earning potential well beyond what was previously thought possible.
1. Steve Claridge
A metaphorical ‘everyman’ in recent footballing history, Claridge has signed for twenty two separate clubs since 1983, in a varied career which includes four days at Crystal Palace, lengthy spells at Millwall, Portsmouth and Leicester, as well as a single cap for his current team Weymouth, where he is now playing for free in an effort to help them avoid administration. Not content with stringing out a career into his 43rd year he has also tried his hand at everything from management to media punditry and writing scouting reports for the Guardian. In that respect a bit like 90% of retired professionals then.
2. Dean Windass
Who will ever forget his play-off goal for Hull at Wembley back in 2008? No, not because it was an absolutely cracking volley from the edge of the box but because somehow the poor lad then managed to run for a prolonged period of at least thirty seconds without stopping during the ensuing celebration. An iconic figure at both Hull and Bradford City, where he was an integral part of their Premiership survival in the 1999-2000 season, the down to earth hero who grew up in East Riding is still plying his trade at Darlington, where he moved from Oldham last summer.
3. Teddy Sheringham
A long and prestigious career with the likes of Manchester United and Tottenham Teddy’s journey began at Milwall and finished in Colchester at the ripe old age of 42. As well a bagging 11 goals in 51 England appearances and three titles, an FA Cup and a European cup with United, Teddy also provided endless fodder for tabloid journalists with his various excursions to ‘town’ with the likes of Danielle Lloyd. Not bad for a lad who began his footballing career the same year Miss Lloyd was born.
4. Paul Furlong
For a player who began life as a footballer in the GM Vauxhall Conference with Enfield Town, a career spanning more than two decades with the likes of QPR, Chelsea and Birmingham City is more than credible. Furlong is still battling on today with Barnet, and must read about the Abramovich era at Stamford Bridge with mild amusement; back in 1994 he became Chelsea’s record signing at a paltry £2.3 million.
5. Jimmy Greaves
A footballer who quite simply defined a nation’s approach to the beautiful game. With an incredible shot and a taste for the bottle, as well as stats that would shame the likes of Shearer, Lineker, Owen and Rooney, Greaves decided against growing old gracefully by drawing out his career with a couple of years at Barnet and Woodford Town in the Southern League. He also did what any self respecting Englishman should do on arrival to Italy, by sticking around just long enough to complain about the food, sunshine, vibrant culture and social sophistication, before hurriedly catching the next flight home.
6. George Best
One of the greatest players to ever pull on the United no. 7 shirt, the Northern Irish legend sadly succumbed to the perils of alcoholism and celebrity way before such issues became common place in the upper echelons of the football league. Although not technically an out and out striker, Best’s goal scoring record suggests otherwise and for better or for worse he carried on his career with the likes of Fulham, Hibs, LA Aztecs, Brisbrane Lions, Cork Celtics and San Jose Earthquakes before finally hanging up his boots in 1984.
7. Stan Collymore
Ten years, ten clubs for Stan, who is now probably better known for an absurdly hyperbolic radio show and his recent antics in rural car parks, than a career blighted by injury, drunkenness, egotism and questionable public conduct whilst out on the town with a rather famous television personality known to have a penchant for unsuitable men. An erratic highpoint with Liverpool subsequently led to failure at Villa, Leicester, Bradford and Real Oviedo, before MTV Cribs and Radio Five Live came a knocking.
8. Andrew Cole
At his peak he was winning the Treble with Manchester United having previously achieved huge popularity during his time on Tyneside with Newcastle. Despite his many critics Cole was an excellent striker with a versatile game that deserved more England caps. His career lasted well beyond his time with United and he played for a total of thirteen clubs before finally hanging up his boots last year at Nottingham Forest.
9. Dion Dublin
Twenty years is a long time in football, and when Dublin finally retired from football in 2008, it wasn’t just Norwich fans that rose to applaud one of the game’s great personalities. Dublin was undoubtedly a quality player, rising from lower league obscurity with Cambridge to sign for Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United in 1992. Unlucky with injury he proved himself in the Midlands with great seasons at Coventry and Aston Villa, winning four England caps in the process, before enjoying swansong seasons with Celtic, Leicester and finally Norwich.
10.Ian Rush
Was adored by Kopites for his trendy moustache as much as his goal scoring prowess, he played 469 games for Liverpool, scoring an incredible 229 goals. Splitting his time at Anfield with a short, relatively unsuccessful spell with Juventus, he played for a further five clubs in four years after leaving in 1996, finishing his career with a couple of games at Sydney Olympic.
Honourable Mention:
Paul Warhurst
From Manchester City to Northwich Victoria via fourteen separate clubs including a relatively lengthy spell with Bolton Wanderers where he made 91 appearences. The epitome of a a journeymen.