Barham's tash
Well-known member
I follow a football website called These Football Times - worth a look if you have time - and they’ve started an interesting feature whereby as the title suggests you nominate four of the most influential players of all time for your club.
Seeing as they’re unlikely to feature us I thought we could have a crack. Clearly different eras will mean more to different people but we’re talking all time here so try to think further back than the promotion season?!
Peter Ward - talismanic, a gem unearthed and hugely influential in our rise to the First Division for the first time. Sure goalscorers hog the limelight right but without him our rise might never have happened.
Glenn Murray - So close to breaking our all time goal scoring record but so influential on his return to the club that think most of us agree if we’d have signed him sooner we’d have been in the Premier League much sooner. Iconic.
Charlie Webb - just a name to most of us and yes another goal scorer but how many can lay claim to having been a record goal scorer, our first ever full international, scoring the winning goal of our only notable trophy to date, then fought in the First World War getting promoted to Captain and returning to the Albion afterwards as our manager. A post in which he remained until 1947. A club legend.
Gary Hart - has there been a better value purchase ever than OGH? Costing a grand and a set of tracksuits he came with little to no fan fair and injected some much needed hope, running and never say die attitude. A man who repeatedly proved his worth to manager after manager even through his advancing years. A joy to watch and a player we could all depend on.
Notable mentions but not quite making it into the rock face:
Brian Horton
Danny Cullip
Bruno
Johnny Crumplin Football Genius
Alan Curbishly
Johnny Byrne
Many will disagree and that’s the whole point, so fire away!
Seeing as they’re unlikely to feature us I thought we could have a crack. Clearly different eras will mean more to different people but we’re talking all time here so try to think further back than the promotion season?!
Peter Ward - talismanic, a gem unearthed and hugely influential in our rise to the First Division for the first time. Sure goalscorers hog the limelight right but without him our rise might never have happened.
Glenn Murray - So close to breaking our all time goal scoring record but so influential on his return to the club that think most of us agree if we’d have signed him sooner we’d have been in the Premier League much sooner. Iconic.
Charlie Webb - just a name to most of us and yes another goal scorer but how many can lay claim to having been a record goal scorer, our first ever full international, scoring the winning goal of our only notable trophy to date, then fought in the First World War getting promoted to Captain and returning to the Albion afterwards as our manager. A post in which he remained until 1947. A club legend.
Gary Hart - has there been a better value purchase ever than OGH? Costing a grand and a set of tracksuits he came with little to no fan fair and injected some much needed hope, running and never say die attitude. A man who repeatedly proved his worth to manager after manager even through his advancing years. A joy to watch and a player we could all depend on.
Notable mentions but not quite making it into the rock face:
Brian Horton
Danny Cullip
Bruno
Johnny Crumplin Football Genius
Alan Curbishly
Johnny Byrne
Many will disagree and that’s the whole point, so fire away!
