[Albion] Frank Worthington RIP

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Monkey Man

Your support is not that great
Jan 30, 2005
3,166
Neither here nor there
Sad to see him go at a relatively young age.

In his Brighton playing days I saw him at the bar of the Congress Theatre in Eastbourne, at a Grumbleweeds gig. He was wearing mismatched socks in garish colours. That struck me, in my youth, as quite a rebellious thing for a grown man to do.
 




Hotchilidog

Well-known member
Jan 24, 2009
8,755
Total flair player, the epitome of flashy style. Happy memories of watching him dance through the mud on the Big Match and MotD. Sadly never saw him in the flesh. RIP Frank
 






marlowe

Well-known member
Dec 13, 2015
3,939
RIP: When I was a boy I always had a bit of a man crush on him during his Leicester days so you can imagine my excitement when he joined us...

I even nearly started a Frank appreciation thread only a few days ago..

frank-worthington-leicester-city.jpg
:love:
 




Guinness Boy

Tofu eating wokerati
Helpful Moderator
NSC Patron
Jul 23, 2003
34,465
Up and Coming Sunny Portslade
We only had a brief flirtation with him at the end of his career, but his goal against Wimbledon at the Goldstone in late 1984 will live with me forever.

RIP Frank, you truly were a legend.

Same for me.

I'd been regularly taken to the Goldstone in the early 80s by family friends but the Wimbledon game was the first game I was allowed to go "unsupervised" with mates from school. My parents insisted I go in the Family Stand anyway which, at the time, was the South end of the East Stand.

Me and my mate got to about 10 minutes into the game and wondered why the heck we'd obeyed them. The North Stand looked a LOT more fun and they weren't there to check. Then, in the second half IIRC, the ball came out to Frank about 30 yards from the South goal and he absolutely smashed it in from pretty much in line with where we were stood. It was the perfect strike, and the perfect view of the perfect strike.

We still went in the North from then on in.

Getting back on topic, a genuinely brilliant player, charismatic with skills to burn. Football has lost a legend today. RIP Frank.
 












vegster

Sanity Clause
May 5, 2008
27,926
A true Legend, RIP Frank, thanks for those memories.
 


Blue3

Well-known member
Jan 27, 2014
5,608
Lancing
Apologies for the hero worshipping that follows, I meet him once on Brighton prom by the band stand he was just finishing an interview with Fred Dinnage for ITV as he walked away I said hello and we chatted and during the course of the conversation he asked my name telling the leggy blonde with him to make a note of it as he climbed into his car saying he would leave a couple of tickets for the game Saturday, I was obviously very happy and told everyone. Saturday came and along I went with my brother becoming increasingly worried that no tickets would be waiting, at the West Stand and I joined a que of people by the window for complementary tickets, the guy said abruptly "Name" was his one word response, he then looked through a small pile of envelopes finding one with my name on it which contained a short note from Frank and two tickets alongside the directors box.
I can't recall who we were playing but I clearly recall Frank hardly moved outside the centre circle he didn't need to a drop of the shoulder a turn would leave his marker and he would just ping a pass, what a player he was lived life in the very fast lane sadly played to few games for England in my opinion he was to good for them RIP Frank thoughts and prayers to those you leave behind
 


marlowe

Well-known member
Dec 13, 2015
3,939








Brovion

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 6, 2003
19,423
Unsurprisingly I haven't seen us mentioned as one of his clubs, but then he did have 'more clubs than Gary Player' as they used to say. (The golfer's name varies). But oh, I loved watching him play. One of a select few Brighton players who were worth the admission price on their own.

RIP Frank.
 


studio150

Well-known member
Jul 30, 2011
29,699
On the Border
I was at his debut for us, a 3-0 win at Carlisle in August 1984. Best player on the pitch, and while only a season for us, a joy to watch over that year.

RIP
 




Paskman

Not a user
May 9, 2008
2,018
Chiddingly, United Kingdom
I had a season ticket on the West Stand the season he played for us. When he wasn't playing he used to sit next to me. Sometimes with his mate Malcolm McDonald, who was running a pub in Worthing at the time. For someone brought up watching football on there 70s I used to be utterly starstruck. RIP a true great of the game.
 


Not Andy Naylor

Well-known member
Dec 12, 2007
8,806
Seven Dials
We only had a brief flirtation with him at the end of his career, but his goal against Wimbledon at the Goldstone in late 1984 will live with me forever.

RIP Frank, you truly were a legend.

If I remember correctly, he flicked the ball up in the air and volleyed it from around 30 yards. It hit the South Stand crossbar and went in off Dave Beasant's back and would have counted as an own goal these days but was all Worthington's by right.

There's a great story of him nearly signing for Liverpool but failing the medical because of high blood pressure. Liverpool put him on a plane to Spain for a few days' rest to see if it would sort the problem but on the flight he met some Swedish blonde. He spent the whole time in Spain shagging himself (and her) senseless and arrived back with even higher blood pressure than before.
 


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