ITV4 is to broadcast a new three-part documentary series this May focussing on uniquely gifted footballers whose antics made them terrace icons.
From George Best to Stan Bowles, Gazza to Eric Cantona, to modern-day characters like Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Mario Balotelli, this programme features those individuals whose exceptional skill on the pitch has sometimes been overshadowed by their lifestyles and personalities.
It weaves together contributions from some of those players – including Glenn Hoddle, Charlie Nicholas and Frank McAvennie – with the views of team-mates and fans alongside archive footage to paint a unique portrait of those who dare to be different.
The programme also asks whether managers’ distrust of the maverick has cost England over the years, and asks if the likes of Frank Worthington,Tony Currie and Charlie George – who won just 26 caps between them – could have inspired the national team to glory, building on its sole World Cup victory of 1966.
The first episode, titled The Magnificent Seven, airing on Tuesday, May 5, profiles players from the 1960s and 1970s – including Peter Osgood and Alan Hudson alongside Currie, George, Marsh, Bowles and Worthington.
While Manchester United’s George Best, with his flash cars, women and pin-up image, was the first, he inspired all those who followed, says Rodney Marsh. He says: “It was like, ‘If George Best can do it, we can all have a go at doing it.’ Fundamentally, that’s what brought on the surge of the mavericks.”
At Chelsea, Peter Osgood was emerging as both a striker with flair and as a charismatic figure. Team-mate Alan Birchenall recalls an occasion when Hollywood actress Racquel Welch was brought into the dressing room to meet the players.
Harry Redknapp, then a player himself, describes how skilful Alan Hudson was in his prime. He says: “Huddie was a genius. He’d play balls around the corner into the front people, drop the shoulder, the defender would go there, then he’d come this way and he’d have made himself ten yards of space.”
Rodney Marsh, first at QPR and then at Manchester City, had the kind of dribbling skills that were the envy of many. His move to Maine Road, however, precipitated a slide from a championship-winning position to fourth in the table at the end of the season.
He says: “It was my fault. As I was an egomaniac, I had to have the ball and I couldn’t be part of the team. They had to play my way. Even though we played some great football, I upset the balance and the rhythm of the team and we lost out in the end.”
Another talent lighting up the terraces at that time was Charlie George, whose spectacular winner for Arsenal in the 1971 FA Cup final was capped by a famous celebration as he laid on his back with his arms aloft.
Former Gunners defender Lee Dixon says: “It was an iconic moment and it’s never been repeated, really. As soon as I walked into the club, Charlie’s name was still ringing around the marble halls.”
While Charlie George was the sole so-called maverick in the Arsenal double-winning side, QPR found another folk-hero to replace Marsh in Stan Bowles. His prowess on the pitch though, came with issues off it.
Arguably the snappiest dresser was Frank Worthington – who was proud of his clothing and his prowess between the sheets. On the pitch, though, Worthington was scoring spectacular goals and bamboozling defenders for Leicester City, among others.
Gary Lineker says: “I remember going to Filbert Street week in, week out and watching him play. He was a wonderfully gifted footballer with a divine left foot. Magical to watch, super-skilful and that’s what I loved about him.”
Despite the silky skills on display around the First Division at the time, many of these players found themselves only used fleetingly by England bosses Sir Alf Ramsey and Don Revie.
Journalist James Brown says: “A lot of these players seem to have wanted to have a drink. There was an air of discipline around the international squads that suggested you just had to do what you were told.”
Rodney Marsh says this wasn’t something he was prepared to put up with, which meant Sir Alf wouldn’t put up with him. He says: “Believe this or not, I didn’t want to play for Sir Alf Ramsey. He walked me around the pitch and said, ‘You know how Geoff Hurst plays? I want you to play like that.’ And I thought, ‘What am I doing?’ So from day one he didn’t like me and I didn’t like him.”
Frank Worthington suggests his lifestyle might have been at fault for him not winning more caps, as much as his attitude. He says: “After our training sessions and playing on a Saturday or playing a night match in the week, I always had something else to look forward to. And Don Revie didn’t like my mentality.”
The second episode, title Diamonds in the Rough, focuses on maverick managers and players of the 1980s, including Brian Clough, Ron Atkinson, Glenn Hoddle, Charlie Nicholas, Frank McAvennie, Diego Maradona, Bruce Grobbelaar and Paul Gascoigne.
Leading the way at the start of the decade was the outspoken Brian Clough, whose Nottingham Forest side won the European Cup twice in a row. Yet despite his success with domestic sides, he never got the call from the FA to manage England.
Former Chelsea defender Ron ‘Chopper’ Harris says: “When you think what Cloughie did, he took unfashionable clubs and won the Champions League. But the likes of Cloughie would never have got the England job.
“If you go back over a period of time – Walter Winterbottom, Ron Greenwood – are all people that fit the Mr Nice Guy image. And I think with Cloughie he might have told one or two of them where to go.”
Meanwhile, perma-tanned Ron “Big Ron” Atkinson took over at Manchester United in 1981, and with his gaudy gold jewellery and larger-than-life personality made quite the impression on players and fans alike.
Gordon Strachan, who played under him at United, says: “I remember the first team meeting, the first game against Watford, and he had this briefcase. He opened up his briefcase, and I was sitting next to him and I thought he’ll have the tactics and things to go up on the board. And in it was hairspray, aftershave – nothing about tactics. And he went through the Watford team in 30 seconds. We drew 1-1.”
The problem was, says Norman Whiteside, that Liverpool were dominating the First Division during Ron’s time, and United won virtually nothing by comparison.
He says: “Because Manchester United is the size it is and we weren’t winning, we were getting all the back page headlines. I’m sure if you asked all the Liverpool boys at that time, they were out as much or even more than we were out. But if you’re winning Division One every year, the press leave you alone.”
In North London, one player was tearing up muddy pitches with a range of long passes, volleyed and chipped goals. Glenn Hoddle quickly became a Tottenham legend, says DJ Paul Hawksbee, due to his outrageous skill.
Yet Glenn’s England career was marked by a lack of playing time. He says: “He was a wonderful player, certainly the best I’ve ever seen in the flesh and it is a mystery why he didn’t get 150 caps and why the England team wasn’t built around him.”
After an extremely successful spell at Celtic, Charlie Nicholas headed south for Arsenal in 1983, to face sky-high expectations at the success-starved Gunners. The Scot enjoyed life in the fast lane – revelling in his nickname of Champagne Charlie – but his lacklustre performances on the pitch led to him becoming a scapegoat at Highbury.
At West Ham, fellow Scot Frank McAvennie was banging in the goals – the only problem was, with no football on TV at that time due to a strike, no-one knew about him until he appeared on Terry Wogan’s chat show with Denis Law.
Football in the mid-1980s, however, was all about one man – Diego Maradona, who off the pitch dabbled in both politics and drugs. Glenn Hoddle, who was on the pitch when Maradona scored both the ‘Hand of God’ goal and the legendary strike against England in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final, describes the man.
He says: “For me, he’s still the greatest. The greatest player, I think that has touched the earth. He went to Napoli, that was such an average team it was unbelievable, he won Serie A, the UEFA Cup in Europe. That was unknown for Napoli in that time. He had a very average Argentina side, won the World Cup for them.”
During Liverpool’s dominance of the 1980s, goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar stood out for his ability between the sticks and for his flamboyant personality.
The two elements of his character came together in the 1984 European Cup final against AS Roma, when he famously wobbled his legs in mock terror in the penalty shoot-out, causing Francesco Graziani to miss his spot-kick and helping Liverpool on to victory.
The team which represented the maverick spirit of the time was Wimbledon, the so-called Crazy Gang who rose from non-league to win the FA Cup in 1988 in just over a decade.
They were famous for using long-ball tactics, with players like Vinnie Jones and John Fashanu embodying their unique team spirit.
After the team of mavericks had won the FA Cup, English football produced perhaps its greatest talent of the era – Paul Gascoigne, whose scintillating performances for Newcastle and Tottenham had earned him a place in Bobby Robson’s squad for Italia ’90.
The way he played and his jocular character changed the way people viewed football in this country forever, says team-mate Gary Lineker.
He says: “We’d gone through a terrible dark period of hooliganism, of racism and diminishing attendances. And not many good performances particularly in many tournaments. But ‘90 was almost like a pivotal moment and Gazza was a large part of that, because of the style that he played and the sense that he was something different.”
In the third and final episode, A Dying Breed, players from the ‘90s are profiled including Eric Cantona, Paul Merson, Matt Le Tissier, Faustino Asprilla, alongside heroes of their time like Paolo Di Canio and David Ginola, and modern-day mavericks like Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Mario Balotelli.
At the start of the 1990s, one man lifted English football from the doldrums it had been in through the ‘80s and heralded a new era for the game – Paul Gascoigne. His performances at Italia ‘90 caused a resurgence in interest in the game in this country.
A big-money move to Spurs, then on to Italy, a classic goal against Scotland at Euro ‘96 and lurid tabloid headlines about his personal life followed. Terry Venables arguably got the best out of Gascoigne for Tottenham and the national team, says Rodney Marsh.
He says: “[Venables] knew that he could get the best out of Gascoigne by allowing him to be Paul Gascoigne. Never let Terry down, never let England down. He’s one of the few mavericks who has made his way in the England team and been highly successful. Yes, he’s a great footballer – I put that down to the managers allowing him to be great.”
Meanwhile, Alex Ferguson was building a title-winning squad – adding the nonchalant Frenchman Eric Cantona to the so-called ‘class of ‘92’ to herald a decade of success.
Cantona’s flicks, tricks and turns had caught the eye at Elland Road, so his move to Manchester United meant he could take a step forward, says former Leeds team-mate Gordon Strachan.
He says: “Cantona had world-class players all round him with drive and determination and one of the best managers of all time. He had that swagger, the ability, the strength, the pace – just genius. But he was needing Keane, he was needing McClair alongside him. Hughes, Bruce, Giggs, Beckham – he needed all of them.”
In North London, Paul Merson became Arsenal’s gap-toothed talisman, with a sharp eye for goal and skills – and pounds – to burn.
Former team-mate Lee Dixon says: “We used to get weighed every Friday and Merse used to go and put his thumb on the side of the scale and dropped a few pounds off. He was doing it for about 11 years. And we all knew about it but we let him get away with it.”
But when Merson publicly admitted he was addicted to gambling and alcohol and had taken cocaine, he was forced into rehabilitation. He says: “The councillor was there, he went, ‘You come in for this Christmas and you will see a lot more. Or don’t come in this Christmas and I will be shocked if you see another two.’”
Fortunately for Merson, Eric Cantona’s famous kung fu kick at Selhurst Park in 1995 moved the tabloid headlines away from his own troubles.
He says: “It was still big in the papers, people going, ‘Ban him for life.’ And I remember sitting there one night and Sportsnight came on. All of a sudden you see [Cantona] dive into the crowd and kung fu kick someone. Thank God. I couldn’t believe what he did, I thought, ‘Fair play to you.’”
At Southampton, where relegation was a threat every season, Matt Le Tissier was carving out a reputation for scoring wonder-goals and quickly became a club legend at The Dell.
But his refusal to move to a bigger club cost him his England career, says Glenn Hoddle. He says: “He needed to go to a Chelsea at the time, or a Tottenham, or an Arsenal, move to a bigger club and really challenge himself. I think that would have elevated him as a player, and I think he would have played more for England.”
But Le Tissier disagrees. he says: “I was quite happy with the challenge I had at Southampton, scoring 20, 25 goals, 30 one season, in a team that was playing at the wrong end of the table. If that’s not enough proof that I’m a decent player, to be able to do that in a team that is struggling, then why do I have to go to a team that’s challenging for honours and winning?”
Meanwhile, at West Ham Paolo Di Canio and at Spurs David Ginola became the kind of charismatic stars who reflected the glory of the 1970s mavericks seen at both clubs. As decades changed and older characters retired, footballers seen as mavericks had begun to stick out like sore thumbs – like Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Mario Balotelli.
Paul Merson says the advent of camera phones and social media may have put paid to that kind of player – as their antics are constantly monitored and commented on.
He says: “If we had video cameras when I was playing, on your phones and all things like that, I’d have been banned from playing football forever.
“ou can’t tell me Wayne Rooney isn’t a character. You can’t tell me he isn’t a maverick. But he isn’t allowed to express himself like we really did off the pitch and that’s why probably only Manchester United fans love him.”
Despite the emergence of potential mavericks like Joe Cole, says Glenn Hoddle, the England side has failed to kick on to success by using those players well.
He says: “Why have we not won the World Cup since ‘66? There’s a reason – we find it hard to deal with that type of talent. We haven’t played the game in a way that you pass the ball [up] the pitch and you open up teams. We got stuck.”
All three episodes will be broadcast on Tuesday evenings throughout its run on ITV4 at 10pm, starting on May 5.
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