Gate 13

Here’s a bloke who never gave less than total commitment, for a short bloke he could jump some!

Happy New Year to all contributors and followers of Vintage Blues - however bad we get, we have seen worse; never lose faith - win or lose, up the Blues - or as David Speedie used to say, win or lose, on the booze!

My seasonal cheer and goodwill ran out around 5pm on Boxing Day. So in that spirit how about thoughts of who was our worst ever signing? I’ll open the batting with Winston Bogarde who, from memory, made it onto the pitch no more than a dozen times in 4 years while being paid 40 grand a week some 20 years ago - yes, really. Better still, he is reported to have trained at Harlington during the week by himself or perhaps with the stiffs, and then bunked off back to Netherlands every weekend as he knew Ranieri didn’t fancy him and wouldn’t play him. Couldn’t make it up.

And finally I don’t know who, but three of ‘em messing about in the snow.

David Luiz, or as a bloke who used to sit a couple of rows behind me called him, Dave Lewis - keepy uppy with a snowball

JT on a quad bike in the snow at Cobham

Franco Zola in Tromso, proper brass monkey weather that was

Petr Cech prepares a snowball

And finally Timo “Whoops I missed another gleaming chance” Werner, now of ‘Them …’ and enjoying some well-earned obscurity.

Dave and Eden play snowballs

Fernando Torres in the snow also

JT, (Ant and ..) Deco and Nicolas Anelka (The Incredible Sulk) in the snow

A boot in the face is the least that dirty c**t Jones deserved after his cheap foul on Bonetti.

Micky Droy squares up to Joe Bugner in 1972

Eddie Newton, from row, second from left

Eddie Newton, from row, second from left

Eddie Newton, from row, second from left

Eddie Newton, from row, second from left

Eddie Newton, from row, second from left

Eddie Newton, from row, second from left

The man himself: wagging a finger at someone; a last ditch tackle away at Palace and celebrating with Bez.

Ok competition time - who would have made our hardest ever back four? I would take these two plus Doug Rougvie and Graham Roberts - what do you think?

These photos are captioned as Gate 13, CFC v West Ham Sep 84. My memory is the dust in Gate 13 was before kick off?

Home to West Ham 84, we won 3-0, think this is Colin Lee’s penalty. The Shed was packed and the ICF paid a call on Gate 13.

Yes, but the numpty that painted the slogan didn’t check which side of the ground the TV cameras are, so on the telly the writing was upside down!! You can see it on You Tube.