Tony Green

[ohhh_yeah 2789]

He Only Played 35 Games - But He Became A Geordie Legend!

 

Joe Harvey once said "Tony Green is the best signing I ever made". Who can argue with the great man?

 

He was signed from Blackpool for £150,000 (including the transfer of Keith Dyson), and he only made 35 appearances for Newcastle before injury caused a tragic end to such a rare talent .

 

Injury at Crystal Palace in 1972, when he was only 27, robbed him of a brilliant career.

 

Glasgow-born, he won 6 caps and would have won scores more but for that tackle from Mel Blyth.

 

Tony Green: "I get back maybe once a year and it's nice - it probably wouldn't happen anywhere else but the north east.

 

"If I'm coming back from Newcastle and get to the M6, my wife will say 'You're a normal person now'. It's lovely, and I always enjoy coming back.

 

"I'm just a supporter now, waiting for something better to happen than in the previous years. I follow Celtic, Blackpool and Newcastle, but probably Newcastle more than anyone else.

 

"In a way, I'm glad that if I had to finish like I did, I did it at Newcastle. I had a chance to play for a big club every week, in front of big crowds.

 

"You can't regret that. I'd have loved to have played on, but if you keep looking back it would drive you crackers.

 

"They (Newcastle) lost to Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal in cup finals, but if I'm being honest, they never looked as though they were going to win.

 

"They also finished second in the league under Kevin Keegan.

 

"You just never know with Newcastle, and I hope the regime there gets it right. You keep looking on in hope.

 

"When you had Terry McDermott and 'Jinky' Jimmy Smith the place was buzzing for a while. The football was terrific.

 

"Then there was the period with Ginola and Ferdinand, which was probably as good as it's been.

 

"Football changes so often, and I just hope Kevin Keegan is still in touch.

 

"The top four have left the rest behind, and it's a massive thing to break into, but if anybody has a chance of doing that, then it's probably Keegan.

 

"He understands what the north east is all about, and I don't think the previous managers did. He's got more of an understanding.

 

"They've bought a lot of players who you thought were very good, but a lot of signings haven't come off, and if Keegan can buy right, then they have the chance to be there or thereabouts."

[Tooj 17]

Everyone of the older members who saw him play in my family can't speak high enough about the man, for midfielders we've ever had they really only rate possibly Gazza above him, that's about it. Leazes will agree on this btw as I know how good Leazes has said he was.

[Dr Gloom 19883]

understands what the north east is about? what a load of bollocks. how is that going to affect your ability to manage a football club?

[bobbyshinton 59]

Everyone of the older members who saw him play in my family can't speak high enough about the man, for midfielders we've ever had they really only rate possibly Gazza above him, that's about it. Leazes will agree on this btw as I know how good Leazes has said he was.

 

 

I get sick of this Gazza was the greatest. What did he do for NUFC?

 

Not fit (in terms of being hero worshipped) to tie the laces of Terry Hibbit and Pedro.

[Tooj 17]

Everyone of the older members who saw him play in my family can't speak high enough about the man, for midfielders we've ever had they really only rate possibly Gazza above him, that's about it. Leazes will agree on this btw as I know how good Leazes has said he was.

 

 

I get sick of this Gazza was the greatest. What did he do for NUFC?

 

Not fit (in terms of being hero worshipped) to tie the laces of Terry Hibbit and Pedro.

It's nothing to do with being hero worshipped though Berb, as Gazza is loved more by fans of other teams he played for, but on pure ability is what people are basing their opinions on to me.

[Guest Stevie]

Beardsley is and always will be the best player I've ever seen in a black and white shirt, but Gazza ranks alongside him and had the ability to even surpass the great man but he left just before his 21st birthday.

 

As for Tony Green, I often hear old cunts in the toon pissed in bars singing something along the lines of "...he was the greatest player I've ever seen, and his name was Tony Green...." does anyone know the rest of the words?

[Albert Kirkey 0]

Beardsley is and always will be the best player I've ever seen in a black and white shirt, but Gazza ranks alongside him and had the ability to even surpass the great man but he left just before his 21st birthday.

 

As for Tony Green, I often hear old cunts in the toon pissed in bars singing something along the lines of "...he was the greatest player I've ever seen, and his name was Tony Green...." does anyone know the rest of the words?

 

'We got Tudor from Sheffield and Hibbitt from Leeds,

MacDonald from luton and Smith Aberdeen,

But we've got the greatest the world's ever seen,

we bought him from Blackpool, his name's Tony Green'

 

There was some great songs back in the day like.

[NJS 3989]

I'm just too young to be able to comment on Tony Green from a personal pov but I do remember my Dad and Brother enthusing over him.

 

However I think it has to be put in context - he was a shining light in a shit team - in fact his achievement was to almost single-handedly save the club from relegation (something repeated by Gazza in 86/87). I also think theres a James Dean /Cobain factor here where his worth is exaggerated by his early demise.

 

I suppose the shining beacon thing also applies to Gazza in his time with us but I think he went on to show how good he was (though limited by stupidity) which Green didn't.

[Jill 0]

My dad has a love for Tony Green which is bordering on gay.

[Tooj 17]

My dad has a love for Tony Green which is bordering on gay.

 

So do quite a lot of the 'men' in my family.

[LeazesMag 0]

I'm just too young to be able to comment on Tony Green from a personal pov but I do remember my Dad and Brother enthusing over him.

 

However I think it has to be put in context - he was a shining light in a shit team - in fact his achievement was to almost single-handedly save the club from relegation (something repeated by Gazza in 86/87). I also think theres a James Dean /Cobain factor here where his worth is exaggerated by his early demise.

 

I suppose the shining beacon thing also applies to Gazza in his time with us but I think he went on to show how good he was (though limited by stupidity) which Green didn't.

 

bottom of the league in October when he signed, went on to piss the amount of man of the match awards dished out on a game by game basis. Not a single person would have disagreed with this. Finished 11th. The results from that point on were the 2nd best in the 1st division. Best player I've ever seen. Gazza comes the closest. Difficult to say who was best when you consider Gazza could have become one of the best in the world and also equally single handed saved the club from going down, but my vote would go to TG.

 

Absolute privilege to see this man play, I've shook his hand twice and hope to meet him soon.

[Tooj 17]

A class little piece from Brazilianbob over on Newcastle-Online.

 

For me Green was better than Beardsley and Gazza, and I saw all three play. I once saw Green take the ball to the Leazes End corner flag when we were winning 4-0 against Coventry at SJP with only a few minutes remaining. Green was shielding the ball and running the clock down. The full back couldn't get near the ball because of Greens footwork, so three more Coventry players piled in to try and get it off him because he was taking the p*ss. Green suddenly turned with the ball, dropped a shoulder there, swivelled a hip here, accelerated past one, two, three players, then a fourth, and finally the centre half, before crossing the ball hard and low for John Tudor to volley into the net for the fifth goal. The best bit of really close ball control resulting in a goal that I have ever seen personally. The best part was that as the ball went into the net at least half the Coventry team were left floundering on the ground by the corner flag where Green had been holding the ball up. One of those moments in football that you never forget regardless of how unimportant the match was.

Would have been a privilege to have seen him play!

[Tom 13883]

After his football career ended Green became a maths teacher in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, a role he continues to fulfill.

 

Fair Play.

 

Just shows you how daft the money is now.

[LeazesMag 0]

A class little piece from Brazilianbob over on Newcastle-Online.

 

For me Green was better than Beardsley and Gazza, and I saw all three play. I once saw Green take the ball to the Leazes End corner flag when we were winning 4-0 against Coventry at SJP with only a few minutes remaining. Green was shielding the ball and running the clock down. The full back couldn't get near the ball because of Greens footwork, so three more Coventry players piled in to try and get it off him because he was taking the p*ss. Green suddenly turned with the ball, dropped a shoulder there, swivelled a hip here, accelerated past one, two, three players, then a fourth, and finally the centre half, before crossing the ball hard and low for John Tudor to volley into the net for the fifth goal. The best bit of really close ball control resulting in a goal that I have ever seen personally. The best part was that as the ball went into the net at least half the Coventry team were left floundering on the ground by the corner flag where Green had been holding the ball up. One of those moments in football that you never forget regardless of how unimportant the match was.

Would have been a privilege to have seen him play!

 

I was at that game but must admit I can't remember that, he did things like this a lot. But its not flashes of genius that set him apart, it was his whole 90 minutes of non stop action, pace, dribbling, and the massive influence he had on everybody, who were just inspired by his dynamism. Thats what he did.

 

Maybe he was mega motivated by the predicament the club was in at the time ie struggling, its strange how managers like Clough and Taylor didn't take him to derby, he stood out like a mile. Possibly it was because he had almost been finished by an achilles injury that could have finished his career, and Joe Harvey got him just as he was proving himself to be fully fit again.

 

I'm positive we would have done much better in the 1974 Cup Final if he had played, and I'm positive that the club would have done better in Joe Harveys last few years if he had still been playing.

 

Whatever propelled him to such heights ? He played like a man possessed, but you can only go by what you see and he was just amazing.

[NJS 3989]

After his football career ended Green became a maths teacher in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, a role he continues to fulfill.

 

Fair Play.

 

Just shows you how daft the money is now.

 

 

He also had to retire with an injury which I think nowadays would be fixable - I think it was a cruciate.

 

He was done by a dirty bastard who played for Palace called Mel Bligh. My claim to fame is that I had a letter published in Roy of the Rovers saying that players who put out other players for a long time with malicious tackles should get long suspensions as punishments - inspired by Bligh/Green.

[spongebob toonpants 3628]

I saw him play a couple of times -I was about 11 and I my only memories are of a him basically shimmering/gliding past two or three lunging tackles i front of the a-wing paddock. I do remember my Dad and Grandfather brumming it into me to watch out for whenever he got the ball, and I can still vividly remember the feeling of crackling electric excitement from the crowd when he was on the move.

 

I always claim he was the best I ever saw, even though if I am honest it is more the memory of the feeling than actualmemories of the player

[Albert Kirkey 0]

After his football career ended Green became a maths teacher in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, a role he continues to fulfill.

 

Fair Play.

 

Just shows you how daft the money is now.

 

Does the Pools Panel as well iirc.

[sweetleftpeg 0]

Did anyone see the interview with him on Look North last night? He was at the Fed doing a talk in, and Killer was there as well. Remember, this is live, so they interview Killer and ask him about the Barton situation..which Killer ends with 'they have to try and work on...pardon my french...the shit as well.' Ledge.

[sweetleftpeg 0]

Back on topic though, my old man also claimed Green was the best he'd ever seen. It sounds like to me anyway that he was an entertainer in the true sense, always wanting the ball and always bombing forward, being positive, and beating 2 or 3 men at a time. That for me, is a class footballer.