Nice to see our former player getting a mention on MOTD last weekend, when Haaland beat his record of fifty top flight goals in a season. Why he signed for us from Aston Villa, where he was worshipped as a hero because of his goal scoring record, is a mystery, which even Wiki doesn't seem to be able to fathom. Also a mystery why he played less than a season for us and scored just nine goals in twenty six appearances. He then hopped it back to the Midlands with Wolves - I bet that annoyed Villa. What enticed him to come to Oakwell? Why did he leave Villa when he was a fan favourite there? There's an untold story behind this and I would love to know what it is. Anyone know?
Villa captain wrote this in his book. There were no rules for Pongo. Nobody knew what time he would turn up for training—ten o'clock, eleven o'clock, twelve o'clock, it made no odds. Nobody on the staff could do anything with him although I think I can claim, as the captain in his days, to be the only person able to handle him. He was a funny lad indeed. We started the weeks training on Tuesday mornings and every Tuesday he followed a habit which he could never break. He would go round all the refreshment bars on the ground and finish off the lemonade customers, storing the remains in the bottles! Then he would start a little of his training—but that seldom lasted very long.
I remember my dad telling me that one Boxing Day game he came on and after a minute he was flat on his back pi**ed. No subs in those days.
Apparently he was so revered at Villa that after his death in December 1980 his ashes were scattered in the goalmouth at the Holte End prior to a match against Stoke.
