No, George, too young - but remember my parents saying how brilliant he was. He was also said to be the reason Alf Ramsay insisted on playing without wingers. Whenever Alf came up against us, Jonny tore him a new one.
Barraclough was excellent. The only point I would make is that, in contrast to Hammill, he didn’t score many goals.
it’s a wonder someone didn’t die down there one year, can’t remember which game it was. Luckily we were near the front, as I was only a kid, but it must have been awful further back. My dad decided we were never going back after that. As for wingers, one of my favourite players in the mid-80s was Gordon Owen. He had many great games, the standout being his hat-trick against high flying Oxford. Years later I didn’t even recognise him when he drove me to Donny station. I guess I never expected the previously well-coiffoured Owen to be as bald as a coot, nor did I expect him to be a taxi driver. Lovely bloke though, and he told me some great stories on the way, not least that the Reds team flew out on a team holiday a couple of days after he got sent off for smacking Nigel Winterburn in the last game of the season, only for them to walk into the first pub and bump straight into the Wimbledon team! Fortunately they all made up and it didn’t turn into a big bar brawl.
It’s hard to put greatest as there were different players for different times , divisions and relevant teams they were in , My dad always loved Johnny Kelly as his favourite player of all time , mine was King Ronnie of course but I’ve witnessed some marvellous players over the years especially wingers . I’d go with all those mentioned above and include Neil Warnock , top winger for the division we were in and the team we had at the time . Neil himself considers his time at Oakwell as the best he’d played in his career , Hopefully time for more contenders in the coming years .
Barrowclough was the first winger I remember and was followed by two other fantastic wingers in Alan Birch and Gordon Owen. Barra and Birch were brilliant “hug the touchline” wingers who made goals for strikers. My favourite is still Hammill for pure showmanship, skill, changing matches, and memorable goals.
My favourite is Hammill. I think for pure ability Vaz Te has to get a mention. For 3 months before he was sold he was tearing apart championship teams every week.
Good shout re Bullock. Imagine having to cope as a full back. With Bullock then Marcelle. Giving it their all 45mins each.
I'm going to be the annoying lovely person* who takes the thread statement literally and say... Harvey Barnes
Ryan Kent wasn't bad for the time he was here. All the ones mentioned have brought plenty of pleasure over the years and it's hard to single one out but for the way he transformed our season Adam