Most Thuggy Saints Player (with Pic)

[Saint Charlie]

As per the title. Who is the most thuggy player you have seen play for us plus a picture of said player.

 

 

Terry Hurlock

 

This man was an ANIMAL on the pitch.

 

 

[Window Cleaner]

As per the title. Who is the most thuggy player you have seen play for us plus a picture of said player.

 

 

Terry Hurlock

 

This man was an ANIMAL on the pitch.

 

 

 

 

don't have any pics but Docker Walker, Dennis Hollywood, Cliff Huxford, Brian O'Neill and Mark Dennis were probably all more thuggish than Hurlock. It was just the way the game was played in those days.

 

 

here's Docker

 

and of course Jimmy Gabriel

Edited 29 May, 2013 by Window Cleaner

[Saint Charlie]

Docker Walker sounds class, wish I was old enough to have seen him boss a striker.

[buctootim]

John McGrath. The days of keeping a clean sheet by kicking the striker.

 

[Window Cleaner]

Docker Walker sounds class, wish I was old enough to have seen him boss a striker.

 

don't remember him bossing anyone, just kicking them over the East Stand

[70's Mike]

don't remember him bossing anyone, just kicking them over the East Stand

 

He did do that but was also a pretty skillful player, now big Jake was a clogger

[KK the 2nd]

He did do that but was also a pretty skillful player' date=' now big Jake was a clogger[/quote']

 

Big John could head a ball further than most could kick it ... neck muscles something else. Docker was tough as old boots as well. I remember him living up the road in Ashurst when he played for Saints. Didn't really think of them as dirty; just hard as nails. Now, Dennis Hollywood he was ...

[derry]

Denis Hollywood

[mulletsaint]

From my era, probably Mark Dennis, Terry Hurlock or Neil Ruddock.

[skintsaint]

[shurlock]

More of a little c**t than a thug, i guess.

 

[Window Cleaner]

John McGrath. The days of keeping a clean sheet by kicking the striker.

 

 

didn't have strikers in those days, just centre forwards, inside rights and inside lefts.

[Badger]

John McGrath. The days of keeping a clean sheet by kicking the striker.

 

 

One of my first Saints heroes, along with Big Ron, from The Alehouse team.

 

He did do that but was also a pretty skillful player' date=' [b']now big Jake was a clogger[/b]

 

I think that is unfair to be honest, he was hard, did not take prisoners and could mix it when needed, but I think he was a better defender and footballer than his image portrayed.

 

I'd have John McGrath in our back 4 ahead of the current central defenders, would love to have seen him put the likes of Carroll in their place, ably assisted by Jimmy Gabriel.

[Badger]

Hugh Fisher - pre injury - could tackle and get stuck in.

 

Terry Paine could be a nasty b^stard as well from time to time , when in the mood.

 

And in about 1970, add Brian O'Neill to those two for a pretty 'robust' midfield trio.

[Window Cleaner]

Hugh Fisher - pre injury - could tackle and get stuck in.

 

Terry Paine could be a nasty b^stard as well from time to time , when in the mood.

 

And in about 1970, add Brian O'Neill to those two for a pretty 'robust' midfield trio.

 

My Mum didn't like him at all, she was friendly with one of his wives, lived 3 doors down from us.

[VectisSaint]

McGrath, no question, brilliant. If headed a ball nowadays it would puncture. Surprised thread has got as far without mDennis Wise, pansy.ention of Brian O'Neil. He was a thug, but fecking superb.

[angelman]

 

Remember playing WHU and one of their players ran into him, bounced off and landed in a heap

[miserableoldgit]

Big Jake, Docker Walker, Dennis Hollywood, Jim Steele and Mark Dennis. What an interesting night in town it would be with that lot!

 

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4 Beta

[ottery st mary]

Dennis Hollywood

 

 

The picture would frighten forum posters:rolleyes:

Edited 31 May, 2013 by ottery st mary

[Badger]

Big Jake, Docker Walker, Dennis Hollywood, Jim Steele and Mark Dennis. What an interesting night in town it would be with that lot!

 

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

Your post made me think of my 'hardest' Saints back four ;

 

Golac - McGrath - Steele - Dennis

 

Yes, have to add Ivan Golac, who always looked tough as old teak on those runs of his.

[stu0x]

Easy

 

 

Nails

[Horley CTFC Saint]

John McGrath

Brian O'Neil

Barry Horne

[Sheaf Saint]

He wasn't really known as a hard-man type player, but I seem to remember Franny Benali virtually assaulting John Fashanu at Plough Lane around 1990. He even had the nerve to appeal to the ref afterwards that it was a fair tackle!

[Shrek]

Oh come on...

 

Neil Ruddock

 

[John Boy Saint]

 

Remember playing WHU and one of their players ran into him, bounced off and landed in a heap

And he got chuffin booked for too it if I recall correctly!!!!

[CB Saint]

Neil Ruddock if only for his 40 yards running headbutt

[The Kraken]

 

He could also play, in fact he was absolutely brilliant for us, but Casey always loved a tackle and was an enforcer for the younger generation of Le Tissier, the Wallaces, Shearer etc coming through. I'd have backed him against Hurlock any day; it was a sad day when Branfoot saw Jimmy as a threat to his authority and binned him out.

 

A really great bloke, too.

[Chez]

I'd have Case in there. He was ****ing ruthless, but wouldn't cry if someone returned the favour.

[Tommy Mulgrew]

McGrath in defence, Walker in midfield and Kirby up front.

[Badger]

Neil Ruddock is a very watered down version of John McGrath.

 

Agree about Jimmy Case though.

[Matthew Le Tissier]

Surly its got to be mark Dennis

[SarniaSaint]

Back four: Webb Walker McGrath Hollywood. Mid field: O'Neill Paine

[for_heaven's_Saint]

This reminds me of the Saint radio station and them constantly referring to Case as 'former Saints hardman Jimmy Case'.

[BristolSaint]

Jimmy Case was a true legend. When not playing would wear hearing aids. Can remember him always walking away from big challenges and not being able to hear the ref calling him back !

[John Boy Saint]

I remember shaking Jimmy Cases hand once after a Saints oldies Charity Match at the Camrose Ground, even to this day my outstanding recollection was the bulk more than size of his hands, they were like clubs.

 

I remember Peter Osgood telling a tale at SMS of distracting the Ref while one of his then Chelsea team mates smashed the defender who had been putting him on his backside all afternoon. TV cameras everywhere back then would have given most of these players a very monochrome career.

 

Funny really when you look at today's fairy footballers writhing about after a tap or acting like they had been shot by a sniper lurking up in the floodlights, if they had been hit by some of the boys listed above then they would have something to roll about for.

[70's Mike]

McGrath in defence, Walker in midfield and Kirby up front.

 

George would not be on the pitch with the rules these days

[mulletsaint]

Neil Ruddock is a very watered down version of John McGrath.

 

Agree about Jimmy Case though.

 

I'm too young to know about John McGrath but the OP said most thuggy. I'd say while Case was a hard man (as well as a very cultured footballer) he was hardly a thug. On the other hand Ruddock just oozed thug to me as did Dennis.

[KK the 2nd]

I'm too young to know about John McGrath but the OP said most thuggy. I'd say while Case was a hard man (as well as a very cultured footballer) he was hardly a thug. On the other hand Ruddock just oozed thug to me as did Dennis.

 

John McGrath was as tough as old boots but not a thug nor indeed was Casey. Pycho Mark Dennis might fit the bill ...

[Ziggy]

Easy

 

 

Nails

 

Ha ha - that made me spill my beer!

[Saints boy in Leeds]

As per the title. Who is the most thuggy player you have seen play for us plus a picture of said player.

 

 

Terry Hurlock

 

This man was an ANIMAL on the pitch.

 

 

 

 

OOO, terry hurlock !

[Saints boy in Leeds]

Tony Cascarino: "Some of us [Millwall players] were playfully goading Terry about what he was going to do to Vinnie Jones in the upcoming fixture with Wimbledon. Without saying a word, he got up from the table and walked to the entrance of the pub and ripped the door off its hinges."

 

Says it all I guess ?

[FloridaMarlin]

John McGrath's pre-match ritual involved two jars, which he would take from his kit bag (players carried their own kit in those days).

 

One was a jar of honey, the other a jar of Vick's vapour rub.

 

Just before going out, he would dip two fingers in the honey jar, scoop some out and drip it down his throat.

 

He would then dip two fingers in the Vick's jar, scoop some out and rub it into his crown jewels.

 

Big Jake would wait for the Vick's to take effect, bellow like a bull, and then be ready to go and do business.

 

It was his chest-high challenge on Liverpool striker Alun Evans that laid him out, unconscious and literally breathless, that prompted Bill Shankly to dub Saints 'Alehouse footballers.'

 

I recall at White Hart Lane, Cyril Knowles making one of his rampaging overlapping runs down the flank. Docker Walker came across to halt the run and body-checked Knowles. One of them ended up in the crowd. It wasn't Walker.

 

I was sat in the stand behind the goal with my dad at the other end from the incident and remember the crowd handing a dazed Knowles back over the wall helped by the St John's Ambulance people pulling him back on to the running track.

 

Credit to Knowles, he came back into the game, but didn't venture down that flank again.

 

So who has the real skinny on the Terry Hurlock-David Speedie-glass ashtray incident in Jersey?

[Hedgehog]

Not a Saints player when doing this, but Shearer was quite a thug in his time. England captain and getting away with this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPp0teYYi70

[TheCholulaKid]

So who has the real skinny on the Terry Hurlock-David Speedie-glass ashtray incident in Jersey?

 

This.

[dinger]

Surly its got to be mark Dennis

 

I wouldn't have called him that.

[carljack]

Brian Oneil. No shinpads socks rolled down,pound for pound the hardest B****rd ever to wear the stripes.

[FloridaMarlin]

Sunday football, years ago.

One of the guys in the team says to the manager; "A lad at work fancies a game on Sundays. He hasn't played for a while, but he used to be quite good."

The manager treats this with the suspicion expected when somebody says his mate wants a game and he's quite good, but he said; "OK, bring him along next week, we might be able to use him." This in the days when you only had one sub.

Imagine our surprise when he turned up with Brian O'Neill.

He played until the end of the season, lashed in a few typical Buddha long-range shots, but on occasions cost us goals by not putting in tackles.

We were a bit annoyed and incredulous that one of the most feared midfielders in the domestic game was shirking tackles, but he had an explanation.

He said; "Lads at this level don't know how to go into a tackle properly and if I tackled them, I'd hurt them. I don't want to do that because like me, they have to go to work tomorrow."

He was such a nice bloke that you had to accept an explanation like that and to be honest, he didn't need to put in too many tackles. When the oppo saw him running out, you could see the fear on their faces.

There was one occasion, though, when one of the opposition wound him up - and it took a lot to do that. Buddha bided his time patiently until there was an opportunity to tackle him fairly, but firmly.

Suffice to say, it was a pretty firm tackle.

We played against Denis Hollywood once, he was playing for The Clump Inn.

We had a winger who could catch sparrows, and Denis was, shall we say, carrying a little bit of weight by this time.

First opportunity, the lad knocked the ball past Denis took off, and left him standing.

When Denis gave him the cold-eyed stare and said; "Don't try that again son. Next time, the ball might get past me, or you might get past me, but not both," we thought he was just giving it the big one.

But he was as good as his word. The lad knocked the ball past Denis, and it was if somebody had put a cube of concrete on castors and wheeled it in front of him.

I never realised a human being could bounce off something so solid, so far.

One of the hardest, toughest, and nastiest players I came across in local football was a professional sportsman, but not a footballer.

Former Hampshire wicket-keeper Adie Aymes was a decent player, with a lot of skill, but he wasn't frightened to mix it and was also prepared to put his foot in if he needed to.

He had an assassin's smile and there was nothing he liked better than taking on some of the reknowned hard men at their game.

When he gave them the grin, you knew they were in trouble.

I suppose anybody whose day-job involved catching a cricket ball propelled by Malcolm Marshall is not going to be afraid of too much on a football pitch.

[ladysaint]

Agree with Brian O'Neil, Terry Hurlock, Mark Dennis and what about Joe Jordan his looks alone (especially with his teeth out) were thuggish. Someone could cleverely put together a team of thugs 1 - 11.

[martel]

John McGrath. The days of keeping a clean sheet by kicking the striker.

 

 

Agreed, that was a hard man for sure.

[100% Saint]

Come on it has surely got to be Theo "The Underpants Bandit" Walcott

What a tool