Llandudno Jet Set

Uruguay at the World Cup, that’s our choice. Will we be able to get a shirt though?

Cardiff, last Saturday

Radion Camataru “…..must have seemed quite a catch for modest Charleroi when he arrived in 1989, just two years after winning the Adidas-sponsored Golden Boot as Europe’s top scorer. But his feat caused an outcry at the time and was eventually recognised as a fraud. With six games left in the 1986-87 season, Camataru was comfortably ahead in the Romanian goalscoring charts having got 23 for his club Dinamo Bucharest who were set to finish second behind rivals Steaua. Then he went on a remarkable run, scoring 21 in the final six matches of the season, of which Dinamo won only one. It began with hat-tricks in consecutive 3-3 draws against mid-table clubs, followed by two goals in a 3-2 home loss to opponents who won only one other away match. After that, there was four goals in a 5-4 defeat, all six in a 6-2 win then, to round it off, a hat-trick in a 4-3 defeat. Camataru’s total of 44 goals put him five ahead of runner-up Toni Polster of Austria Vienna. Polster refused to attend the award ceremony in Monte Carlo in protest at what looked like an obvious fix. In 1990, after the collapse of Ceausescu dictatorship, the Romanian sports minister confirmed that it had all been arranged. At the behest of the dictator’s son Valentin (who was the president of Steaua and prone to arranging other clubs’ results) Dinamo had done deals with their opponents, trading defeats for Camataru goal sprees. Polster was given a Golden Boot for 1986-87 two years ago but Camataru was allowed to keep his award. His total of 44 goals is three short of the European record, held by the 1976-77 winner, Dudu Georgescu of… Dinamo Bucharest.” From When Saturday Comes

Yesterday was a blur.

We’re all one………..

From When Saturday Comes; Vasilis Hatzipanagis, “A talented midfielder whose career was damaged by political interference, Vasilis Hatzipanagis set a world record for the longest gap between international caps. He made his debut for Greece against Poland in May 1976 and got his second cap in December 1999 when he played the first 20 minutes of a friendly against Ghana. The latter match doubled up as a testimonial for Hatzipanagis who was 46 by then and had been retired for several years. He was born in Tashkent in the Soviet Union where his Communist parents had resettled after the Greek civil war of 1946-49. The family were allowed to return to Greece in 1974 after the country’s military regime was removed from power. Hatzipanagis joined the Salonika club Iraklis and made a major impact – he was voted the best Greek player of the last 50 years in 2003. However, shortly after his national team debut, Soviet officials complained to UEFA that he had already played for the USSR at Under-23 level and so was not eligible to turn out for another country. Hatzipanagis was then banned from international football for the rest of his career.”

Yesterday 18h50

Saturday 4:15pm, Broughton

“…..the one worn by Kenny Dalglish in the the Glasgow F.A. Select v. The Football League, Glasgow Jubilee Appeal match. The match was played to commemorate the Queen’s 1977 Silver Jubilee. In the match played on 17th May at Hampden Park, the Glasgow F.A. Select defeated The Football League 2-1, with goals from Sandy Jardine (pen) and Kenny Dalglish. The colours of the shirt represents the five Glasgow based football teams, Celtic, Rangers, Partick Thistle, Clyde and Queen’s Park.”

Nice Documentary on BBC4 Sunday night; Billy Wright laughs with team mates, Billy Wright falls on his arse, Hungary score 6.

Luciano Re Cecconi, from When Saturday Comes, ; 

“(his) career, and life, came to an abrupt end on January 18, 1977. Together with a team-mate, he decided to stage a practical joke in a jeweller’s shop. With his coat collar turned up and a hand supposedly on a gun in his pocket, he announced that a robbery was underway. The cashier then produced a real gun from under the counter and shot Re Cecconi through the heart – he died on his way to hospital.”