Fat Players

[Haymaker]

I remember going to a semi pro game in England and the away team had this absolute blob at #5. We were giving him stick "he's fat, he's round, he can't get off the ground he's number 5!"

Strolled the whole game, kept a clean sheet against a team with the best attack in the league.

[DH1875]

Was our manager not on the tubby side at times when he was playing? I don't think he was but something in my head keeps telling me I used to call him a fat basthard all the time

[lapsedhibee]

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Was our manager not on the tubby side at times when he was playing? I don't think he was but something in my head keeps telling me I used to call him a fat basthard all the time

Lennon does a Collins

Fat*******.jpg

[tamig]

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Looks like Ian Hendry, who broke his leg in his debut

I was there. We got handed complimentary tickets for the stand at Shielfield and it happened right in front of us. Good to see Simon Murray’s dad in that pic too.

[Scouse Hibee]

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Molby Dick, a whale of a man, but a fine player.

Definitely Mick Quinn.

Neil Ruddock.

Gazza

Molby Dick? Never heard him called that lol

Nickname was Rambo.

[jgl07]

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Maradona

The original Ronaldo

That Welsh Everton goalie (Southall?)

Neville Southall was pictured on TV a couple of weeks back. He is enormous now.

He was always thick set but muscular but he must have really piled on the pounds since then.

[NASAHIBS]

Steve Fulton......round and ugly with it......

[Orchard_Hibs]

No body mentioned that fat striker at the yams, ze*** was it?

[Colr]

Andy Ritchie

[yonder1875]

There's a centre half at Tranmere who's name escapes me, don't suppose anyone knows who I'm on about. Some size of a laddie.

[proud_and_green]

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I remember the Hibs crowd would break out into a spontaneous rendition of "Roll out the Barrel" whenever he got stripped as a substitute.

Harper's a barrel, Harper's a barrel of @#?+E....

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[HoboHarry]

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Harper's a barrel, Harper's a barrel of @#?+E....

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You one of Doddie's groupie's?

[Swedish hibee]

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I had a good old chuckle at Conrad Logan as I arrived at Hampden Park for that Scottish Cup semi-final. Never had I seen a player appear so out of condition, his top looked like it was an adapted tent.

I think it was a few days later that we played Rangers at ER and I was in hospitality. Oxley was back in the team and Logan didn't play, but they promised a Logan appearance at hospitality, and Conrad came in to be interviewed.

Obviously he was rapturously well-received, but the thing that struck me was how athletic he looked, wearing normal clothes at just a few yards away. I expected him to look like a 20 stone Irish farmer on the back of a tractor - he was in fact totally different.

So yes - "football fat" and actually fat are totally different things.

Totally thought the same when I met the great man too! I expected him to be huge- but he really wasn't. It's like someone said Gazza on here, but I watched his documentary online and when he's celebrating shirtless- he's no Ronaldo but not a fatty by any means.

[Greentinted]

Some may recall a certain Armand One when he gave our neighbours a spanking in the colours of Partick Thistle...a few years on I found myself at a Stenhousmuir v Stranraer game and happened upon a more 'established' Monsieur One...
Armand One.jpg

[Mr White]

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There's a centre half at Tranmere who's name escapes me, don't suppose anyone knows who I'm on about. Some size of a laddie.

Steve McNulty? There's a photo of him on page 2 of this thread

[--------]

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Harper's a barrel, Harper's a barrel of @#?+E....

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You one of Doddie's groupie's?

Not at all. I don't have 'groupies'.

He and I are simply gentlemen of impeccable taste and discernment.

The point you may be missing is that even in the 1970's, when players were generally (let's say) PLUMPER than players nowadays, Harper was an exceptional and outstanding lardball.

In my recollection, he's the only 'professional footballer' (I use the term loosely) who was wider than he was tall.




This was him three months after he signed. He was far, far worse when he arrived.


PS: Bobby Johnstone was carrying a fair bit of weight when he came back to ER in '59, but my goodness what a player HE was. He and the Baker Boy were a lethal combination - Bobby supplied the bullets, Joe put them away.

[superfurryhibby]

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Not at all. I don't have 'groupies'.

He and I are simply gentlemen of impeccable taste and discernment.

The point you may be missing is that even in the 1970's, when players were generally (let's say) PLUMPER than players nowadays, Harper was an exceptional and outstanding lardball.

In my recollection, he's the only 'professional footballer' (I use the term loosely) who was wider than he was tall.




This was him three months after he signed. He was far, far worse when he arrived.


PS: Bobby Johnstone was carrying a fair bit of weight when he came back to ER in '59, but my goodness what a player HE was. He and the Baker Boy were a lethal combination - Bobby supplied the bullets, Joe put them away.

Harper scored 49 goals in 99 competative games for Hibs. Not a bad return. He's a regular contributor on the Scottish Football of Yesteryear site, good at responding to questions and comes across as a decent guy

However, he was a bizarre signing by Eddie Turnbull, to think we could have got Alan Rough and Alan Hansen for less than Harper's fee. That team needed a centre half and a goalie, Eddie went for a poacher up front.

[overdrive]

Whilst not your normal bloke fat, I seem to remember David Murphy was “footballer fat” when he first signed. Lost it very quickly though.

[--------]

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Harper scored 49 goals in 99 competitive games for Hibs. Not a bad return. He's a regular contributor on the Scottish Football of Yesteryear site, good at responding to questions and comes across as a decent guy

However, he was a bizarre signing by Eddie Turnbull, to think we could have got Alan Rough and Alan Hansen for less than Harper's fee. That team needed a centre half and a goalie, Eddie went for a poacher up front.

What was the scoring record of the man he replaced?

And I submit that anyone who inspired the wee ditty quoted above cannot have been exactly popular with the bulk of the support ....

"Harper's a barrel - Harper's a barrel of s***e"? There's not a lot of love in there.

I can't remember anyone singing stuff like that about Neil Martin or Joe McBride or Jim O'Rourke or Alan Gordon, who were fairly decent strikers for us in their time?





[And I believe Ted Bundy came over as a decent, polite young man... Cannae tell the book from its cover. ]

[superfurryhibby]

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What was the scoring record of the man he replaced?

And I submit that anyone who inspired the wee ditty quoted above cannot have been exactly popular with the bulk of the support ....

"Harper's a barrel - Harper's a barrel of s***e"? There's not a lot of love in there.

I can't remember anyone singing stuff like that about Neil Martin or Joe McBride or Jim O'Rourke or Alan Gordon, who were fairly decent strikers for us in their time?





[And I believe Ted Bundy came over as a decent, polite young man... Cannae tell the book from its cover. ]

Sure, Harper was always on a hiding to nothing when it came to breaking up the prolific strike partnership of Gordon and O'Rourke. Deep down, the liability for this lies with Turnbull. Eddie was never a man for acknowledging any error or mistakes on his part.

The purchase of Harper marked the start of the decline of the Tornadoes and the beginning of Turnbull's decline as a manager. It precipitated the sale of Cropley and the release of Gordon and ORourke. More weird transfers were to soon follow.

[--------]

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Sure, Harper was always on a hiding to nothing when it came to breaking up the prolific strike partnership of Gordon and O'Rourke. Deep down, the liability for this lies with Turnbull. Eddie was never a man for acknowledging any error or mistakes on his part.

The purchase of Harper marked the start of the decline of the Tornadoes and the beginning of Turnbull's decline as a manager. It precipitated the sale of Cropley and the release of Gordon and ORourke. More weird transfers were to soon follow.

Which is exactly why I dislike Harper so much.

But I think it's unfair to blame ET alone - Chairman Hart carries a huge responsibility as well.

But we're actually talking about fat players.

Has Steven Dobbie been mentioned yet?

[Iggy Pope]

The Harpers a barrel of ***** number was trawled when he was back at Aberdeen. It wasn't sung at him when he was at Hibs.
One of his understudies, Alex McGhee, was a rotund wee fellah too. Never really made it, but had a good scoring record in the reserves as I recall.

[superfurryhibby]

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Which is exactly why I dislike Harper so much.

But I think it's unfair to blame ET alone - Chairman Hart carries a huge responsibility as well.

But we're actually talking about fat players.

Has Steven Dobbie been mentioned yet?

Aye, Mr Hart's benevolence was soon to dry up.

Dobbies had a mention.

What about John Blackley, never the slimmest and was fairly rotund of belly when he made his return to ER. Seem to recall him masterminding a decent result v Aberdeen, pulling the strings from the back at a time when we usual got a good shearing from them.

[eastmainsmsh]

Justin Skinnier 😉

[snooky]

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Sure, Harper was always on a hiding to nothing when it came to breaking up the prolific strike partnership of Gordon and O'Rourke. Deep down, the liability for this lies with Turnbull. Eddie was never a man for acknowledging any error or mistakes on his part.

The purchase of Harper marked the start of the decline of the Tornadoes and the beginning of Turnbull's decline as a manager. It precipitated the sale of Cropley and the release of Gordon and ORourke. More weird transfers were to soon follow.

On paper the purchase of Harper looked good. As we know, Joe doesn't appear to have fitted into the squad (in a personality sense). I didn't like Harper however, the break up of possible the 2nd best Hibs team EVER wasn't his fault it was Ned's. It was probably inevitable that Cropley would be sold at some point to a bigger club, Alan Gordon wanted to go part-time to complete his accountancy exams (which was a no-no in Ned's book) & Paddy wanted to play in defence as his legs were starting to go. (To this day, I have no idea why we sold Jimmy).
Ned's mistake was not replacing like for like and maintaining the successful formula. Ian Munro although a decent player, never came close to filling Cropley's position. Harper was a square peg in a round hole (ironic phrase ) and another tall centre was called for when Gordon moved. While Des Bremner was a fine player and went on to greater things, he wasn't as swashbuckling as Brownlie. Also, I always felt Brownlie never got back to 100% after his leg break.
As has been mentioned and discussed many times, our weakness was at CH and to some extent a goalkeeper. We also had a lack of strength in the reserves.
The Tornados were a fantastic side and I feel very privileged that I was there to see them.

[heretoday]

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Aye, Mr Hart's benevolence was soon to dry up.

Dobbies had a mention.

What about John Blackley, never the slimmest and was fairly rotund of belly when he made his return to ER. Seem to recall him masterminding a decent result v Aberdeen, pulling the strings from the back at a time when we usual got a good shearing from them.

Blackley strolled about like Beckenbauer much of the time. He got away with it but occasionally an alert striker would pick his pocket and he couldn't turn fast enough to recover.

Was George Best not a trifle, er, comfortable around the midriff while he played for us?

[IlDiavola]

Was Bobby Williamson not a bit of a belter?

[superfurryhibby]

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Blackley strolled about like Beckenbauer much of the time. He got away with it but occasionally an alert striker would pick his pocket and he couldn't turn fast enough to recover.

Was George Best not a trifle, er, comfortable around the midriff while he played for us?

Cough cough, Dixie Deans. Not very fast, but a true predator in the box. In fact he too was a bit athletically challenged.

[FranckSuzy]

Sorry if mentioned before but blobby jobby John 'Robbo' Robertson

[The Pointer]

Enjoying this thread but I'm realising just exactly how many folk are older than me on .net and I'm no Spring chicken.

I only go back to about 1967!