THATCH

OF THE DAY

No 2 Charlie George, Arsenal FC 1969-1975

Charlie was one of English football's true characters, even in the days when every second player was a character.

Probably his most famous moment was scoring the winner during extra time in the 1971 FA Cup Final against Liverpool, ensuring Arsenal did 'The Double' of Cup and Championship in the same season.

He was so knackered, he didn't even bother running around in celebration. He just fell flat on his back with his arms outstretched in a Christ-like pose, while his team mates jumped on top of him.

Afterwards he claimed he did it "To give the fans something to remember" but I'm pretty sure it was to prevent himself falling unconscious in front of a live audience of 200 million.

Charlie, like most 1970s players, was fond of beer, women and the gee-gees (horses) in no particular order.

Unfortunately the gee-gees didn't always return the affection.

There's a story that while he was playing for Southampton, several gentlemen with short necks and large baseball bats came looking for him over a payment on a betting tab he was running.

Quite why they went to these lengths to find him is beyond me. All they had to do was wait until Saturday and pay through the turnstiles at The Dell like everybody else.

This tale was told to me by an uncle who's an ardent Saints fan, so if it's wrong Charlie, your lawyers can write to me care of the nice people at blogger.com

Yes I know mate, I should have paid the seventeen quid and read your book, which I understand contains a delightful anecdote about you running naked down a road while chasing a dog.
Oh and PS, was it fun telling England's national manager Don Revie to go forth and multiply? Strange you only ever got one cap for your country.
Mr George had further torrid times at Southampton, managing to slice the top off one of his toes while using a lawnmower at home. Possession of anything less than 10 complete toes is normally considered a disadvantage for a footballer, and in 1981 he took a break from the English game.
After departing The Dell, Charlie actually spent some time in Hong Kong supposedly playing for a team called Buloya, though I can't find any reference to the club on the Web. Another source calls the team Bulova, but I thought that was a brand of Swiss watch.
In Hong Kong, Charlie's patronymicum (a surname originating from an ancestor's given name) must have caused some confusion. Out here, family names normally come first in titles, so if you write 'Mike Grimes' on a hotel register, they will think your family name is Mike and you will be forever known as 'Mr Mike'.
Many Chinese people - rarely slow on the uptake - have now twigged Westerners' funny ways, and realise we normally put the family names second, so will address you as 'Mr Grimes' etc.
'Charles George' must have been a bit of a poser for them. They would wonder, is it 'Mr George Charles' or 'Mr Charles George'? Or perhaps they just referred to him as 'The gweilo with the dodgy barnet'.