timbo
Programmes Room Manager 
QUO fan 4life.
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Post by timbo on Aug 23, 2013 20:30:28 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2013 6:11:05 GMT
Funny how, when a team gets relegated in successive seasons, you forget how short a period of time this encompasses. Little more than eighteen months before this fixture I was at Craven Cottage on Good Friday 1968. The crowd that day was 40,152 and the visitors lined up: Stepney; Dunne, Burns; Crerand, Sadler, Stiles; Best, Kidd, Charlton, Law, Aston.
Brown, Matthewson, Callaghan, Haynes and Barrett are named in both Fulham line-ups. Three-quarters of the 1968 attendance has evaporated. I'd like to say I was at both games. But I wasn't.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2013 19:10:46 GMT
Very interesting, as Fulham programmes often are. For anyone with a special interest there is a site that allows you to read old Fulham programmes in the same manner as the Digital Green'Un ( LINK - Fulham Programmes)
I expect that the 'Silkman' listed in Fulham's midfield for the South East Counties match when they beat rivals Chelsea 2-1 on 1st November 1969, is Barry Silkman who graced Home Park in the late 1970's, and is now one of the better known Football Agents. Barry was on Fulham's books for a while and would have been 17 at the time so I'm fairly confident it must have been him. I don't think many of the well known football agents come across as being too likeable, and the fact that they universally get a bad Press is partly responsible. Whatever his faults or otherwise, I do remember Silkman (with trademark socks around his ankles) being a highly entertaining and skilful member of the Argyle team I watched on occasions. The fact that he was soon signed by Manchester City seemed to be no more than his ability deserved.  Still with a few entertaining stories, if you want to know why Everton didn't sign Ronaldo when they were offered him by Barry, why Harry Redknapp didn't rate Vidic, or why Zinedine Zidane never got the chance to acquire a Geordie accent, Barry revealed all in his interview with The Jewish Telegraph ( LINK - Jewish Telegraph)
"I wasn't like English players, who play in too many straight lines - I was looked at as a bit of an outlaw". Thinking back he was a bit of a poor man's Gazza who would slalom his way through midfield with his dribbling, and kept going from first minute till last: "I used to love running and lived to play football, so I find it funny when modern players complain of playing twice a week." And keeping the Jewish theme going, listed among the Fulham Directors in the programme is the infamous Eric Miller who committed suicide by shooting himself on the Jewish Day of Atonement in 1977. ( LINK - Eric Miller) |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2013 19:49:21 GMT
From Wikipedia, evidence that Barry was a shrewd fellow indeed:
He was the last British-born Jewish footballer to play professionally in the English top division. Maccabi Tel Aviv, one of Israel's top clubs, took him on loan in January 1980. At the time foreign players could not play in the Israeli league, but Silkman's Jewish faith meant that, according to the Law of Return, he was eligible for immediate Israeli citizenship. However, on hearing that this would also mean that he would have to serve in the Israeli army, he decided to leave and return to Manchester City.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2013 20:12:10 GMT
It just so happens that I'm planning to read "Does Your Rabbi Know You're Here?" by Anthony Clavane which purports to be about "English football's forgotten tribe". There's plenty of references to Barry Silkman in the index.
Torquay United once had a player called Tony Levy. He could have been Jewish - middle name Samuel; born in Edmonton - although it matters little if he were or not. But I'll bring him in to the story if only to mention the absolutely blinding goal he scored on his debut against Scunthorpe on the opening day of the 1979/80 season. And that was it really. He never did much after that and moved on to play for an assortment of non-league clubs in the London area. Then, according to Wiki, Tony Levy later moved to New Zealand where he became a full international playing his final match against Israel.
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