Tales from the Vicarage 7-The Captains

Discussion in 'The Golden Years' started by We hate 48, Sep 3, 2018.

  1. We hate 48

    We hate 48 Reservist

    In the euphoria of the win over Spurs I forgot that many of us went straight to the Palace theatre to see Adam Leventhal present the latest of these.

    Andy Hessenthaler couldn't make it for family reasons so it was Les Taylor, Wilf Rostron and Neil Cox

    Brief comments

    Les Taylor-time has taken its toll in his appearance as Adam L pointed out. He now works at Oxford's academy and has done for some years. Adam L was trying to extract comments about how Les felt taking over the captaincy at Wembley from Wilf after his sending off at L*T*N by the pr**k Roger Milford.

    It was Les's only game as captain

    Les as you would expect from one schooled by GT said it was a proud moment for a player to lead his team out at Wembley in front of 100,000. He went onto say he did captain Reading at Wembley 4 years later when they beat L*T*N in the Full Members cup final (Simod cup?)

    He also recounted his goal at WHL to beat Spurs in the 82/83 season after disobeying instructions and got into the box. They also replayed his left foot stunner at Brum in the Q-F in 1984. And his shot when 0-0 at Wembley which he swore by deflected by an everton player for a corner rather than Les shooting wide but after 2 replays by Adam L it could not be confirmed

    Came over a very jovial geordie well suited to his role which GT described to him as a "sniffer and ratter"

    Wilf Rostron-apart from his grey/white hair and no curls he looked no different-not bad for someone who will be 62 this month and still playing in an over 40's team back in his native Sunderland. Came over a thoroughly likeable no nonsense guy. He said being captain was straightforward as everyone had their instructions and knew what to do. I forgot he was with us for 10 years playing over 300 games.

    On the sending off he did say they had all been warned before that if sent off they would miss the final. Paul Elliot had already been booked when they both slid in but in Wilfs mind there was a clash but no foul by either man however if Milford was going to book and then send off Elliott then to appease the home support he had to send Wilf off. A crying shame as both he and Les felt that the lack of experience we then had, told on us v Everton

    Neil Cox-working at AFC Wimbledon with Neil Ardley. More stories from him -one being the cup win in Copa Ibiza and having coffee cups on the table and pints underneath to disguise the drinking such that after winning it and being told they could now go out in Ibiza town he and some others opted to stay in after 4 nights of drinking. Recounted the wage deferral after the ITV digital collapse and Chairman Simpson then offering only Neil his refund as he had approached Simpson as captain-he declined and told all the players.

    Good atmosphere again and whilst not everyones cup of tea, in Adam L we have a high profile media savvy guy well versed in the history of the club and the talent of GT in creating the foundations for the club today. As an "oldie" i did enjoy seeing and hearing from two of the more publicity shy guys in Les and Wilf who played their part in those fantastic GT years
     
  2. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

    Part two in November I think..
     
  3. leighton buzzard horn

    leighton buzzard horn Squad Player

    They did well to get Rostron there. When we spoke to him for the legends site he was a lovely bloke but incredibly shy and didn't like any attention. He runs a furniture business I believe.

    The Cox interview goes down as our greatest because of the Simpson story and the sh!tstorm of a week that followed just after it. Cox was a marmite character but to be fair he seems to play it straight and was a loyal player in a tricky time for the club.
     
  4. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    "sniffer and ratter"
    Could have sworn that was the description he applied to Ray Train when he bought him rather than Taylor but maybe I'm wrong or maybe it was both. Great signing and a great player.
     
  5. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

  6. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

    TBH he wasn't the most forthcoming compared to the other 2 - very quietly spoken and didn't give much away.

    Mind you as pointed out above there was a lot of talk of what could have been for him!
     
  7. leighton buzzard horn

    leighton buzzard horn Squad Player

    I'd imagine being a footballer can lead to some uncomfortable situations if you are a shy person which I get the impression he is. Like I said though, he's a nice enough bloke.

    Interested to see who is up next for Tales from the Vic.
     
    wfc4ever likes this.

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