When I was a kid the most exotic names of players for top teams in the Football League would have been Scottish like Billy Bremner or maybe Italian like the ex-Swansea player who went on to star for the New York Cosmos Giorgio Chinaglia. Giorgio was the son of Mario Chinaglia who like so many others had moved to Wales to find work. There was money in the British game but ironically not as much as in Italy.
It was the ‘Lure of the Lira’ that enticed Swansea born John Charles to join Juventus in 1957. The Turin based side was owned by the wealthy Agnelli Family who part owned amongst other things Fiat, Ferrari, Lancia and Alfa Romeo. The Agnelli Family had money and they played to win.
They offered Leeds United a record breaking £65,000 for Charles, a fee that almost doubled the previous British transfer record. Charles was joined by a number of other British greats in the Italian league including Jimmy Greaves and Denis Law. It was hard for them to turn down offers to move abroad where the wages on offer were far greater than anything they could earn at home. It’s said that Jimmy Greaves went from earning £20 a week at Chelsea to over £130 a week at AC Milan plus lots of perks like a luxury flat.
Swansea City was at the forefront of a change in direction of top class players. John Toshack was a visionary manager in so many ways. When he took over at the Swans he knew he had a wonderful crop of local young talent in Curtis, James and Charles but he needed experience as well.
First he turned to old Liverpool colleagues like Tommy Smith and Ian Callaghan. Next he looked to Eastern Europe bringing in Yugoslavian defenders Ante Rajkovic and Dzemal Hadziabdic. Their home clubs needed hard currency and the wages Swansea could offer outstretched anything they could earn behind the Iron Curtain.
The Yugoslavs were welcomed in Swansea with open arms but not every foreign player had such a warm welcome. I was excited when Tottenham turned up at the Vetch with 2 Argentinean World Cup winners in their squad for a League Cup match in September 1978. It is said that Tommy Smith wasn’t a fan of these football imports and he definitely made his feelings known with an early tackle on Ossie Ardiles. I still remember the deep intake of breath from the entire North Bank as the Argentinean left the floor. In his autobiography Tommy Smith said he approached Ardiles as he lay on the ground to check he was ok before saying ‘Welcome to English Football’.
The trickle of foreign players coming to Britain changed with the arrival of the Premier League, although it took some time to turn into a flood. When the Premier League started in 1992 there were only a handful of Non British or Irish players starting on the first day of the season. One of those was Eric Cantona.
In November 1991 French footballing legend Michel Platini approached Liverpool manager Graeme Souness and said Cantona was available for transfer. Souness turned him down. In fact Trevor Francis, who had had a successful career in Italian football, only took Cantona to Sheffield Wednesday as a favour to Platini who he knew from his Italian playing days. In the end Wednesday couldn’t afford Cantona so instead he signed for Leeds United and the rest as they say is history.
At the time there was some suspicion about ‘foreign’ players. They might have been more skilful and tactically aware than the indigenous players, but they had a reputation for falling over in the tackle or play acting or feigning injury. There was also the big question about how they would cope with the weather.
It is thought that one of the most famous quotes in football history goes back to TV commentator Andy Gray. Like Tommy Smith, Gray had a reputation for being a ‘hard man’ of the game, never shirking a tackle on the ground or a battle in the air. Gray and his colleague Richard Keys were discussing the merits of various footballing superstars including Lionel Messi and Ronaldo as they vied for the Ballon d’Or. By this stage Ronaldo had shown he could stand up to the rigours of the British climate and British game, but Lionel Messi hadn’t really shone when playing against British teams. Gray suggested that Messi was a terrific player, but could he produce on a,
‘cold, rainy night in Stoke?’.
The reason this phrase has been going around my head is because next Tuesday Swansea welcome Preston North End to the Dot Com Stadium for a mid-week match under lights. This season we have had some terrific crowds. The game against Man City in October drew a crowd of over 20,000. Preston are a solid Northern team hoping to reach the playoffs, but they are no Man City. Yet Tuesday’s game is likely to sell out and be the highest Midweek attendance, well, maybe ever.
The reason its now so hard to get a ticket isn’t because of who is coming to play football at the stadium but because of who will be there watching from the side lines… Snoop Dogg.
Over the years we have welcomed lots of stars to the Stadium. Every week during those Premier League days brought world class players to Landore. It wasn’t just the players. We welcomed managers like Sir Alex Ferguson and Pep Guardiola. I’ve seen Footballing greats like Sir Bobby Charlton and German Legend Karl Heinz Rummenigge walk along the concourse. Even the referees were household names…but I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed such excitement for a visit compared to The Doggfather.
When it was first announced that Snoop had become a part owner of the Swans I think many of us checked to see if the date was 1st April. It was such a bizarre idea. Once confirmed through official channels the internet was flooded with AI pictures of the Dogg everywhere around the town, from Rossi’s Chip Shop to Joe’s Ice Cream. This week he’s heading to town and none of us will know if the pictures we see are real or not.
It seems nowadays that it’s not just foreign players that are the talking points, it’s the owners. Its hard to quantify just what Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac have done for Wrexham football club, the town and the region. That media spotlight has brought in millions of dollars in sponsorship and advertising. Can Luka Modric, Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg do the same for Swansea?
I’ve just checked Snoop Dogg’s social media numbers and they run into over 100 million followers if you combine all the platforms. Next week the eyes of the world will be on our town. If anyone should ask the question can Snoop Dogg do it on a cold wet windy Tuesday night in Swansea? I think already the answer is a resounding yes…he will ‘Drop it like it’s hot!!!