FOR someone who wondered at one point if he’d get the chance to be a professional footballer, Garry Birtles didn’t do too badly in the end!
There were two European Cups and a League Cup with Nottingham Forest under the legendary Brian Clough, a big money move to Manchester United and England honours.
That was all a distant dream when Birtles was a mere teenager.
“I thought my chance had gone,” he recalled. “I was on schoolboy forms for Aston Villa and went for trials when I was 15 for a month, I was in digs in Birmingham.
“I got turned down, came back to Nottingham and had no job. I went down the labour exchange and there was a job for a floor layer, which was the job my dad did. I did that and thought my opportunity had gone.”
While his pro hopes had been dashed – for a while at least – Birtles’ enthusiasm for football hadn’t waned. He was playing Non-League football for Long Eaton United on Saturdays and for Long Eaton Rovers on Sundays. “I really enjoyed it, it was brilliant,” he said. “A lot of the lads played for both teams. My house backed on to the pitch where I used to play for Long Eaton Rovers on a Sunday afternoon and I lived very close to Long Eaton United, too.
“United played in the Midland League, which was a very good league. It went as far as Lincolnshire and there was a lot of travelling around. We won the Derbyshire Senior Cup (in 1976), I remember us beating Matlock Town over two legs.
“I’d switched to playing as a striker by then. It was a very tough league and it gave you a great grounding, it was a good learning curve. It was just what I needed.”
Again, the course of history could easily have been different.
Denne historien er fra July - August 2023-utgaven av Late Tackle Football Magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra July - August 2023-utgaven av Late Tackle Football Magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
REISS LIGHTNING
SHUBI ARUN ON FOLLOWING THE FORTUNES OF ARSENAL IN 2022/23...
THE LOST WALLET
MICHAEL GRIMES RECALLS A VISIT TO A MATCH THAT DIDN'T QUITE GO TO PLAN...
DOUBLE DIAMOND
AUTHOR ALEX IRELAND DETAILS HOW SPORTSWEAR FIRM UMBRO BECAME PART OF FOOTBALL HISTORY ACROSS THE GLOBE
TASTY ALMONDS
ROY HAMILTON TELLS JOHN LYONS ABOUT THE DAYS WHEN ALMONDSBURY GREENWAY BECAME A BIG FISH IN NON-LEAGUE WATERS...
HANSEN'S HIGHLIGHTS
AS MATCH OF THE DAY CELEBRATES ITS GOTH BIRTHDAY, SAM TODD REFLECTS ON THE CONTRIBUTION MADE BY FORMER PUNDIT ALAN HANSEN...
MARINE LIFE
POET CHRIS TOWERS WATCHED MARINE PLAY BRADFORD PARK AVENUE IN THE NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE IN FEBRUARY. HE WRITES OF A CLUB CLOSE TO ITS COMMUNITY
SAME OLD ROUTINE
JONNY BRICK APPRECIATES THE RITUALISTIC ARRIVAL OF A NEW FOOTBALL SEASON...
CLOSE ENCOUNTER
MAURICE MOORE TELLS US ABOUT HIS UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCE AS A EURO 2024 VOLUNTEER...
A FLASH OF GORDON
CALLUM HUMPHREY REFLECTS ON A DISAPPOINTING EUROS FOR ENGLAND WINGER ANTHONY GORDON...
FOXES' RETURN
JOHN LYONS LOOKS AT THE PROSPECTS OF LEICESTER CITY AS THEY HEAD BACK TO THE TOP FLIGHT AFTER A YEAR AWAY...