Keith Burkinshaw, remember him? (below middle) on July 10th 1978, signed two of Argentina's World Cup winning squad, Osvaldo Ardiles (b.3.8.1952) and Ricardo Villa (b.15.8.1952), on a £750,000 deal-for them both! Following on from Argentina's success in Buenos Aires in June that year, Keith Burkinshaw, Spurs' manager, jumped on a plane to Argentina's capital and the £1500 investment in that air ticket by the club, led to a major reward for the North London club. Both 25 year olds signed three year contracts and arranged to travel to London in a few days. It took 72 hours to seal the deal!
It was Harry Haslam, manager of Sheffield United, who established a link with Antonio Rattin, remember him? Haslam couldn't afford the transfer fee and he knew there would be competition for World Cup winning players, from many European clubs, especially from Spain but he concentrated on midfielders whilst others were after "goalscorers". Two weeks after the World Cup final, Burkinshaw signed the pair for what seems a modest fee these days.
Many in England thought that the pair would struggle in the English system, especially with the weather! but Ardiles (left) brought a new "vision" to the league and Villa (below), the more robust of the pair, physically, coped well enough, although he found it hard to find the "spark" that had been in his game.
Harry Haslam signed River Plate players Alex Sabela and Pedro Verde, while Sunderland paid £320,000 for Claudio Marangoni, but this influx never really lived up to its reputation and before long they had moved to other more obscure league clubs or returned home. Only Ossie Ardiles succeeded and won the admiration of the terraces. Ossie's career below:
| Senior career* | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1973 | Instituto de Córdoba | 14 | (3) |
| 1974 | Belgrano | 16 | (2) |
| 1975–1978 | Huracán | 109 | (11) |
| 1978–1988 | Tottenham Hotspur | 238 | (16) |
| 1982–1983 | → Paris Saint-Germain (loan) | 14 | (1) |
| 1985 | → St George FC (loan) | 1 | (0) |
| 1988 | Blackburn Rovers | 5 | (0) |
| 1988–1989 | Queens Park Rangers | 8 | (0) |
| 1989 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 5 | (1) |
| 1989–1991 | Swindon Town | 2 | (0) |
| Total | 412 | (34) | |
| International career | |||
| 1975–1982 | Argentina | 51 | (8) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1989–1991 | Swindon Town | ||
| 1991–1992 | Newcastle United | ||
| 1992–1993 | West Bromwich Albion | ||
| 1993–1994 | Tottenham Hotspur | ||
| 1995 | Guadalajara | ||
| 1996–1998 | Shimizu S-Pulse | ||
| 1999 | Croatia Zagreb | ||
| 2000–2001 | Yokohama F. Marinos | ||
| 2001 | Al-Ittihad SC Aleppo | ||
| 2002–2003 | Racing Club | ||
| 2003–2005 | Tokyo Verdy | ||
| 2006 | Beitar Jerusalem | ||
| 2007 | Huracán | ||
| 2008 | Cerro Porteño | ||
| 2012 | FC Machida Zelvia | ||
| 2013 | Malaysia | ||
| Senior career* | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1970–1974 | Quilmes | 108 | (20) |
| 1973 | →San Martín de Tucumán (loan) | 10 | (3) |
| 1974–1976 | Atlético de Tucumán | 51 | (19) |
| 1976–1978 | Racing Club | 52 | (6) |
| 1978–1983 | Tottenham Hotspur | 133 | (18) |
| 1983 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 19 | (3) |
| 1984–1985 | Deportivo Cali | 0 | (0) |
| 1986–1989 | Defensa y Justicia | 93 | (4) |
| Total | 466 | (73) | |
| International career | |||
| 1975–1978 | Argentina | 17 | (1) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1998–1999 | Defensa y Justicia | ||
| 2012 | Defensa y Justicia | ||
No comments:
Post a Comment