On this day in 1975, Wolf-Dieter Ahlenfelder (below)
became another football person who has taken to the pitch a little worse for wear, like Paul Merson and Paul MaGrath (you know what I mean?). He appeared to officiate a Bundesliga match in 1975-6 between Werder Bremen and Hannover96 under the influence!! Wolf blew for half-time, just 29 minutes into the match and it was obvious that there was something amiss. His linesman corrected him, after complaints by the players. Ahlenfelder questioned his assistant who confirmed that it was indeed too early to call half time. He continued the first half but still stopped it a minute early. The second half continued which led to the linesman commenting at the end of the match saying "We are men-we don't drink Fanta."
Later questioning revealed that Ahlenfelder had been drinking during his lunch before the game and felt a little confused. He received a short ban from officiating Bundesliga games but was soon allowed back as a referee.
You will know that Steve Coppell liked a dram or two as well and he once could not remember why he liked Kevin Doyle exactly, after he saw him playing in Ireland. Steve said that "I had five pints of Guiness in the afternoon and it was a bit of a blur". On this day in 1996, Coppell quit his job as Manchester City manager after just 33 days, citing stress and the pressures of the job as the reason for making such a shock decision!
Steve Coppell’s managerial career took him overseas to India, where he managed several clubs in the Indian Super League (ISL), including Kerala Blasters, Jamshedpur FC, and ATK. While his time in India was marked by mixed results, Coppell brought a level of discipline and tactical organization to Indian football that was previously lacking.
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