YOU MUST BE MAD

Apologies for missing a day's blog but the annual Scholes CC (near Holmfirth) v Hepworth (we dont have a team)CC match was played at Scholes (obviously) because Hepworth doesn't have a ground. It was entertaining with good and bad cricket being played, there was quite a bit of abuse (in jest??), loads of lager breaks and children and locals whizzing around the compact West Yorkshire ground filling the club house bar coffers and shoving down loads of sandwiches, trifle and cake down their throats.

I umpired, being too embarrassed to dare air my cricketing skills in front of huge crowds, but I still played a part, enjoying the occasion. I partly shared square leg with my radio (TMS) and Matt Glennon, who lives in Hepworth. I remember him from previous encounters when he dived around the pitch stopping boundaries and on one occasion yesterday he nearly knocked me off my shooting stick as he made his way unsuccessfully towards a catch.

Matt is a local hero and does good things for local sport having played at the top level. He comments on local radio football programmes and works on behalf of Huddersfield Town. He must be like a pig in clover (is that the right phrase?) as Town top the Premier League. Matt would not be regarded as a "maverick" goalkeeper especially, but there are a few around and in the past many!
Matt was at Bolton Wanderers in 1997 as a starter, played for Town between 2006-10 playing over 100 times and has been with a good number of other clubs including Carlisle and Falkirk and St Johnstone in Scotland and lately at AFC Emley. His wife and he opened two Hair and Beauty salons called G27...his number on the roster.

William Fatty Foulkes would be historically the top maverick and you can read about his exploits in this link:
https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3994718670252035536#editor/target=post;postID=1232242491551975623;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=1;src=postname

Bert Trautmann of Manchester City was a German national and prisoner of war, who stayed in England when peace finally brought war activities to an end. In 1955 he became the first german to play in an FA Cup Final; City lost to Newcastle. He then played through the 1956 FA Cup for Man City v Birmingham City with a "broken" neck helping a 3-1 victory. He played over 500 times for City. He became the first footballer in England to wear Adidas kit after his friendship with Adolf Dassler.

Rene Higuita would be described as exentric https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-flTPSSvCw...  it didn't always work for him.... and Jose Luis Chilavert (the Bull Dog) also stands high on the list
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nloCwfuRyjc. Both South Americans.

But then there are: Kahn (once sent off for punching a corner ball into the opposition goal with both hands), Barthez (allowing di Canio to score while he was doing a Saturday Night Disco Move), Lehmann (was sent off four times in his career a record for the Bundesliga) and Wobbly Grobbelar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2GyLdD1iwE

You have to be mad to be a goalie.