Elruliri Posted October 29, 2017 Report Share Posted October 29, 2017 He was before my time, I've seen the old footage but was he as good as I've been told. Would he of played for England and who does he compare to of today's players. I've met him a few times and I must say what a lovely down to earth bloke he is. From what I've heard we were robbed of a excellent player, who was about to be in his prime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
INCRED Posted October 29, 2017 Report Share Posted October 29, 2017 I was only a young lad of about 9/10 back in 75/76 when Paul Cheesley was such an outstanding CF. I would say the closest player of today's era would be Andy Carroll just purely on his ability in the air but he had a bit more to his game than Carroll and could have played for England had his injury not finished him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
where's the joy Posted October 29, 2017 Report Share Posted October 29, 2017 he was as good as mark hughes with his back to goal, as powerful as Djuric and as savvy a player as you could imagine in terms of game management he had all the attributes of an international footballer. he was and still is a great credit to the club Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheshire_red Posted October 29, 2017 Report Share Posted October 29, 2017 Total class in every aspect of centre forward play and also as a person from what I have heard of him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garland-sweden Posted October 29, 2017 Report Share Posted October 29, 2017 Never seen him play live but met him, top man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downendcity Posted October 29, 2017 Report Share Posted October 29, 2017 The classic " what might have been story". I think it was in our promotion season we played W Ham in the league cup. He was up against top flight defenders ( Frank Lampard snr was one) and made them look ordinary. He was excellent in the air, had strength, power and decent pace and could hold the ball up brilliantly. Could have been more prolific, as I don't think he scored as many as legend leads us to believe. He was an absolute handful and I have little doubt that he would probably have gone to a bigger club and would also have played for England. I think I am right that he turned down an England call up to play for City in a key game - others might know better and confirm if this was the case. One of those players who you always felt would make something happen and I absolutely loved watching him play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldlandReddies Posted October 29, 2017 Report Share Posted October 29, 2017 Everything you would want to see in a centre forward of his time. If his career hadnt sadly been cut short by injury, Im pretty confident he'd have been given his chance in an England shirt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bs3 Posted October 29, 2017 Report Share Posted October 29, 2017 No doubt he would of played for England. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sglosbcfc Posted October 29, 2017 Report Share Posted October 29, 2017 I've never saw him play, but my dad summed it up by saying him and Paul Mariner of Plymouth were the best young Centre forwards about at the time. Dad said that Chessley was better than Mariner. For those that don't know, Mariner went onto play in the top flight for Ipswich and Arsenal and was also capped for England on a number of occasions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BS4 on Tour... Posted October 29, 2017 Report Share Posted October 29, 2017 He was a sort of Alan Shearer type player way before Shearer emerged.....awesome and would have definitely played for England...top, top Bristol City player....we were lucky to have him... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanterne Rouge Posted October 29, 2017 Report Share Posted October 29, 2017 3 minutes ago, BS4 on Tour... said: He was a sort of Alan Shearer type player way before Shearer emerged.....awesome and would have definitely played for England...top, top Bristol City player....we were lucky to have him... Better in the air than Shearer IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BS4 on Tour... Posted October 29, 2017 Report Share Posted October 29, 2017 1 minute ago, Red Right Hand said: Better in the air than Shearer IMO. Yep, The Cheese was awesome in the air, although Shearer did get 46 premier league goals from headers, pretty impressive, only Crouchy has more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanterne Rouge Posted October 29, 2017 Report Share Posted October 29, 2017 1 minute ago, BS4 on Tour... said: Yep, The Cheese was awesome in the air, although Shearer did get 46 premier league goals from headers, pretty impressive, only Crouchy has more! You have to consider the sort of nasty buggers Cheese was up against back then too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodeRed Posted October 29, 2017 Report Share Posted October 29, 2017 100% would have played for England, he already been picked for the U23 team (unusual back then for a second division player when the first div was all British). Shearer the nearest comparison, he was way better than Carroll . Lethal in the air, powerful shot with either foot, Never bullied, held the ball up. My favourite City player along with Gerry Gow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REDOXO Posted October 29, 2017 Report Share Posted October 29, 2017 39 minutes ago, downendcity said: The classic " what might have been story". I think it was in our promotion season we played W Ham in the league cup. He was up against top flight defenders ( Frank Lampard snr was one) and made them look ordinary. He was excellent in the air, had strength, power and decent pace and could hold the ball up brilliantly. Could have been more prolific, as I don't think he scored as many as legend leads us to believe. He was an absolute handful and I have little doubt that he would probably have gone to a bigger club and would also have played for England. I think I am right that he turned down an England call up to play for City in a key game - others might know better and confirm if this was the case. One of those players who you always felt would make something happen and I absolutely loved watching him play. We drew away at WHU the Cash saved a pen. Lost at home 1:3. 75 I thought. But could be wrong. 34 minutes ago, sglosbcfc said: I've never saw him play, but my dad summed it up by saying him and Paul Mariner of Plymouth were the best young Centre forwards about at the time. Dad said that Chessley was better than Mariner. For those that don't know, Mariner went onto play in the top flight for Ipswich and Arsenal and was also capped for England on a number of occasions. Mariner is a decent comparison but the Cheese was bigger. In true City fashion after signing from Norwich (Cheese is a Bristolian but we weren't very good at picking local talent back then) he took shit something fierce as he took a few games to settle in. Then he scored a cracking header from a long way out against Carlisle I think and never looked back. Geoff Merrick thought Cheese would play for England as did everyone else. Great partnership with Tom Richie helped with Clive Whitehead and Trevor Tainton providing the Ammo and Gerry Gow killing it in central midfield. A great team. Cheese was the business but Gerry was king! If i was making comparisons...Lukaku with Skill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CotswoldRed Posted October 29, 2017 Report Share Posted October 29, 2017 If it wasn't for Cheese's injury, we could have millions of Chinese fans online and 50/50 scarf stalls in North Street. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sello Posted October 29, 2017 Report Share Posted October 29, 2017 Paul Cheesley was a a great centre forward who was still developing his considerable talent in a very good team. For those who did not see him, look at the footage of the opening game in the First Division against Arsenal. I was living in London at the time so missed the next game that ended his career. If he had not been injured, Bristol City would certainly not have been fighting relegation that year. Reports are that his rehabilitation programme was crude at best. I often think how modern surgical treatment and aftercare would have saved that promising career. He would have played for England. He was that good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chinapig Posted October 29, 2017 Report Share Posted October 29, 2017 1 hour ago, sglosbcfc said: I've never saw him play, but my dad summed it up by saying him and Paul Mariner of Plymouth were the best young Centre forwards about at the time. Dad said that Chessley was better than Mariner. For those that don't know, Mariner went onto play in the top flight for Ipswich and Arsenal and was also capped for England on a number of occasions. Dad was right, Paul was better than Mariner in every aspect. Faster, 2 footed, stronger and better in the air for starters. Definitely England's centre forward in the making when fate struck imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheese Posted October 29, 2017 Report Share Posted October 29, 2017 I remember a quote from a goalkeeper that had faced him that he had the hardest shot he had ever come across. Can't remember who said it though, and it was in the Evening Post so might not even be true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erithacus Posted October 30, 2017 Report Share Posted October 30, 2017 No doubt Cheesely was a crucial part of the City's push up into Div 1 and would have made a real impact had he not suffered a terrible injury. His partnership with Tom Ritchie was something we really haven't seen the like of since (although Super Bobby Taylor was a top scorer later). I remember him battling for crosses with Stoke's Peter Shilton on a couple of occasions but landed badly on the third - and that was the sad end to what could have been. Only a game and a bit into the Division 1 fixtures and it was over. What could we have achieved if he hadn't... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In the Net Posted October 30, 2017 Report Share Posted October 30, 2017 Obviously I didn't see as much of him as you lot, but he was something special at the time. He had a lot more skill to his game than people anticipated for a big bloke, and I can't imagine many of today's prima-donnas coping with the tackles that used to fly in back then. I think he would have become a regular in the England squad if fate hadn't been so cruel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Port Said Red Posted October 30, 2017 Report Share Posted October 30, 2017 10 hours ago, REDOXO said: We drew away at WHU the Cash saved a pen. Lost at home 1:3. 75 I thought. But could be wrong. Mariner is a decent comparison but the Cheese was bigger. In true City fashion after signing from Norwich (Cheese is a Bristolian but we weren't very good at picking local talent back then) he took shit something fierce as he took a few games to settle in. Then he scored a cracking header from a long way out against Carlisle I think and never looked back. Geoff Merrick thought Cheese would play for England as did everyone else. Great partnership with Tom Richie helped with Clive Whitehead and Trevor Tainton providing the Ammo and Gerry Gow killing it in central midfield. A great team. Cheese was the business but Gerry was king! If i was making comparisons...Lukaku with Skill He did take some shit when he first came in I remember my dad saying "we could have bought a lamppost for £300 and it would have done the same job". But he was perhaps the ultimate in "buying for potential". Apparently Alan Dicks cut his off season short and spent a month working with him on a one to one basis before the preseason started. He looked a completely different player at the start of that season and once he started scoring, his confidence was such that he just seemed to grow in stature. An England player for sure. Just a note in defence of Mariner, I thought where he did have an advantage was in movement off the ball. I remember a game where Ipswich beat us 2 0 and he took up positions that completely confused Collier and Merrick He led the line beautifully that day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellfire Corner Posted October 30, 2017 Report Share Posted October 30, 2017 I was at “that Highbury game” with some Arsenal season ticket holder friends ( I was living in London at the time). They said that Paul Cheesley’s performance that day was one of the best that they had seen. They told me that on that performance they would far rather have signed him than Malcolm Macdonald ( who was making his debut for the Gunners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wendyredredrobin Posted October 30, 2017 Report Share Posted October 30, 2017 He was the best centre forward I can ever remember seeing at the gate. Like Shearer, but bigger, stronger and quicker with both headers and shots like bullets. His injury happened right in front of me and was simply a bad fall when challenging Peter (does your wife kno where you are) Shilton. He doesn't blame Shilton and nor do I. With modern techniques, I often wonder whether his knee could have been fixed, but who knows. Would surely have played for England though if it was. Local lad wh started out at Norwich and bought for a bargain 30k. Did try to make a couple of comebacks without success and managed to play a bit of Rugby for Gordano. He doesn't like Alan Dicks for some reason though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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