southvillekiddy Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 Couldn't go yesterday, was playing in a band at a party in London. When I got the result I couldn't stop myself and announced that Bristol City had beaten Walsall. Got a little ripple of interest and then this bloke comes up and says " Bristol City, home of the great John Atyeo". Turns out this bloke had never even been to Bristol let alone seen Atyeo or Bristol City! Just shows how widely the great man was known about. Proper made my Christmas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hippy273 Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 Also a great Maths Teacher so i read Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southvillekiddy Posted December 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 Also a great Maths Teacher so i read As one of the last sublime amateurs in Sport, Atyeo couldn't take football seriously as a career for a grown man. So after trying surveying alongside part-time football, he trained as a teacher at Redland College alongside his playing. Universally loved by his pupils in Wiltshire apparently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aizoon Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 Also a great Maths Teacher so i read A female friend asked me some years ago "have you heard of John Atyeo?" He was her maths teacher but he was very modest about his football career. I wondered elsewhere what proportion of his games he scored in. I reckon above 40% Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S. Bristol Born & Red Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 A female friend asked me some years ago "have you heard of John Atyeo?" He was her maths teacher but he was very modest about his football career. I wondered elsewhere what proportion of his games he scored in. I reckon above 40% He scored 351 goals in 645 appearances (League & Cup). I make that approximately 54% of games he played, he scored in....not to mention 5 goals for England in only 6 appearances...although I never saw him play, he makes me proud to be City. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esmond Million's Bung Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 Big John and BCFC were a perfect fit for one reason, Harry Dolman, HD allowed him to realise all of his dreams and aspirations outside of the game and that was the one thing that JA would not compromise on and why he remained at BCFC for his entire career, HD enabled that in every single way including financially, 2 BCFC legends in every sense of the word. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carey 6 Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 My grandad always claims that England didn't take him to the World Cup (which he scored the qualifying goal for) because they didn't want to take a semi professional footballer. A sort of snobbery I guess, anyone know more about this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esmond Million's Bung Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 My grandad always claims that England didn't take him to the World Cup (which he scored the qualifying goal for) because they didn't want to take a semi professional footballer. A sort of snobbery I guess, anyone know more about this? it was more to do with the fact he was playing in the 3rd division, which gave them an in built excuse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forza Revolution Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarksRed Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 on equal terms his record will never be beaten ........ much as Carey has done for us, how many of his games were as a sub ? in the great mans day, games he played he started, thats a big difference .. so yes i will applaud Carey when he beats the total, but it will not be the same achievement as JA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southvillekiddy Posted December 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 it was more to do with the fact he was playing in the 3rd division, which gave them an in built excuse. I imagine that lots of people in the England set-up at the time - players, officials and selectors must have been rather peeved to see how brilliant Atyeo was while playing on a "part-time basis" in a lower League, away from the fashionable First Division clubs of the day. The recordings of his England games show how impressively he moved with and without the ball. He looks the most modern out of all of the players. He didn't fit in with the England of the time in so many ways. must have stirred up a lot of jealousy. Some of these issues are covered in "Atyeo - Hero next Door" the excellent biography by Tom Hopegood and John Hudson. pbl. Redcliffe Press 2005. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esmond Million's Bung Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 I imagine that lots of people in the England set-up at the time - players, officials and selectors must have been rather peeved to see how brilliant Atyeo was while playing on a "part-time basis". The recordings of his England games show how impressively he moved with and without the ball. He looks the most modern out of all of the players. He didn't fit in with the England of the time in so many ways. must have stirred up a lot of jealousy. Some of these issues are covered in "Atyeo - Hero next Door" the excellent biography by Tom Hopegood and John Hudson. pbl. Redcliffe Press 2005. Also he wasn't the much of a socialiser our Big John and that may have been misinterpreted by the England set up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hippy273 Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 A female friend asked me some years ago "have you heard of John Atyeo?" He was her maths teacher but he was very modest about his football career. I wondered elsewhere what proportion of his games he scored in. I reckon above 40% Surprised he never went into football management being educated and knowing the game so well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aizoon Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 Surprised he never went into football management being educated and knowing the game so well. Maybe that's why he didn't Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southvillekiddy Posted December 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 Surprised he never went into football management being educated and knowing the game so well. One of the greatest disappointments of his career was not getting a Directorship at City. He imagined that he would be greatly in demand for his footballing knowledge on the Board. He assumed that HD would smooth the way for this but HD made it clear that Atyeo would have to put in serious money, probably all of his Testimonial money and then some. Atyeo just wasn't prepared to do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southvillekiddy Posted December 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 Also he wasn't the much of a socialiser our Big John and that may have been misinterpreted by the England set up. Yes. He definitely looks uncomfortable in the informal England Squad photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aizoon Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 He scored 351 goals in 645 appearances (League & Cup). I make that approximately 54% of games he played, he scored in....not to mention 5 goals for England in only 6 appearances...although I never saw him play, he makes me proud to be City. Er.... No. It was 350 goals, and he had a 52.3% strike rate. However, he scored 2, 3, 4 and even 5 goals in some games. The percentage of games in which he scored will therefore be under 52.3 % I'd estimate about 40% and I'd guess that he scored in at least half his home games. It certainly seemed that way when I watched him. That's why I asked for a statto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
City1970 Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 Couldn't go yesterday, was playing in a band at a party in London. When I got the result I couldn't stop myself and announced that Bristol City had beaten Walsall. Got a little ripple of interest and then this bloke comes up and says " Bristol City, home of the great John Atyeo". Turns out this bloke had never even been to Bristol let alone seen Atyeo or Bristol City! Just shows how widely the great man was known about. Proper made my Christmas. He was a prolific goal scorer for England, 3 in 5 was it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aizoon Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 5 in 6, including the one one in Dublin that qualified England for the World Cup. That was his last touch in an England shirt They resented the fact that he was a semi-pro with ideas above his station. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aizoon Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 Er.... No. It was 350 goals, and he had a 52.3% strike rate. However, he scored 2, 3, 4 and even 5 goals in some games. The percentage of games in which he scored will therefore be under 52.3 % I'd estimate about 40% and I'd guess that he scored in at least half his home games. It certainly seemed that way when I watched him. That's why I asked for a statto. A statto has popped up to say it was 40.1% Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
City1970 Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 5 in 6, including the one one in Dublin that qualified England for the World Cup. That was his last touch in an England shirt They resented the fact that he was a semi-pro with ideas above his station. Even more prolific than first thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aizoon Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 Even more prolific than first thought. Hell of a player; he really WAS that good Juve offered us what would have then been a world record fee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesBCFC Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 My grandad always claims that England didn't take him to the World Cup (which he scored the qualifying goal for) because they didn't want to take a semi professional footballer. A sort of snobbery I guess, anyone know more about this? That's the same as my dad told me when I asked about it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesBCFC Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Marsh Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 Twas AC Milan I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
City1970 Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aizoon Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 Twas AC Milan I believe. I heard it was both, which may or may not be true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon uk Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 The hero next door is great, and humbling also. We will never see anyone like that play for us again. The header v Ireland is still well known in Irish football, it's called the atyeo silence, or something similar. In one of the games he played in a front five including Matthews, Finley, lofthouse and motensen I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aizoon Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 The hero next door is great, and humbling also. We will never see anyone like that play for us again. The header v Ireland is still well known in Irish football, it's called the atyeo silence, or something similar. In one of the games he played in a front five including Matthews, Finley, lofthouse and motensen I believe. There's even an Irish song about it, I believe. Completely forgotten in England, though - outside Bristol that is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redtucks Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 .......and he was never booked or sent off! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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