Ice Eyes Competition – Win A True Storey – A Legend Writes
Sep 7th, 2010 by 'holic
“Some of the Arsenal lads looked forward to Leeds with as much enthusiasm as root canal work at the dentist without gas, but they never frightened me. Rather, I licked my lips in anticipation.”
Any Arsenal supporter of my age will know without being told which Gunners legend has just released his autobiography. When pressed to name my all-time great Arsenal eleven a couple of years ago I caused some raised eyebrows with the selection of Peter Storey.
The emergence of Patrick Vieira left no space for him in the midfield destroyer’s role he made his own in the seventies, but those of my era will tell you that to leave him out completely would be unthinkable. A few outstanding full-backs had to be overlooked to ensure ‘ice-eyes’ was included in his original berth.
In a decade when all the successful teams had a hard core around which the flair players could function, ‘Snouty’ was irreplaceable. The fact that he is remembered for being a genuine hard man, and his post-career run-ins with the law, ignores wrongly the ability that earned Peter nineteen international caps for England.
A full-back when making his debut at Leicester in 1965, Storey alternated between right and left flank before nailing down the number two shirt. His partnership on the right flank with George Armstrong would provide numerous opportunities for the likes of Radford, Kennedy, and Graham, as a steady stream of crosses rained in on defences.
Peter’s excellent distribution was often overlooked, or more accurately was completely overshadowed by his tenacious engagements with the other ‘enforcers’ of the day. In 1970-71 he was converted to a midfielder and Arsenal’s first double owed much to the ‘protection’ that Storey afforded to his team-mates, although to be fair there weren’t any shrinking violets in that side to begin with.
For evidence of his footballing gifts look no further than the FA Cup semi-final in that double season. Arsenal were two down to Stoke City, who had already beaten them 5-0 in the League, when Storey, glistening with sweat, vaseline, and probably venom, struck a twenty-yarder to reduce the arrears. In injury-time Arsenal won a dramatic penalty. Storey placed it to Gordon Banks left, the ‘keeper went right, and Arsenal went on to enter the record books.
The following season some felt the arrival of Alan Ball would end Storey’s midfield career, but they missed the point. Peter rode shotgun for Ball, and the sorcerer’s apprentice that was Liam Brady, until 1977 when he moved on for a brief finale with Fulham, George Best and all.
As one who enjoyed a pint or two in Peter’s pub, the Jolly Farmers, at that time I am not entirely surprised he fell under the influence of one or two of the more colourful characters that could be found in there. That said, I and my peers will be delighted to read that this most private of former Gunners has found some contentment in France with his fourth wife.
I will be back in the next week or so with a full review of the book. In the meantime I have been sent a copy by the publishers, Mainstream Publishing, as a prize for one lucky ‘holic. So to be the proud owner of a riveting read about a true Arsenal legend can you tell me how many goals Peter scored for Arsenal in his 501 appearances?
Answers please to competition@goonerholic.com before next Tuesday, 14th September. If, however, you just can’t wait you will find the book in any bookshop worth browsing in, or Amazon of course at the following link.
47 Responses to “Ice Eyes Competition – Win A True Storey – A Legend Writes”
Nice to see read something on a positive note after my self-suffocating last few drinks on the latest blog post by you, ‘Holy.
Lovely read. Sending my email with the answer to you now, well up for winning the book.
Cheers. And please, more of the strong stuff.
That penalty at Hillsborough was so close to Gordon Banks it almost touched him ! His nerve to convert and keep the double dream alive was amazing.
I once read an interview with ‘Chopper Harris’ in which he was asked what was the scariest sight he had ever seen in football. he replied that it was collecting the ball at his feet, then looking up to see Peter Storey running at him.
Peter Storey – a hard man among hard men.
Just popped in for a quick pint.
Cider please guv.
Peter Storey had wicked sideburns, I think they based Wolverine on him. 😉
I asked my older brother to sum up Storey in a sentence.
“Hard as nails and clever as a fox, born to win football games”
Couldn’t really ask for more could you? My memories are more limited as I was about ten when he lost his first team spot but I remember how the crowd reacted to him when he hunted someone down, just a gasp then a roar.
Gin and Tonic on this lovely afternoon please Sir.
The ‘holicdad, Tim, saw all the Arsenal greats. If only I could get him writing. He rated Storey among the best he had ever seen. Put him up with Hapgood and Copping for sheer ‘hardness’, but raved about his passing, crossing, and willingness to get forward.
You knew who the other hard men really were by those that dared to mix it with him. Some had reputations that were undeserved because they clearly bottled any confrontation with Peter.
If the ‘holicdad won’t write his tales, maybe record some of your chats with him? He must have some great stories to pass on.
Oh and is brandy and Babycham suitably 70s for today’s blog? 😉
…or vodka and lime 😉
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I love you, ‘holic. Just wanted to get that out there.
Urquel, please!
Holic
My Old man swore that Storey’s greatest regret in life was not that he had been arrested,served time etc etc,but that he had missed out on the biggest night of his footballing career when we beat Spurs to win the title in 71.!!
He went off injured in the game against Stoke on the previous Saturday,and failed a fitness test for the Spurs game on Monday.
He was quoted as saying that after playing virtually all season,it was heartbreaking to miss that game.
He also wasn’t anywhere near fit to play the Cup final at Wembley 5 days later,but he was determined not to miss out a 2nd time and passed a very late fitness test,and lasted for about an hour if my memory serves me correctly.
In that hour that he played i think he kicked virtually every Liverpool player up in the air except the goalkeeper.!!
My Dad and i were behind the goal at Wembley that day,and i remember every time Storey crunched into a tackle my Dad would yell out,’That’s another one down “.It became so infectious that every time he flattened a Liverpool player,the whole crowd around us were yelling out ” That’s another one down”
Even legendary Liverpol tough nut TommySmith avoided him.!!
Storey admitted afterwards that he was playing on virtually one leg.
If he was playing today he would terrify the Shawcrosses and Taylor’s of this world.!!
The DVD of that 71 Cup Final, is recommended viewing for any of the younger generation of Arsenal fans to see just what a tough nut he was.
I look forward to the book with much anticipation and i am glad he is leading a quiet life and has found some happiness in his later years.
Ah, I was just to the right of you, I suspect Clive. The end where Charlie scored, opposite the tunnel. I must write that day up. I can still feel every emotion, and we went from rock bottom to euphoric in less than half an hour 🙂
Interesting read `Holic, I just went though the interwebs to learn more about Peter Storey, turns out he was a pretty wild guy, “One Storey that belonged in the horror section” according to wikipedia. BTW his pub name was the Nag’s Head. He had another, ahem, establishment it seems. Could it be there you saw the colourful characters?
I’ll save you the expense of mailing across the swamp although his life looks to have taken many captivating paths.
@Clive: I’m not so sure about that `71 final and the younger gunners. Every time I’m taken by a bout of nostalgia to watch some memorable games I’m bitterly reminded on how the idols of my youth wouldn’t have the physical condition to play in League One today… Too many of those great goals would make modern defenders blush and the younger generation would probably wince watching the terrible defences of the time not bother to close down forward moves.
Morning all. ‘Holic and those of your generation I have a question that was touched on earlier. For those of us of a younger generation that never saw Storey play, how would you compare him to the king of the Arsenal midfield Paddy Vieira?
From a funny guardian article:
“in 1979, two years after leaving the club, he was fined £700 and given a six-month suspended jail sentence for running a brothel in East London. In 1980 he was jailed for three years for financing a plot to counterfeit gold coins. In 1990 he was jailed for 28 days for attempting to import 20 pornographic videos from Europe which he’d hidden in his spare tyre”
He was not the only one to live his life fully. I love the introductory quote of the article by Mickey Thomas: “So Roy Keane’s on 50 grand a week. Mind you, I was on 50 grand a week until the police found my printing machine!”
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,,642508,00.html
Walcott injured playing for that ‘other team’ ?
Any official word on the extent….not what was called for this week….bloody international football trying to cause added dislike.
Don’t want to take anything away from the trips down memory lane, but we also live in the present, and the present has Walcott with what looks like a nasty injury (Capello said two weeks, but he’s not kidding anybody), and Van Persie extending his spell on the sidelines in what is sure to prove another season of deferred returns. See you in May for that cameo, Robin!
I love this blog, because it reminds me that we’ve had it worse and we’ve had it better, and also that alcohol can numb the pain and fire the joy in equal measure. Nonetheless, I can’t square this nostalgia with our current concerns, and I’m finding it more and more difficult to let the past do its work. Football, like any sport, derives its impetus from its immediacy, and in the longest view–like it or not–a team is only as good as its last season and its current one. Similarly, a fan’s emotions (hence belief) lie somewhere between the last result and the next one.
You are a true statesman, ‘holic, and I admire you not only for your perspective but also for your erudition. But nothing can cure my current frustration with a squad whose proneness to injuries (and lack of a great keeper) will almost certainly equate to another barren season.
Well… Almost nothing. Another bottle of Alsatian Pinot Gris or Gewurtztraminer would do it. As would a generous splash of a single malt Speyside, or–sod it all–a bottle of cheap vodka poured down my throat.
@Bunburyist: you let yourself down too easily. We have on average 60 injuries per season in the last 4-5 years, so we’re bound to have another 58 until May 😉 Brace yourself!
Walcott and Robin’s inuries are a setback but at the same time we have still too many players to chose from to make a starting XI against Bolton. Now if Chamakh were to injure himself too it would be more worrying…
As for the keeper we don’t know yet which Almunia will feature this season. If it’s the one from 2 seasons ago, we’re good to go. Granted it’s a big if but by now he should have overcome his grief and be focused on his duties. So far so good. Have you watched the internationals? Both Reina and Akinfeev made rookie mistakes…
I feel like crying.
Robin will miss Stamford Bridge.
There goes our best chance of winning there.
TV admits Cesc can’t stop thinking about Barca, how’s he gonna play with that in mind? Damn it!
Snir? I don’t think AW or anyone else at the club is counting on Van Persie to win us the title. In the last 3-4 years he’s been available for barely half the games we played. Except for his excellent performance 2 seasons ago he has been scoring around 10 goals a season. He’s a great asset but to win silverware we have to win games without him and we should.
And honestly, given Walcott’s injury record we have to see the pair Rvp/Walcott as one single player who’s got a crock from time to time…
Speaking of, I saw Diaby in the french game against Bosnia. He was trying too hard and was obviously short on confidence but despite that he was always in the right spot, was merciless in midfield while very creative offensively and had a lot of occasions/assists. The weight of his passes was a bit off sometimes and he panicked in front of the keeper but with a few games more and a couple of goals to pump him up he will be phenomenal. Now what are the odds he’ll stay injury-free up to the Chelski game?
None?
Matt, I just don’t know what to tell ya man… If Chamakh gets injured we’re really doomed, it’ll be United and Chelsea at the Emirates all over again with Arshavin up front.
Trev and Catalan, I think now is the time for that letter… Don’t you think? Our season’s starting to slip away…
For those still having faith in John Cross, he just wrote a post to remind everyone who’s signing his checks. He gets more (angry) comments when he barfs on the team, knowing his employer must use shitty metrics to assess him so he went for it outrageously.
@Snir: Way too early in the season to be so miserable. Chamakh has a healthy record, Walcott will be back in 2 weeks, JET and Afobe are on fire for the reserves. We will still have to leave good players on the bench for the upcoming 7 games in 3 weeks. And you were the one to mention that Chelski and United were short in depth, they will have injuries (and the ACN for CSKA London) to deal with. The road will be bumpy for everyone and it’s just starting. We’re still looking good.
Matt, you didn’t get me.
I don’t care (or maybe should I say, not as worried) about the 7 games in 3 weeks since we should win all without RvP.
Bolton at home should (!) be easy, Braga at home we could do without RvP, Sunderland away, Chamakh will do, Spurs CC – Younguns, W.B.A at home easy, Belgrade away we could do without RvP since we only need 13 points to qualify from first and we could spare that game if it’s a threat to RvP’s and the first team’s fitness before Chelsea away – Now that’s the problem with no RvP.
I know Chelsea and United will have problems with injuries (Terry and Lampard already injured) but playing Chelsea with Arshavin up front won’t matter who plays for them. All we need is for Chamakh to stay healthy…
As much as I have high hopes for the youngsters, I’d rather wait for them to make their mark against the likes of Wolves etc’ at the Emirates rather than at Stamford Bridge (I’m also quite positive there’s not ACN this year for Chelsea).
I just wish we would have had him for Stamford Bridge, it would have been a whole different ball game.
You are right Matt. My own reaction (in Holics earlier blog post) was mostly due to the fact that I saw that picture of Theo’s foot being all bent and just felt that “not again”-feeling. Didn’t worry all that much for us but to see Theo going out for half a year would have been terrible for him. When it comes to us, we’ll be alright. Nasri is back and JET is playing bettet than ever. He scored again last night, as did Afobe and Aneke.
Oh, and we’ve got Cesc Fabregas.
Coffee please!
When did RvP become the talisman of this club? We will compete this year based on out depth, not our reliance on one very fragile forward. I admire RvP but have long since taken him out the equation as someone likely to play more than 25 games in the league.
Having that said, I sure would like to have RvP for the bus stop.
Tim, he did score two the last time we did beat them. And that was away as well. But sure, bar no more injuries, we should be able to give them a hell of a game anyways.
Tim, I also don’t think he’ll play more than 25 games a season ever for Arsenal but against Chelsea/United and other opposition when the defenses are a bit stiff and our “passing the ball in to the net” gets a bit stuck, jammed RvP adds a whole lot. Just have a look at the game at Stamford Bridge in 08-09 as opposed to Arshavin up front in 09-10 (I know Chamakh will start up front, but you never know, he might get injured!!)
Clive – Gonna follow you on that, gonna get me that DVD. Thanks:D
Holic @12,
You were probably one of the thousands of fans that we went into a group hugging /cheering/laughing /crying frenzy with when the final whistle blew.
It was absolute bedlam.
I reckon it was about 3hrs before we eventually found our way out of The Stadium and the surrounding suburbs.
Around every corner we seemed to find another band of disbelieving Gooners,i think every pub round Wembley was drunk dry.
Dad rang Mum from a call box to tell her not to worry,we would be home sometime.!!
We celebrated all through the night and Sunday,and got home about 11pm Sunday night.
My Pop to his dying day, always said that apart from the night i was born,and the day Hitler surrendered after World War 2,that that w/end was up there with the best moments of his life.
So if you do do a feature on that amazing Saturday Holic,i have plennty of memories to go with it.
Snir
While you are at it,get the video/dvd of the Official Review of the 70/71 Double winning season.
For a fan like yourself that wasn’t born then,it gives you a great insight to the past.
Almost 40 yrs ago now,and Holic will vouch for me when i say it
” Seems like only yesterday”.
Moments like that never leave you and are always tucked away at the back of your mind, until a Nostalgic blog from Holic brings it all rushing back.
Buy/watch/enjoy.!!
Clive
Back to start of post ‘holic, with my memories of Peter Storey – coloured by living in Yorkshire in the 70s where they had hard man Hunter, but wherever people discussed the hard men , PS came out ahead of Harris, Hunter and Smith for his all round skills. I’m sorry he went wrong but hope that all will be well now for him
I watched Theo’s accident during the goal and it did look terrible – 2 feet hooking around each other and I would be pleasantly surprised if it were only 2 weeks – by the way, his assist to Glenn Johnston just before was excellent
I saw a bit of the France match after and Bacari was playing well , Abu was his usual mix of clever skills with a lack of results – can someone sort him out as he has loads of potential, and Gael was flying around but often out of position – Gibbs must have a chance at LB soon
Cesc was playing in that big defeat to the Argies – maybe now he will realise his priority is really with us
A cool Guinness please barman for a smooth return to normal
Matt, trust me on this one. Pete had the Jolly Farmers in Southgate Road.
Pete, Vieira got the edge for me only because of his general physical condition. We would have loved to have seen what he would have done in the seventies when just about everyone had a player that made Roy Keane look like Winnie the Pooh! Similarly, I suspect Storey would have thrived in the great Wenger sides because he could control, pass, and cross a ball, but he would have had to adjust his approach to tackling or risk a red card every week.
Bunburyist, agreed about the degree of nostalgia, but during an interlull what little real news there is has been gobbled up and regurgitated by all the other blogs. I have always felt blogs are about sharing opinions on the now, and the past, more than being just recyclers of news. I’ll get the balance right one day 😉
Snir, I reckon with the capture of Chamakh we are about to prove we are better prepared than last season to challenge now that the inevitable RvP chocolate leg meltdown has happened.
Tim, Toby, good stuff. Derek, if you ever jot your memories down of that day email them to me (gooneratgoonerholicdotcom) and we will get them into a piece on that fabulous day.
Now, my holiday starts here, so I am off to do absolutely NOTHING 🙂
Me I love a bit of Peter Storey. A real cultured hardman (on the pitch anyways). Looks like a good read. As mentioned before, those Arsenal teams weren’t as fragile as this current lot. Too easy to say “they wouldn’t last a season in the PL now” I say the current batch wouldn’t last 5 minutes in the 70s! Brittle lot!
Peter Storey was indeed one hard b*****d.
In the spirit of the 70s I’ll have a Moscow Mule 🙂
Sansom over Nutty for me 🙂
I may be wrong but im sure his first game after he left us for Newcastle was at the old girl, Both sets of Fans signing his name whilst warming up,, He later went and scored a ripper but unless the passages of time have nuked my brain im sure it was disallowed bringing great merriment to the Clock End,
Lovely article holic.Can’t add much more than I was there at Hillsborough and then the replay at Villa, then at White hart Lane(the biggest crowd I ever saw OUTSIDE a ground) and then at Wembley for the Final.
You have to have been there to appreciate the joy.What a wonderful month to be an Arsenal supporter.
As part of my need to fill in the gaps of my knowledge, the kind of thing you just can’t get from watching old footage (though what I’ve seen of Storey backs up everything said here), I asked an Arsenal-themed message board who was the meanest Gunner ever. I was expecting to hear Patrick Vieira, or Martin Keown, or maybe Tony Adams. The first guy to respond said it was Peter Storey, and nobody disputed him. Having now seen “The Damned United,” and knowing that others have confirmed what bastards the real-life Billy Bremner and Johnny Giles were, I gotta love Storey’s guts in wanting to take them on.
‘Holic, love this stuff – you have to do a book. Although I was there through all those times, I just don’t have the kind of brain that retains the chronology. It’s great to have all those days put back into some kind of order in my head. If you ever get round to writing it, you can reserve me the first copy.
Snir @ 21 – I am actually now seriously thinking of enquiring through some private channels, as to whether any discussions would be welcomed or not.
Catalan and I do come at these problems from a less conventional angle ,and it would be a very interesting, if ultimately not revelatory, exercise.
These current injuries, Nasri, RvP and Theo, are of a different nature though. They are all caused by impact rather than alignment, and are just pure bad luck.
You do wonder though why the diagnoses/prognoses of RvP’s injuries always seem to turn out so wide of the mark.
It’s probably good that I couldn’t get to a computer last night, as I would only have contributed something obscene and not very constructive.
It was so depressing to see Theo getting hurt after 10 minutes, having basically set up the goal for that git Rooney, who, from the little I saw, couldn’t even be bothered to look to see if Theo was ok. Probably had ‘scoring’ of a different nature on his mind – how f**king desperate must that young (for a change) lady be.
I totally agree with Tim or Toby though (apologies), whichever of them said that they just can’t take any more. This injury jinx is, to quote the bloke who sits near me at The Grove, unbefuckinglievable !
If we do, God or whoever forbid, suffer an injury to Chamkhattack, how about Diaby up front, rather than AA23. I don’t think that is, honestly, an experiment worth repeating.
Finally, back to the post ‘Holic – can you imagine what Peter Storey would do on the training pitch if he were playing in our current squad ? On the other hand, don’t bother.
May a large building fall on each of our rivals’ houses, and our house be spared. That should make up for a small part of this injury jinx.
I think perhaps we should adopt The Noah’s Ark principle.Two players for every position 😎
@Trev. You go for it mate! Will be interesting to see the response. Hope Catalunya treated you well…
Beginning to wake up out of the interlull coma now.
I too remember Storey’s semi at Hillsborough.
As a 12 year old i went with my Dad, as always he wanted to leave a few minutes early “to beat the traffic” i could never understand why we would travel so far to leave before a game ended and vowed i would always stay to the bitter end no matter what when i went on my own.
So we were making our way to the exit when we got that corner, we were standing at the exit of the stands and as a 12 year old couldn’t see anything , i heard the cheer when we got the penalty, and celebrated with everyone when Peter put it away.
Mines a cool cider.
How could i forget Storey 😉 i mean he was a great guy and all… Okay just give me the book (need to know who he is) – that’s a genuine reason for you to just give me that book without blinking. Thanks in advance 🙂
Hi Holic,
Bit late on parade for this one – sorry about that …
Noticed that the Holicdad rated Storey as hard as Copping. Wilf Copping was my grandad and it’s great to see his name in the comments – what a nice surprise! He certainly had a reputation as a hard bastard but his England caps suggested that he could play a bit too. Incidentally, he rated Storey too!
That’s just made my Thursday! Great work as ever!
Guinness please bartender …
Gareth,
Once again I am humbled. Since starting this blog I have also had comments from relatives of Alex James (djcaricatures in my blogroll), Billy Wright, and Jack Kelsey.
It is fantastic that you have all followed the Arsenal tradition. I really wish I had the privilege of seeing Wilf and Alex play. The old man tells some tales about them.
Anyway, thanks for dropping by. I hope we see you here again.
Hi Holic,
I’m a regular reader – there are some fantastic Arsenal blogs but yours is my favorite! Quality stuff! Yeah – when Arsenal is in your blood you’ve had it. I’m proud to say that all my family are staunch Gooners – which is great.
Wilf played in a great team – and some of the more gifted players no doubt benefited from having a proper hard case to make sure things didn’t get too out of hand!? But there have been many more great Arsenal sides since then. Peter Storey’s team was another good ‘un – probably the perfect example of when the whole amounted to more than the sum of the parts? The 70/71 season was the first I can remember properly and I can recall Wilf and my old man being very excited when we did the Double – and it was in colour too (well in my Gran’s house anyway). I remember Wilf and my Gran getting suited and booted to go up to the ’71 Cup Final and then on to the evening reception afterwards – I’ve still got the programme – happy days!
In the tradition of elite sportsmen from Yorkshire, Wilf liked a pint – so I’ll have another Guinness, a pint of bitter for me Grandad and one for your good self bartender?
Come on your Reds!!
Dear ‘Holic & ‘Holics
My first post, so a big Gooner hello to you all.
I was enticed by the great ‘Holic himself when he very kindly took the time to reply to my thoughts which were attached to an entry to yesterday’s competition. I thought it only fair to return the compliment 🙂
It’s great to be a small part of this friendly and considered on-line community.
What a fine start to the season we’ve made. I’m convinced we’ll improve on last year’s overall performance, even if we make no further strengthenings in the January window. An embarrassment of silverware beckons, even if we have to wait one more year. It’s a marathon not a sprint, right?
Has any one of you fine fellows heard any news about Diaby yet following Saturday’s assault by the Porcine Plunderer? What I wouldn’t give if Storey was still around to even out the (rugby) scores. That might just make certain “footballing professionals” think twice before they go in with their studs pointed skywards and their eyes on their opponents’ shins.
Regards to you all and a double espresso for me please barman.