Left back

[andy82]

Le Saux, no question about it.

[Ianrally]

It has to be Bill Eckersley for me.

He was the first left back i saw playing for Rovers so maybe I am biased in that respect, but to have such an accomplished International player in our team and to have his greatness underlined by both Tom Finney and Stanley Mathews who both said that Bill was won of the best full backs they ever played against, and then to be told by the great Sir Alf Ramsey ( Bill's full back partner in many an England Internetional match) that he was the greatest partner he ever played beside anywhere in any team.

Enough said.

Dave Whelan should get a nomination as well

Edited September 15, 2004 by Ianrally

[Al]

Someone is going to have to make a very good case for Eckersley (or any one else for that matter) to stop me voting for Le Saux. Le Saux was easily the best left back I've ever seen, either for Rovers or anyone else.

Have you read all of this thread?

I have already put a case for Bill much earlier. It is not Bill's fault or even mine that by an accident of birth you were not priviliged enough too have seen him play. Just read what we who have have to say. We have seen him and all the subsequent left backs and we know what we are talking about.

Second to him I would put Le Saux and Bailey but by a long way.

[Scotty]

Someone is going to have to make a very good case for Eckersley (or any one else for that matter) to stop me voting for Le Saux.  Le Saux was easily the best left back I've ever seen, either for Rovers or anyone else.

Have you read all of this thread?

I have already put a case for Bill much earlier. It is not Bill's fault or even mine that by an accident of birth you were not priviliged enough too have seen him play. Just read what we who have have to say. We have seen him and all the subsequent left backs and we know what we are talking about.

Second to him I would put Le Saux and Bailey but by a long way.

No need to get a cob on Al. Yes I read what you said. I'm afraid I'm not swayed by the "telescopic leg" stuff and Le Saux was an England regular just as Eckersley was.

After saying that, reading what Ianrally said later as well as what you said is certainly making me think. I rated Le Saux very highly though.

[Uddersfelt Blue]

Maybe not the best defender but going forward he was great. John Bailey for me. Oh forgot to mention he was a good friend of mine, many a good Sat night was had down at the Lodestar?

[TROOPER]

Walter Crook

Born Whittle-le-Woods 1912

Rovers 1931 - 1947

Apps 237, goals 2

International Honours 1 wartime appearance for England

Graduated through junior teams before making full debut, was an ever present from 1934 until outbreak of second world war in 1939.Crook then figured in te first 17 matches of the 1946-47 season to make it a record 208 consecutive league appearances for us. Walter was the captain of the second division championship team in 1939-40 & played in Rovers 1940 War Cup Final, military service keeping him away from Ewood Park for most of the War years.

Walter later moved to Bolton where injury cut short his playing career, he then moved into coaching & led Ajax Amsterdam to the championship within two years of arriving in Holland.

Crook was a a rugged character whose aggressive approach inspired his colleagues & delighted supporters.

(details courtesy of Mike Jackman's encyclopedia)

[mattyboy6000]

Le Saux was easily the best left back I've ever seen, either for Rovers or anyone else.

he really shone against romania in 98 i thought

[Spencer]

I would like to nominate Billy Wilson, please - a powerful left-back who could defend well & power down the left-wing when required. I don't remember him scoring any particularly spectacular goals or showboating & I don't believe he won any international caps but he was a solid defender, hard in the tackle, &, I believe, a true team player.

[jim mk2]

I presume that Keith Newton did not win the right back vote (where can I find the result, by the way?), so the best full back that I have seen in a Rovers shirt will have to play left back (wherre he did many times).

Younger members will have to take it from me: Le Saux and Bailey were good but Newton was CLASS. Look at the number of appearances he made for England at a time when the country was stuffed with class players.

This thread is a worthwhile exercise, but, as I said before, an all-time Rovers team without Clayton, Douglas, Newton and Shearer (and possibly Mike England too) is a complete nonsense.

[philipl]

I would support the inclusion of Keith Newton on the list. Would be hard on Eckersley if he wins it though and Le Saux is a very decent shout amongst the contemporaries.

[Tom Pringle]

Mickey Gray

The bloke doesn't give up and can hit a decent cross.

In fact, i love him and i think i'll be his number 1 fan

[MCMC1875]

Mickey Gray

The bloke doesn't give up and can hit a decent cross.

In fact, i love him and i think i'll be his number 1 fan

How long have you been supporting Rovers?

[Tom Pringle]

10 minutes

[MCMC1875]

10 minutes

Blimey - 3000+ posts in 10 mins!

[tonyoz]

I'm surprised how many quality players come to mind when we consider the left-back role. My Dad and Grandad both waxed lyrical about Bill Eckersley but Im a bit too old to remember him. I am very much swayed by earlier comments about him though and he may well get my vote. I am delighted to see Billy Wilson get a few nominations as well. He was as tough as they come and never seemed to have a bad game. I regularly saw him up close from my position on the Riverside - a true Rover.

Then there was John Bailey.....very classy and I thought he would go on to great things after his move to Everton but it never really happened for him.

I will always have a soft spot for little Alan Wright - he was excellent for us in the pre-Premiership winning team days. Except for that Wednesday night Coca-Cola Cup fiasco when he came up against an awesome Chris Waddle (Sheff W) who skinned him time and again.

Le Saux was a key player in our Premiership winning team - so many quality balls played into the box for Shearer to score some great goals. If I don't vote for Eckersley, it will have to be Le Saux.

As for the recent bunch of players, I can't think of any who could survive in this company.

[colin]

I'm surprised how many quality players come to mind when we consider the left-back role. My Dad and Grandad both waxed lyrical about Bill Eckersley but Im a bit too old to remember him.

Too old Tony?

I'll go for Le Saux.

[tonyoz]

oops.......thanks for pointing that out Colin..............then again...maybe i am getting too old?

[Dr Rich]

Have to go with Graeme Le Saux, an absolute star for Rovers and continued that form at Chelsea before they developed a penchant for vodka.

Le Saux was an exceptional player, one of the finest left-backs to have played in the Premiership since its inception. His attacking strengths perhaps outweighed his by no means meagre defensive capabilites, but Le Saux was a great all-round full-back who fitted the bill precisely as the sort of left-back Rovers championship chasing side needed. Capable of whipping in top quality crosses for the lethal aerial strike force of the time, Le Saux was also capable of contributing to the scoresheet directly, notching up seven goals in 154 appearances for Blackburn.

Would even go so far as to say that Southampton got the best of the Wayne Bridge deal with the Russian in the bottle shop. Despite rating the 24 year old Bridge extremely highly and the fact that he has got more than a few more years left in his legs than Le Saux at 35, an extra seven million on a left-back who thought himself bigger than the club has got to be seen as an intelligent piece of transfer dealing by Strachan.

Almost certainly finished as an international player Le Saux played 36 times for his country, scoring just a solitary goal, but what a goal it was, spectacularly volleying past World Cup winner Claudio Tafferel in the Brazilian goal at Wembley during the Umbro Cup in 1995. A goal so good that it completely overshadowed a certain Mr. Ronaldo's first goal for the Brazilian national team.

Constantly derided by the precursors of the chav and other such grubby illiterate oiks due to his middle-class background, the married Le Saux on the whole showed good grace through the constant jokes about his sexuality and wasn't above having a laugh at his own expense.

The low-point of Le Saux's career came on a Moscow pitch in 1995, as he rained punches down on David Batty, but lets face it, Batty probably deserved it, even if Le Saux's timing left a bit to be desired.

[den]

Sorry for the delay in the voting for the left back - I've been away.

Any way - the result for the greatest ever right back:

Bob crompton won it with 78 votes - 49% of the vote.

Second came Henning Berg with 16.5%, then third was Keith Newton with 13.38%.

So the first two voted in are Brad Friedel and Bob Crompton.

Now for the left back. I've put forward almost all those nominated by yourselves.

One or two notes made by some of you in favour of these players:

Fergie Suter-- Link to the history section

Bill Eckersley--Al's recollections

Walter Crook--Troopers choice

Graeme Le Saux--Dr Rich's choice

Keith Newton-- Jim's view

As for my opinion, there are only three real candidates for this position- Newton, Le Saux and Eckersley.

Keith newton was a fabulous player, no doubt about that. Real class and as Jim says, held down a regular position in a superb England side. However, sorry Jim, Newton was primarily a right back, so I can't go along with that, as much as it pains me.

Le Saux, was one of the best left backs to play for us, no doubt about that either.

I never saw Bill Eckersley play but I do remember people telling me exactly how good he was. Someone commented that Tom Finney said he was the best full back he ever played against, You don't get a better recommendation than that.

One final thought. What we are looking for is the "Greatest" left back. When Graeme Le Saux left this club, he left it with a lot of acrimony - I was on Ewood when Bill Eckersley's family spread his ashes on the pitch at the blackburn end.

No contest, Bill Eckersley every time.

[Parasyte]

Le Saux all the way... fave player when I was younger, and I'm undoubtedly biased because he was the only player who would sign my 94/95 shirt, despite having Shearer printed on the back.

[92er]

The version of Le Saux's leaving that I heard was that he had told the management that he was going to get married, that his bride wouldn't live in the north and that they had gone along with it.

[brfcshabba]

I'll go for Graeme Le Saux (Spelling up top).

[bazza]

It is extremely difficult to compare players of different decades over a period of a hundred years because the game has changed each decade in rules, style, speed, etc.

Also, it's no use asking me to give an opinion on someone who I never saw play.

Arthur Cowell must have been one hell of a player at left back for fifteen years.

Walter Crook, another legend of the thirties-forties. How can I vote for these? How can the younger posters and readers of this board vote for players I've seen yet they haven't and have to take my word for it .

Very difficult for the younger members of this messageboard.

In my lifetime of watching Rovers I can remember such good left-backs as Eckersley, Whelan, Wilson, Bailey, Wright, Le Saux, Croft and Gray. (Keith Newton doesn't enter the frame because he was right back/ midfield).

8) Mickey Gray: Good lad. Keep it going!

7) Dave Whelan: Him and John Bray were two steady full backs around 1958-60; nothing special, just steady.

6) Gary Croft. I can't remember where we got him from but the fans of that club were quoted as saying "Le Saux wont get his place back". He was quite a classy player.

5) Alan Wright. Five feet three inches from Blackpool. A terrific defender and a good overlapper.

I'm sure he could have outjumped Tiny Taylor and Jon Stead to head the ball. I was sorry to see him leave Ewood.

4) John Bailey. A crowd favourite. Good full back and loved to streak forward down the wing.

Who can forget that game against Southampton where John did a lot of talking to put a young Saints player off his game so much so that the young lad got sent off for a vicious challenge on Bailey.

Then Peter Osgood pointed at Bailey and said " I'll have you, lad". Within five minutes Bailey was streaking down his wing. Osgood, in the ouside left position,towards the Darwen end near to me in the Riverside, made a diagonal run and caught Bailey in the Blackburn end penalty area, clattered his feet away from him thus giving away a penalty, then stamped on Bailey and got himself sent off. And to this day Osgood and Lawrie McMenemy blame Bailey for the whole affair; unbelievable!

3)Billy Wilson. My personal favourite. I called him Billy Whizz. A good reliable full back in an average Rovers team. I used to delight in watching Mr Reliable ply his trade.

2) Graeme Le Saux. The best left back in recent years. Won a Premier League Championship medal with Rovers. Good enough to play a few games for England. Will probably be voted No 1 by most on this board.

1) "Sir" Bill Eckersley. The finest left full back I have ever seen wearing the blue and white halves. A regular England player and captain of the Rovers. I once had the pleasure of a quick conversation with the retired hero in the Fox and Hounds. What a nice man and what a great player.

[AlanSheppard]

One final thought. What we are looking for is the "Greatest" left back. When Graeme Le Saux left this club, he left it with a lot of acrimony - I was on Ewood when Bill Eckersley's family spread his ashes on the pitch at the blackburn end.

No contest, Bill Eckersley every time.

Agreed. I don't think I can vote for Le Saux because of the punch up with Batty and the way he left. Newton seems to be primarily a right back so that probably rules him out.

I'll wait and see a bit and read what people have to say first.

Edit: Btw den none of the links apart from the Suter one work in your post, I get an error message.

Edited September 19, 2004 by Big A

[ABBEY]

well i rember my grandad a few years back,he used to come up to my house and watch sky and drink my home brew and i recall ince with ball and grandad stood up and shouted GIVE IT TO ECKERSLEY!!!!!!

he looked at me and laughed because he knew what hed said and then he said to me WELL HE WAS BLOODY BRILLIANT !!