Best Team You Have Ever Seen

Of all the teams I have seen in the flesh there are 2 that are head and shoulders above the rest:

1) the Everton team with Reid, Southall, Sharpe (scumbag that he was) and co
2) the Arsenal team with Rocastle, Davis, Anderson, Nicholas etc

Of the 2? Everton.

I also saw the classic Leeds team (Bremner, Lorimer, Hunter, Clarke...) in the early '70s but that game ended 0--0 and was a bore even though they were probably the best, in their era, of the 3.

2004 Barcelona i saw a few times at the nou camp and they were fantasic to watch with the likes of Ronaldinho, Xavi, Henrik Larsson, Iniesta and some kid called Messi who made a few appearances shame he never made it could have a £500m player easy. Seen them a few times since then and of course they had a far better squads but this one ws special at the time for me.

That Swindon team that beat us 4-0 under Hoddle weren't bad. Duncan Shearer getting all 4. Obviously not quiet in the above class

I saw the Arsenal invincibles absolutely wallop Villa one year. They were better than Villa in every department by a country mile. Villa at the time were a top half side, too (Aston, not Elburton).

I also saw Barca but was so brutally pissed up.

saw Barca around 2000. Xavi was just starting out, even then he was putting the ball exactly where he wants.

never seen owt decent at argyle

Saw Argyle play Santos with Pele.

Clough and Taylor's Forest. Saw them win at Spurs on Boxing Day in the early 90's and even the warm up, with tippy tappy one touch routines was a different class to anything I'd witnessed before.

I would have thought that the early 90s would be after Taylor had gone, having fallen out with Clough? Quite prepared to be wrong though!

Of all the teams that I've seen in the flesh......I can go no further than Feb 1st 1958.

H Gregg, B Foulkes, R Byrne*, E Colman*, M Jones*, D Edwards*, K Morgans, B Charlton, T Taylor*, D Violett and A Scanlon.

That was the starting eleven that day at Highbury when Man Utd beat Arsenal 5-4.

Five days later those marked with an * where dead or dying.

Other players that died at Munich where....G Bent, D Pegg, L Whelan.

Naming other teams through the years fades into insignificance for me, when you remember that these players at their peak lost their lives......including Duncan Edwards still young, but seen as a gifted player beyond his years.

Hard to get my head around it at the time as I was only nearly 19yrs old.

Always been fascinated by the Busby Babes. I think English football would have been very different if they had survived - especially Duncan Edwards who would have been the biggest name in world football.

zyph wrote:

Of all the teams that I've seen in the flesh......I can go no further than Feb 1st 1958.

H Gregg, B Foulkes, R Byrne*, E Colman*, M Jones*, D Edwards*, K Morgans, B Charlton, T Taylor*, D Violett and A Scanlon.

That was the starting eleven that day at Highbury when Man Utd beat Arsenal 5-4.

Five days later those marked with an * where dead or dying.

Other players that died at Munich where....G Bent, D Pegg, L Whelan.

Naming other teams through the years fades into insignificance for me, when you remember that these players at their peak lost their lives......including Duncan Edwards still young, but seen as a gifted player beyond his years.

Hard to get my head around it at the time as I was only nearly 19yrs old.

Cornish Chris wrote:

I would have thought that the early 90s would be after Taylor had gone, having fallen out with Clough? Quite prepared to be wrong though!

You're right actually-Taylor became manager of Derby after they split,which caused a lot of bad feeling between them, and in fact he was in charge when Argyle beat Derby in the FA cup in 1984.I think this has been discussed before but unquestionably the best team was Forest of an earlier era when Clough and Taylor were in charge-1977 when they got promotion to the first division and won it the year after, followed by two successive European cups. Haven't seen a team before or since who moved the ball around with such precision and movement, absolutely took my breath away that evening, although funnily enough they only won 2-1. Robertson tore the Argyle right back, whoever it was, to shreds, you had Woodcock, Withe, Anderson, Lloyd, McGovern and O'Neill there as well-frightening to think that they signed Shilts, Burns and Gemmill after that. It was real eye opener, they were special and you knew it, exactly the same as seeing Mariner for the first time.

Frank Bullitt wrote:

Always been fascinated by the Busby Babes. I think English football would have been very different if they had survived - especially Duncan Edwards who would have been the biggest name in world football.

Bobby Charlton said that he felt the equal of any player......except in the presence of Duncan Edwards who he felt was head and shoulders above any other player.

Edwards took 15 days to die......it was said that his outstanding physical condition kept him going longer than thought possible.

Man Utd scrounged players from other clubs and kept an impossible cup run going until the final,losing 2-0 to Bolton W, the nation was willing them to win each game.

Cornish Chris wrote:

I would have thought that the early 90s would be after Taylor had gone, having fallen out with Clough? Quite prepared to be wrong though!

IT was this game : Thu 26 Dec 1991 Tottenham H. 1 - 2 Nottm. Forest First Division

And you are correct. Taylor died the previous year. He left Clough and Forest in 1982 and managed Derby until his retirement in 1984.

zyph wrote:

Frank Bullitt wrote:

Always been fascinated by the Busby Babes. I think English football would have been very different if they had survived - especially Duncan Edwards who would have been the biggest name in world football.

Bobby Charlton said that he felt the equal of any player......except in the presence of Duncan Edwards who he felt was head and shoulders above any other player.

Edwards took 15 days to die......it was said that his outstanding physical condition kept him going longer than thought possible.

Man Utd scrounged players from other clubs and kept an impossible cup run going until the final,losing 2-0 to Bolton W, the nation was willing them to win each game.

The tragedy spawned United emerging as every glory hunting, non football person's 'favourite team'.

zyph wrote:

Frank Bullitt wrote:

Always been fascinated by the Busby Babes. I think English football would have been very different if they had survived - especially Duncan Edwards who would have been the biggest name in world football.

Bobby Charlton said that he felt the equal of any player......except in the presence of Duncan Edwards who he felt was head and shoulders above any other player.

Edwards took 15 days to die......it was said that his outstanding physical condition kept him going longer than thought possible.

Man Utd scrounged players from other clubs and kept an impossible cup run going until the final,losing 2-0 to Bolton W, the nation was willing them to win each game.

Tom Finney and Stanley Matthews were often asked who was the better player between the two of them as at the time they were considered the best two English players of all time. They both said it was irrelevant because Edwards was better than both of them.

Understandable that Man Utd became everyones second favourite team from that era.......but in recent years those that jump on the Man U bandwagon have no idea what forged that original Busby team.....and how players like Bobby Charlton ever got on an aircraft again.

zyph wrote:

Frank Bullitt wrote:

Always been fascinated by the Busby Babes. I think English football would have been very different if they had survived - especially Duncan Edwards who would have been the biggest name in world football.

Bobby Charlton said that he felt the equal of any player......except in the presence of Duncan Edwards who he felt was head and shoulders above any other player.

Edwards took 15 days to die......it was said that his outstanding physical condition kept him going longer than thought possible.

Man Utd scrounged players from other clubs and kept an impossible cup run going until the final,losing 2-0 to Bolton W, the nation was willing them to win each game.

Including Liverpool! I think the trinity helped, the glamour and daredevil best, the clinical and ruthless law and the power and explosiveness of Charlton. When that era passed you had the red army causing mayhem everywhere.

Even when United were rubbish they were well supported.


Nice words Zyph, right from the heart. Whats the best Argyle team you've seen?

Slightly of on a tangent, I had the privilege of watching a Chris Gayle batting masterclass in a 20/20 on Friday night. He went to 53 in 17 balls with 5 sixes and 5 fours. A joy to watch and an anti-climax when he went for 77. Then yesterday he hit another 90 as the Windies chased down 231.

Hugh Watt wrote:

zyph wrote:

Frank Bullitt wrote:

Always been fascinated by the Busby Babes. I think English football would have been very different if they had survived - especially Duncan Edwards who would have been the biggest name in world football.

Bobby Charlton said that he felt the equal of any player......except in the presence of Duncan Edwards who he felt was head and shoulders above any other player.

Edwards took 15 days to die......it was said that his outstanding physical condition kept him going longer than thought possible.

Man Utd scrounged players from other clubs and kept an impossible cup run going until the final,losing 2-0 to Bolton W, the nation was willing them to win each game.

Including Liverpool! I think the trinity helped, the glamour and daredevil best, the clinical and ruthless law and the power and explosiveness of Charlton. When that era passed you had the red army causing mayhem everywhere.

Even when United were rubbish they were well supported.


Nice words Zyph, right from the heart. Whats the best Argyle team you've seen?

Well best Argyle team is a hard one.......younger fans might not look beyond Div2 champions accumulating 102 pts.....tremendous achievement.

Others mighty say a team with Rafferty & Mariner in would be good enough for them......or a team with Tommy Tynan would do for them.

I will go back a bit further to a team that I cannot tell you who played without looking up the records......a team that was struggling at the wrong end of the league.....who on one particular day confounded the experts and threw current form out of the window.

I nearly didn't go....because everything about that game said .....we would lose and probably get humiliated on a lousy damp misty day in South London. I can assure you the worst place to be when you are on the end of a thrashing would be Millwalls old ground...."The Den".... down the cobbled stoned Cold Blow Lane under the railway arches.....not the place to be confronted be Lions fans on the way home.

January 1967......facts....Millwall unbeaten in the league at home for 59 consecutive matches.....they where only average away, but at home had put together an undefeated run going back nearly three years in the league.....a foreboding place and intimidating atmosphere to go on a Saturday afternoon with thousands of dockers rolling out of the pubs after a morning shift working at the many Port of London docks nearby.

Argyles record that season.....two away draws....only 2pts at the start of this game....a home banker on the pools without any doubt.....and the home supporters where so sure that this would be game number 60 at home unbeaten.

Wearing green at the Den was not a priority for an Argyle fan who had any intelligence.

We where 2-0 up just before half-time and then they scored......the support for them was fantastic....there was no way could we survive the onslaught.....but we did.

Sneaking away looking glum under the arches of Cold Blow Lane was done in record time......got into the car parked near Deptford Rec....drove off down Evelyn St towards Greenwich.....only then did I feel safe enough to then give a mighty roar of ...YES  COME ON YOU GREENS......so satisfying.


PS.....Ok not the greatest team.....but definately the most satisfying team in my memory.

Charlie Wood wrote:

Slightly of on a tangent, I had the privilege of watching a Chris Gayle batting masterclass in a 20/20 on Friday night. He went to 53 in 17 balls with 5 sixes and 5 fours. A joy to watch and an anti-climax when he went for 77. Then yesterday he hit another 90 as the Windies chased down 231.

Watched both games on telly Charlie and explosive stuff it was too. Begs a couple of questions though;

a. Why isn't Gayle in the test team?

b. Leading on from that, why are the Windies generally so crap in test cricket in comparison to their 20/20 game?

Having said that, they'll probably hammer England in the Caribbean tests this winter.

I'm not sure what the exact stat is but it is an incredible number of series since the away side won anywhere other than Zimbabwe or Bangladesh. It really is quite a shockingly huge number and even a close series is a rarity.

Best team I've ever seen play was the Bremner Leeds team in the seventies, probably wrapped up in boyhood nostalgia but I saw them demolish Villa in the Seventies (I have an uncle up that way so have been to a few Villa games) and to my mind were the perfect team.
Another match at Villa, which was the local derby against city I watched Ray Parlour absolutely boss the game, score a couple of goals, pass from any area of the pitch without missing the target once, break tackles and reverse play, just quality, don't know if it was his best game ever but the nearest I think I've ever seen of a perfect game for a player.