Frank Worthington

[Jeff]

I've not had a chance to listen to this myself yet, but it looks like it's an in depth interview about his career.

http://www.talksport.co.uk/radio/sporting-life/blog/2012-03-05/my-sporting-life-frank-worthington?

 

[spionfox]

I've not had a chance to listen to this myself yet, but it looks like it's an in depth interview about his career.

Good thing he never got his move to Liverpool. He ended up a whole hearted player for us instead.

 

[PEN3]

Good thing he never got his move to Liverpool. He ended up a whole hearted player for us instead.

He said that his move to Liverpool fell through due to his high blood pressure.

In terms of Leicester, he thought we had a good side but our weakness was the two central defenders. His best mates were the Birch and Lenny Glover. Favourite night out in Leicester -Bailey's.

 

[Kettering Pete]

Baileys! Good grief that makes me feel old.

Met Frankie there one night - think it might have been the Three Degrees concert. Or possibly the Grumbleweeds :icon_lol:

 

[The Old Fox]

Thanks for the info', Jeff! Frank was (and still is..) my sporting hero. I would have paid for the pleasure of watching his warm up (ball juggling): not many players that you could say that about today - WITHOUT innuendo! :icon_bigg

 

[Rich B]

Fabulous player, one of the greats.

 

[Ike O'Noclassed]

In terms of Leicester, he thought we had a good side but our weakness was the two central defenders.

Admittedly in those days scoring goals was difficult, but we were always one of the Div 1's lowest scorers and only once cracked 50+ goals in a season during Frank's reign. Maybe if him and Keith Weller had stopped laughing at Alan Woollett for a bit and passed the ball to each other occasionally, things would have turned out different.

 

[dpjfox]

high bloodpressure? rumour was VD (std), absolute legend, surprised he thought our centre backs (Sjoberg/Cross) were our weak points i always thought centre midfield

 

[The Major]

I read his autobiography once. Some great memories of the 70s and a lot of bragging about the women he's shagged.

 

[Mawsley]

Are we recalling him for the play-offs?

 

[city-faithful]

Are we recalling him for the play-offs?

He's cup tied. You're talking patent nonesense.

 

[Macky]

high bloodpressure? rumour was VD (std)

Do you really think they checked his cock before signing him? I can't imagine the medical would be that thorough

 

[Orifice]

Is true that we wanted John Toshack and Liverpool wanted Frank at the same time but due to things falling through at the last minute, it ended up as it did?
History could have been so different.

 

[Redditch Fox]

He said that his move to Liverpool fell through due to his high blood pressure.

In terms of Leicester, he thought we had a good side but our weakness was the two central defenders. His best mates were the Birch and Lenny Glover. Favourite night out in Leicester -Bailey's.

The weakness was the lack of depth in the squad. For example, given an injury in almost any position, Alan Wollett would be drafted in. A wholehearted player but lacking a bit of quality. It's always been said that the other problem was the division in the team between the London group and the rest.

 

[David Gwilliam]

I was interested in Frank's praise for Lenny Glover. The play on the left side was simple. Shilton who was the best thrower of a ball I have seen would throw it to Glover who would try and beat his man helped by the excellent Dennis Rofe at left back. He would then cross the ball - and he was an excellent crosser. Glover was a very good winger but he did not like the physical part of the game which was an even bigger disadvantage then than now. For example he was always very subdued against Tommy Smith of Liverpool.

Glover was one of a number of very good left wingers and IMO not as good as Peter Thompson of Liverpool. Certainly he did not have the magic of Keith Weller .

The centrebacks were good but not say international class and perhaps we relied too much on having the best goalkeeper in the world.

A neutral might well wish he had joined Liverpool. While Toshack was a good partner for Keven Keegan I do not think he was in Frank's class. A Worthington-Keegan partnership would have gone down in legend.

It is not surprising that Don Revie discarded Worthington and Weller. Jimmy Bloomfield's philosophy was the very opposite of Revie's and Revie had a point. Bloomfield let opponents play on the grounds that we could play better - not a very wise tactic against Bobby Charlton, George Best or Kevin Keegan.

 

[Redditch Fox]

The centrebacks were good but not say international class and perhaps we relied too much on having the best goalkeeper in the world.

It's very simple. The centre backs were outstanding and crucial to the success of the side in the 60's and about the best pairing the club has ever had.. By the time of the Bloomfield era which was in the 70's both Cross and Sjoberg were past their best.

 

[David Gwilliam]

It's very simple. The centre backs were outstanding and crucial to the success of the side in the 60's and about the best pairing the club has ever had.. By the time of the Bloomfield era which was in the 70's both Cross and Sjoberg were past their best.

You may be right. I did not see Leicester until 1969 although I had been following football for many years. Cross and Sjoberg were very good with Frank O'Farrell in the Second Division but were not outstanding under Bloomfield. In the same way the Davie Gibson and Mike Stringfellow that I saw were no longer the quality players that friends told me about.

 

[Redditch Fox]

You may be right. I did not see Leicester until 1969 although I had been following football for many years. Cross and Sjoberg were very good with Frank O'Farrell in the Second Division but were not outstanding under Bloomfield. In the same way the Davie Gibson and Mike Stringfellow that I saw were no longer the quality players that friends told me about.

All those players were at their peak during the Gillies era and in the top flight until 1969. Cross and Sjoberg were at the heart of one of the best defences in the country. Davie Gibson was an international inside forward and one of the best players in post war Leicester City history. Stringfellow not really in the same class but a very difficult to defend against. A left winger with height and power. Unfortunately Stingfellow had the potentially best years of his career taken away by long term injury. By the time players like Worthington and Weller were the stars of the show, this older group of players were on the way out. In fact the 68/69 season was a watershed due to the decline of that team when we were relegated someone unfortunately in a congested fixture list due to our FA Cup Final run - finishing with the league defeat at Old Trafford when we needed to win to survive. We put on a brave show in that match taking the lead in the first few minutes.

 

[Ike O'Noclassed]

Odd that for all this apparent deficiency at the back, Bloomfield (in my recollection) only ever signed one CB - Jeff Blockley. I remember we were linked with Ipswich's Allan Hunter and I think Larry Lloyd ... but for the most part it was first Graham Cross (with John Sjoberg for only half a season under Bloomfield, Malcolms Manley and Munro), then Blockley mostly with Alan Woollett and latterly Steve Sims - a motley collection of local lads and jocks but they couldn't have been that awful.

 

[Redditch Fox]

Odd that for all this apparent deficiency at the back, Bloomfield (in my recollection) only ever signed one CB - Jeff Blockley. I remember we were linked with Ipswich's Allan Hunter and I think Larry Lloyd ... but for the most part it was first Graham Cross (with John Sjoberg for only half a season under Bloomfield, Malcolms Manley and Munro), then Blockley mostly with Alan Woollett and latterly Steve Sims - a motley collection of local lads and jocks but they couldn't have been that awful.

Yes that's about it. You will also probably remember that Bloomfield and Graham Cross clashed over Cross's cricket appearances for Leicestershire. I guess there was a bit of a culture clash between the more flash London brigade and the locals - possibly further complicated between the alleged lack of rapport between Worthington and Weller.

What is becoming forgotten through the passing of time is that the Gillies teams of the early to middle 60's were in results terms much more successful than Bloomfield's teams. Gillies teams were built on defensive strength with a bit of flair built on through the likes of McLintock and Gibson.

As those around at the time will know, Jimmy Bloomfield was a completely different sort of manager. Mention has been made of Revie discarding Worthington and Weller from the England set up. I think it was also a matter of the interim England manager, Joe Mercer, being one of very few England managers who was prepared to pick this type of player. Some people may remember that Leicester City actually had four players on the field in a Scotland v England game - Shilton, Whitworth, Worthington & Weller.