As England prepare to face Argentina in the World Cup semi-finals, a brief recap of the animus between the two nations, not least an actual war and the Hand of God
Amazing article Nick, I had no idea how the Falklands impacted Ardiles. I had always thought that Villa also went to Spurs as Ardiles would not go without a fellow Argentine and Villa was chosen as Racing Club thought he was slightly hotheaded. Any truth in that? Or just a myth I grew up on
Hi Robert and thanks for the question. I wrote my first book 'England, Their England' more than 20 years ago, and it was published in 2003. I spoke to Ossie for many hours in the research, and also to Keith (B), and they were both consistent, that Keith went to Argentina to sign Ossie, but then Ossie suggested he might also want to sign Ricky, which is what happened. I never got the impression Ossie wouldn't have gone to Spurs without Ricky (indeed he agreed to move before the Ricky deal was done), but at the same time it's completely normal that Ossie would want to have familiar face with him for such a momentous move. Foreign players were rare to the point of being almost invisible in England in 1978; indeed foreign pros (aside from those with colonial ties) had been banned since 1931.
As for the Falklands, it affected Ossie massively. I was so grateful to both him and Keith telling me their stories about that weekend the war broke out and FA Cup semi and how Ossie effectively felt he had to leave England for a period. Incredible story - the coup for Spurs in 1978 and everything after.
Amazing article Nick, I had no idea how the Falklands impacted Ardiles. I had always thought that Villa also went to Spurs as Ardiles would not go without a fellow Argentine and Villa was chosen as Racing Club thought he was slightly hotheaded. Any truth in that? Or just a myth I grew up on
Hi Robert and thanks for the question. I wrote my first book 'England, Their England' more than 20 years ago, and it was published in 2003. I spoke to Ossie for many hours in the research, and also to Keith (B), and they were both consistent, that Keith went to Argentina to sign Ossie, but then Ossie suggested he might also want to sign Ricky, which is what happened. I never got the impression Ossie wouldn't have gone to Spurs without Ricky (indeed he agreed to move before the Ricky deal was done), but at the same time it's completely normal that Ossie would want to have familiar face with him for such a momentous move. Foreign players were rare to the point of being almost invisible in England in 1978; indeed foreign pros (aside from those with colonial ties) had been banned since 1931.
As for the Falklands, it affected Ossie massively. I was so grateful to both him and Keith telling me their stories about that weekend the war broke out and FA Cup semi and how Ossie effectively felt he had to leave England for a period. Incredible story - the coup for Spurs in 1978 and everything after.