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Bez Lifts the Lid...
 Life with United...and beyond   Part VII

04/11/00
 
John Beresford
broke off from his hectic dashing between TV studios and lavish sports award ceremonies to recall past times against Ipswich.

Ipswich (h) 2-0 Premier League 12/3/1994

Chris Holland had a memorable debut setting up both United goals
with some great right wing crosses.

"Chris Holland was one of the nicest lads in the world. Too nice for
his own good at times. When he had the ammonia sprayed into his
eyes he went to A&E down the hospital and was told he's have to
wait an hour or two. Instead of telling them he was a Newcastle
player and that it was vital he got immediate treatment he just went
home. It was only after seeing a doctor later that he realised how
serious it was and if he'd left it any longer he could have had some
serious permanent damage.

"The attack was totally unprovoked, anyone that has met Chris would
know he would never get into any trouble, in fact I don't think I ever
heard him swear in his time at Newcastle, I'm not sure he even knows
any swear-words! The lad who attacked Chris ended up going to
Durham nick and I hear that some Newcastle supporters in there made
sure he got some special "treatment"....

"Chris could be a bit naive. I remember he came to me one day and
told me he needed some insurance. 'Car, house, life insurance,' I asked
him. 'No, for when I'm finished playing.' I realised he meant pension.
I suggested he paid me a weekly sum and when he finished playing
he could give me a ring! 'Is that what I've got to do?' he said in all
seriousness.... He eventually got himself an agent and I kept an eye
on him from then on to make sure he wasn't being ripped off, although
it rebounded on me slightly.

"Chris wrote off a brand new car and when he tried to get insurance
afterwards they quoted him £3,500. I got my insurance company to
sort him out a deal for about £1,700 and I paid it for him while he
waited for his signing on fee to come through. Before it did he was off
to Birmingham, so it took a while before I got that back!

"He was also incredibly fast, one of the fastest players I've ever worked
with. We had a "bleep" test where you had to do 20m shuttle runs when
a machine bleeped. Chris got the record time. I'm sure he could have
been an outstanding runner if he hadn't chosen football."

Ipswich (h) 1-1 Premier League 26/11/1994

Cole scored with four minutes left but Thomsen scored a late equaliser
for Ipswich.

"We [the United defence] got slaughtered for that in the press which
was totally unjust. We'd played really well in that game and if the
forwards had stuck away their chances we could have won by four or
five. In the end the lad scored a great goal to equalise and it was two
points dropped but it wasn't our fault."

Ipswich (a) 2-0 Premier League 28/2/1995

Ruel Fox scored a belter in this victory against his hometown club, with Kitson notching the other.

"Foxy had great ability, I think he was one of the best at head tennis
at the club and that's usually a good measure of skill. He was very
laid back, though and if the team formation didn't suit his game then
he would often drift out of games. I was sad to see him go because
it meant I was on the end of all the dwarf jokes....!"

 


Page last updated 24 June, 2009