Classic Arsenal Players Profile - Part 2 - Brian Talbot
MARATHON MAN NODDY
BEFORE HE BECAME Arsenal's record signing and won the FA Cup in two consecutive years with two different clubs in 1979, the first man to do so for over 100 years, the young Brian Talbot had won a ticket for the 1966 World Cup Final.
Then aged just 14 year's old, the young Talbot was taken to Wembley by his mother, who watched the match in a local shop until he was ready to be picked up again. Watching England's greatest ever footballing moment inspired the teenager to embark on a 50 year career in the sport which continues to this day.
Brian Ernest Talbot was born on 21 July 1953 in Ipswich, Suffolk, and joined his hometown club the day after his 15th birthday in 1968.
Although he signed his first professional contract a year later, it was not until 1973 that he made his first team debut for the Tractor Boys, having spent two separate spells in Canada on loan at Toronto Metros in the NASL.
Following his debut in a 1-0 win at Burnley, Talbot quickly established himself as a regular in Bobby Robson's side as a hard working, box to box midfielder with an eye for goal.
His form did not go unnoticed by then England manager, Don Revie, who picked him in four successive internationals in the summer of 1977, including the infamous 2-1 win for Scotland at Wembley where the visiting fans ran on the pitch at the end and dismantled the goalposts. He also played three games on a tour of South America, facing Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay.
However, Revie left his position before the start of the following season and Talbot would appear just once more for England after that, as part of a scratch side in Sydney against Australia in 1980.
Meanwhile Talbot's Ipswich career was going from strength to strength. In 1978 he helped the club reach the FA Cup final for the first time in their history, scoring the opening goal in the semi final win over West Bromwich Albion at Highbury, suffering a head injury in the process meaning he was unable to continue.
In the final, Ipswich shocked favourites Arsenal 1-0, with Talbot instrumental in a midfield that nullified the threat of Liam Brady.
That proved to be Talbot's Ipswich swansong. Even before the final there had been talk of him moving to Highbury and the transfer was finally completed in January 1979 for a club record fee of £450,000. In total he made 233 appearances for Ipswich, scoring 32 goals.
Talbot went straight into the Arsenal side for the match against defending champions Nottingham Forest, inspiring a comeback from 1-0 down to win 2-1, and scored his first goal for the club in his next appearance, an FA Cup fourth tie against Notts. County.
It was in that competition that Talbot would make history. No player had won the FA Cup in consecutive years with different clubs for over 100 years but Talbot had the chance to achieve that as the Gunners faced Manchester United at Wembley just four months into his Arsenal career.
Talbot would claim the opening goal in the final, arriving at exactly the same moment as Alan Sunderland to steer home David Price's pull back. There was some confusion as to who had actually got the final touch, and it was not until after Sunderland had scored the last gasp winner that the goal was officially awarded to Talbot.
The following 1979/80 season, Talbot started all 70 of Arsenal's matches across five competitions, and in fact he only failed to finish two of them. His incredible stamina and fitness leading to the nickname Marathon Man. In fact in eight years from 1975 to 1983, Talbot missed just five league matches out of a possible 300.
Another nickname which Talbot had had since childhood was Noddy. This was given to him by his father after his childhood obsession with the Enid Blyton character and is a nickname that has stuck ever since.
Talbot played in a third consecutive FA Cup final in 1980 having scored the winner in an epic semi final series against Liverpool that lasted four matches. However, there was to be no hat-trick of winners medals as Arsenal surprisingly lost to Division Two side West Ham United.
Talbot and Arsenal suffered defeat again four days later in the final of the European Cup Winners Cup, a heartbreaking penalty shoot defeat against Valencia in the Heysel Stadium, Brussels, although Talbot had converted his penalty in the shoot out.
Following the break up of that Arsenal side with the departures of first Brady and then Frank Stapleton, Talbot become a key player for the club in the first half of the 1980s, scoring some vital goals along the way.
He hit double figures in both the 1982/83 and 1984/85 seasons, the last of which proved to be his final year with the club. He left for Watford in the summer of 1985 having played 327 games for Arsenal and scoring 49 goals, the best of which was a memorable a free kick against Liverpool at Highbury in September 1984.
Under Graham Taylor, Talbot was immediately installed as captain at Vicarage Road but he left 18 month's later to join up with former Ipswich teammate Mick Mills at Stoke City. Talbot then began his long coaching career when he joined West Bromwich Albion as player-manager in 1988.
He finished his playing career with similar player-manager roles at Fulham and then Aldershot before taking over as manager at Maltese club Hibernians in 1991. He had great success there winning the league title in both 1993 and 1994.
Talbot returned to England as part of the coaching staff at then Conference club, Rushden & Diamonds, before taking over as manager in 1999. There he enjoyed his biggest success in England as he led the club to the Football League for the first time in their history in 2001 before winning the Division Three title a year later.
Unfortunately the club was relegated back to Division Three in 2003 and Talbot left to take over at Oldham Athletic in March 2004. The highlight of his time at Boundary Park was beating Premier League side Manchester City in the 3rd round of the FA Cup in January 2005 but he left Oldham the following month after a poor run of results.
In May 2005, Talbot became manager of Oxford United but he was sacked in March 2006 with the club on the brink of relegation out of the Football League.
Talbot returned to Malta and won another league title with Marsaxlokk in 2008, taking them into the Champions League, before a poor start to the 2008/09 season saw him move to a technical director position, a role he held until 2011.
Talbot then returned to English football as scout at Fulham, where he is now technical director, 51 years after his football career had began at Ipswich.
I will always have fond memories of Noddy at Arsenal. Like Rix from my previous piece, he played in the first match I attended in 1981 and I was always struck by his incredible stamina and work rate. That free kick against Liverpool, mentioned above, will always live in the memory, not least as I was standing directly in line with it on the Clock End so got the prefect view of it curling into the top corner. He also scored a similar one against Middlesbrough in the FA Cup in 1983.
Coming up next time I look back at that match against Liverpool in September 1984, where for a very short period that year we were the best team in the league.
BEFORE HE BECAME Arsenal's record signing and won the FA Cup in two consecutive years with two different clubs in 1979, the first man to do so for over 100 years, the young Brian Talbot had won a ticket for the 1966 World Cup Final.
Then aged just 14 year's old, the young Talbot was taken to Wembley by his mother, who watched the match in a local shop until he was ready to be picked up again. Watching England's greatest ever footballing moment inspired the teenager to embark on a 50 year career in the sport which continues to this day.
Brian Ernest Talbot was born on 21 July 1953 in Ipswich, Suffolk, and joined his hometown club the day after his 15th birthday in 1968.
Although he signed his first professional contract a year later, it was not until 1973 that he made his first team debut for the Tractor Boys, having spent two separate spells in Canada on loan at Toronto Metros in the NASL.
Following his debut in a 1-0 win at Burnley, Talbot quickly established himself as a regular in Bobby Robson's side as a hard working, box to box midfielder with an eye for goal.
However, Revie left his position before the start of the following season and Talbot would appear just once more for England after that, as part of a scratch side in Sydney against Australia in 1980.
Meanwhile Talbot's Ipswich career was going from strength to strength. In 1978 he helped the club reach the FA Cup final for the first time in their history, scoring the opening goal in the semi final win over West Bromwich Albion at Highbury, suffering a head injury in the process meaning he was unable to continue.
In the final, Ipswich shocked favourites Arsenal 1-0, with Talbot instrumental in a midfield that nullified the threat of Liam Brady.
That proved to be Talbot's Ipswich swansong. Even before the final there had been talk of him moving to Highbury and the transfer was finally completed in January 1979 for a club record fee of £450,000. In total he made 233 appearances for Ipswich, scoring 32 goals.
Talbot went straight into the Arsenal side for the match against defending champions Nottingham Forest, inspiring a comeback from 1-0 down to win 2-1, and scored his first goal for the club in his next appearance, an FA Cup fourth tie against Notts. County.
It was in that competition that Talbot would make history. No player had won the FA Cup in consecutive years with different clubs for over 100 years but Talbot had the chance to achieve that as the Gunners faced Manchester United at Wembley just four months into his Arsenal career.
Talbot would claim the opening goal in the final, arriving at exactly the same moment as Alan Sunderland to steer home David Price's pull back. There was some confusion as to who had actually got the final touch, and it was not until after Sunderland had scored the last gasp winner that the goal was officially awarded to Talbot.
Another nickname which Talbot had had since childhood was Noddy. This was given to him by his father after his childhood obsession with the Enid Blyton character and is a nickname that has stuck ever since.
Talbot played in a third consecutive FA Cup final in 1980 having scored the winner in an epic semi final series against Liverpool that lasted four matches. However, there was to be no hat-trick of winners medals as Arsenal surprisingly lost to Division Two side West Ham United.
Talbot and Arsenal suffered defeat again four days later in the final of the European Cup Winners Cup, a heartbreaking penalty shoot defeat against Valencia in the Heysel Stadium, Brussels, although Talbot had converted his penalty in the shoot out.
Following the break up of that Arsenal side with the departures of first Brady and then Frank Stapleton, Talbot become a key player for the club in the first half of the 1980s, scoring some vital goals along the way.
He hit double figures in both the 1982/83 and 1984/85 seasons, the last of which proved to be his final year with the club. He left for Watford in the summer of 1985 having played 327 games for Arsenal and scoring 49 goals, the best of which was a memorable a free kick against Liverpool at Highbury in September 1984.
Under Graham Taylor, Talbot was immediately installed as captain at Vicarage Road but he left 18 month's later to join up with former Ipswich teammate Mick Mills at Stoke City. Talbot then began his long coaching career when he joined West Bromwich Albion as player-manager in 1988.
Talbot returned to England as part of the coaching staff at then Conference club, Rushden & Diamonds, before taking over as manager in 1999. There he enjoyed his biggest success in England as he led the club to the Football League for the first time in their history in 2001 before winning the Division Three title a year later.
Unfortunately the club was relegated back to Division Three in 2003 and Talbot left to take over at Oldham Athletic in March 2004. The highlight of his time at Boundary Park was beating Premier League side Manchester City in the 3rd round of the FA Cup in January 2005 but he left Oldham the following month after a poor run of results.
In May 2005, Talbot became manager of Oxford United but he was sacked in March 2006 with the club on the brink of relegation out of the Football League.Talbot returned to Malta and won another league title with Marsaxlokk in 2008, taking them into the Champions League, before a poor start to the 2008/09 season saw him move to a technical director position, a role he held until 2011.
Talbot then returned to English football as scout at Fulham, where he is now technical director, 51 years after his football career had began at Ipswich.
I will always have fond memories of Noddy at Arsenal. Like Rix from my previous piece, he played in the first match I attended in 1981 and I was always struck by his incredible stamina and work rate. That free kick against Liverpool, mentioned above, will always live in the memory, not least as I was standing directly in line with it on the Clock End so got the prefect view of it curling into the top corner. He also scored a similar one against Middlesbrough in the FA Cup in 1983.
Coming up next time I look back at that match against Liverpool in September 1984, where for a very short period that year we were the best team in the league.
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