Gus Caesar

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Gus Ceasar
Personal information
Full name	Augustus Cassius Caesar
Date of birth	March 5, 1966
Place of birth	Tottenham, London, England
Playing position	Defender
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1985-91 1990-91 1991 1991-92 1992-94 1994-96 1996-97 1997 1997-2001	Arsenal QPR (loan) Cambridge Utd Bristol City Airdrie Colchester Utd Hong Kong Golden Partick Thistle (trial) Hong Kong Rangers	44 (0) 5 (0) 0 (0) 10 (0) 57 (1) 62 (3) ?? (??) 1 (0) ?? (??)
National team
1987	England Under-21	3 (0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Augustus Cassius "Gus" Caesar (born March 5, 1966) is an English former football player.

[edit] Youth and career at Arsenal

Born in Tottenham, London, Caesar joined Arsenal in August 1982, turning professional in February 1984. Despite breaking his ankle early on in his career, Caesar showed a lot of promise playing for the Gunners youth side, as a defender who could either play at full back, or more usually at centre half. His Arsenal debut came in a match away to Manchester United at Old Trafford on December 21, 1985, for the suspended Viv Anderson; Arsenal kept a clean sheet as they won 1-0.

Caesar continued as a bit-part player at Arsenal for the next eighteen months, playing mainly as a substitute, coming on in the last few minutes of a match, giving rise to the nickname "the five minute man". However, he shone enough to be called up for the England U21 side in 1987, winning three caps. When David O'Leary sustained an injury during the 1987-88 season, Caesar became a semi-regular in the side, playing 25 matches that season. However, for all his talent he was a nervy and unconfident player, lacking assurance when one-on-one with an attacker, and prone to making high-profile mistakes.

Caesar's most infamous match for Arsenal was the 1988 League Cup final against Luton Town at Wembley. Arsenal were 2-1 up and had dominated the match (Martin Hayes and Alan Smith had hit the woodwork, and then Nigel Winterburn missed a penalty). However, with seven minutes to go Caesar, miskicked a clearance from his own penalty area, allowing Luton's Danny Wilson to bundle the ball home in the ensuing chaos; Luton went on to score a late winner and Arsenal lost 3-2.

After that, Caesar's career at Arsenal was effectively finished. George Graham signed Steve Bould (and later Andy Linighan), and Caesar only played five more matches for the side in two seasons. He became so unpopular with Arsenal fans that some of them booed him when he did take to the field. Even today, he is still regarded by many as one the club's worst-ever players.

However, Arsenal fan Nick Hornby, in his book Fever Pitch, muses on Caesar's downfall, pointing out that he had considerable talent as a youth (or else Arsenal would have never signed him in the first place). Likening it to his own frustrations as a (then) failed writer, Hornby concluded that talent and determination alone were not enough to bring about success:

"To get where he did, Gus Caesar clearly had more talent than nearly everyone of his generation... and it still wasn't quite enough. [...] Gus must have known he was good, just as any pop band who has ever played the Marquee know they are destined for Madison Square Garden and an NME front cover, and just as any writer who has sent off a completed manuscript to Faber and Faber knows that he is two years away from the Booker. You trust that feeling with your life, you feel the strength and determination it gives you coursing through your veins like heroin... and it doesn't mean anything at all."

[edit] Later career

Having played 50 matches for Arsenal in five years, Caesar left the Gunners in June 1991 on a free transfer (having previously been on loan to Queens Park Rangers for several months). He then embarked on a journeyman's career, playing for Cambridge United, Bristol City, Airdrieonians and Colchester United.

While at Colchester United, Caesar enjoyed something of a renaissance. After a string of poor performances for the club, his form - particularly his reading of the game - improved significantly, and he contributed a run of composed appearances in central defence in the 1994/95 season that won over many fans at Layer Road.

Caesar finished his career in Hong Kong. Since his retirement in 2001, he has played in several "Football Masters" tournaments in East Asia, alongside many other fellow ex-professionals.