Bernie Slaven
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| Bernie Slaven | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Bernard 'Bernie' Slaven | |
| Date of birth | November 13, 1960 | |
| Place of birth | Paisley, Scotland | |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | |
| Playing position | Striker (retired) | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| 1981–1983 | Greenock Morton | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1983 1983–1985 1985–1993 1993–1994 1994–1995 |
Queen of the South Albion Rovers Middlesbrough Port Vale Darlington |
2 (0) 42 (27) 307 (146) 33 (9) 37 (7) |
| National team | ||
| 1990–1993 | Republic of Ireland | 7 (1) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Bernard "Bernie" Slaven (born 13 November 1960 in Paisley, Scotland) is a footballer who played internationally for the Republic of Ireland (playing 7 times and scoring 1 goal). The clubs he played for were: Morton, Airdrie, Queen of the South, Albion Rovers, Middlesbrough, Port Vale and Darlington.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Queen of the South
Bernie Slaven was at Dumfries side, Queen of the South where he played 2 first team games in late 1983 without scoring.[1] The games were on 26 Nov 1983 v Cowdenbeath (won 1-0) and 10 Dec 1983 v East Fife (0-0). Both games were at Palmerston Park and leaves Slaven unbeaten in his time at Q.o.S. In the second game Slaven was substituted, his replacement being Billy Gordon.[2]
[edit] Albion Rovers
From Queens Slaven signed for Albion Rovers. With the Coatbridge side he scored 31 goals in season 1984/85 winning the 1984/85 Daily Record golden boot in the process. In 42 league appearances with Rovers Slaven hit 27 league goals.
Slaven refused to re-sign for Rovers and worked as a gardener.
[edit] Middlesbrough
It was then when Middlesbrough manager Willie Madden picked him up in October 1985 and stayed until 1993.[3]. He is often considered one of the best buys ever made by 'Boro due to his prolific goalscoring exploits. An accurate finisher with good positional sense and good close control 'The Wolfman' scored 146 goals in 381 games, mostly playing in the number 7 shirt. Slaven was a model of consistency finishing top scorer on six consecutive seasons. Steve Pears said of him, "He passed the ball into the net."
He was best known in football for his time spent at Middlesbrough, where he was a firm fans favourite. His customary goal celebration was to jump upon the fence at the Holgate End at Boro's old ground, Ayresome Park. When the ground was knocked down in 1996, Slaven acquired a section of the fence from the Holgate End, where it now sits, by his own admission, in his back garden.
Whilst his goalscoring record is officially 146 goals in 381 games, Slaven states it to be 147 goals that he scored due to a penalty he notched in a shootout during a play-off semi final game. He acknowledges that it doesn't count as an official goal, but likes to consider as another one to his tally.
[edit] Port Vale
In March 1993 Bernie Slaven left Premier League 'Boro to sign for Port Vale on a free transfer. He quickly gained the devotion of the Vale fans, scoring the goal that took Vale to their first Wembley performance in the Autoglass Trophy. In the final Bernie scored Vale’s second in the 2-1 victory over Stockport County and, to many, became a Vale legend in doing so.[4]
Slaven scored 9 league goals in 33 league games for Vale.
[edit] Darlington
Slaven hit 7 league goals in 37 league games for Darlington.
[edit] International career
His international career included a call-up for Jack Charlton's Republic of Ireland squad for the 1990 World Cup, he didnt play in any of the games.
[edit] Retirement
Following his retirement, he played a handful of games for Billingham Synthonia F.C., who held a close relationship with Middlesbrough.
He is now a presenter on the Three Legends football phone-in on Century FM in the North-East along with other Legends Malcolm Macdonald (formerly of Newcastle United) and Micky Horswill (Sunderland A.F.C.). He represents Middlesbrough as their Legend. He recently had an autobiography, Legend?, published. In August 2006 he released a DVD called Lucky Slaven which features 90 of the Middlesbrough goals during his spell at the club. In October 2006, Bernie and his commentary partner Alastair Brownlee, won an award in New York for their commentary on Middlesbrough's UEFA Cup run in the 2005/2006 season.
In 1999, Slaven bared his backside in Binns department store window in Middlesbrough following a bet on Century FM. He bet that if Middlesbrough beat Manchester United at Old Trafford, he would perform the dare. Middlesbrough beat Manchester United 3-2, so Slaven had to go ahead with the dare, with the score painted on his cheeks.[5][6]
In 2002, still a popular figure in the area, Slaven ran for the position of Mayor of Middlesbrough. Slaven admitted knowing little of politics and his campaign was ultimately unsuccessful.
In early July 2007 Middlesbrough football club sold the rights of radio coverage of all matches for the forthcoming 3 years to BBC Radio Tees which means Slaven and commentary partner Alastair Brownlee do not now commentate on Boro games, but they still have their own show on Sunday mornings on Century FM (North East).
[edit] Trivia
Slaven's former Republic of Ireland international teammate Tony Cascarino claimed in his autobiography that, Slaven would telephone his dog every night when away from home with the squad: "... Bernie would be howling like Lassie into the phone 'Woof, woof, aru, aru, woof!' He'd be kissing the receiver and lavishing affection - 'Hello, lovey dovey' - on a dog!"[7]:
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/player/bernieslaven.htm
- ^ Queen of the South FC forum from footymad.net
- ^ BERNIE SLAVEN 1985-93 | Middlesbrough | History | Heroes | Heroes
- ^ 1fcnuk.com - Football Gods
- ^ Middlesbrough. Fun Trivia. Retrieved on 2008-01-18.
- ^ Rich, Tim (2004-02-14). United fall to Job's late strike. The Independent. Retrieved on 2008-01-18.
- ^ (2000) Full Time: The Secret Life of Tony Cascarino. Simon & Schuster/TownHouse, 74.
[edit] External links
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