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CASUALS LEGEND PROFILE
Nigel Thorpe
Nigel played a key role in the Casuals' first ever championship winning team in 1998/99 and averaged a goal a game. His potent striking partnership with Nigel Jeyes produced 34 of the 76 goals scored by the team that season. A classy front man with excellent close control, Thorpey's 18 month stint with the club saw him hit 29 goals and create many more.
Casuals Appearances/Goals: 29 / 24
98/99 18 games - 18 goals
99/00 11 games - 6 goals
Debut: 26 Sept 1998 v Technicolour Sports in London Commercial League Division 3. Casuals won 3-1 with a debut goal from Thorpey, plus strikes from Pete Winterbottom & Steve Cates.
Team: Spence, Winterbottom, Smith, Phillips, Malcolm, Brailsford, Cates, Welch, Hansard, Thorpe, Rootes. Subs: Nash, Westwood, Bartlett.
Final game: 18 March 2000 v Northolt in London Commercial League Div 2. Casuals lost 3-2 with Nigel Jeyes and Lee Humphrey bagging the goals.
Team: Poynter, Richards, Winterbottom, Thomas, Phillips, Stennett, Jeyes, Humphrey, Nelson, Malcolm, Thorpe. Sub: Clews.
Number of Bridgend Tours: 0. To close to my cricket tour to Cardiff to get away with two tours to Wales in quick succession!
Honours: 1998/99 London Commercial League Div 3 Championship
Nickname: Thorpey
Birthplace/Date of Birth: Bolton / 20th January 1967
Resides: Reading
Occupation: Company Director
Previous clubs: Sonning, Reading Old Blues, Reading Irish (left as I couldn't understand the team talks from Paddy McMurphy), Bristol Manor Farm, Iron Acton, The Star (current Sunday side), Rudolph Huckers (5-a-side).
Preferred Position: 1. Bar stool after game 2. Anywhere apart from the bench or injury table 3. At the side of my old bird (just in case she reads this ...).
How did you come to join the Casuals: My mate from school in Bolton (Arf) was playing and dragged me along.
What can you remember about your debut: Diddly squat about the game even though I scored on my debut but do remember not having a clue where the ground was and driving around for ages before kick off.
Why did you leave: My bird at the time buggered off with some bloke from work which meant she moved to Somerset and I had to drive down there at the weekend to see my six month old boy. Either that or the fact that I couldn't get out of the car when I got home after a game as the old body stiffened up on the drive home.
Who else did you introduce to the club: Nobody in case they nicked my place in the starting line up.
Highlight of Casuals Career: Got to be winning the league with a great bunch of lads in the side closely followed by presentation night and nights out at the Roadhouse.
Lowlight of Casuals career: Got to be Rulo not coming back for the 99/00 season. Where was my supply going to come from? Secondly, the half mile walk from the changing rooms to the pitch at our home ground in Uxbridge.
Most Embarrassing Moment: Getting rescued by Phil Malcolm when on the ground getting punched by some hot head. Phil piled in as he obviously thought I was losing the battle but what he didn't know was that I was about to get up, go mental and beat the big, ugly prick to a pulp. Honest! Fair play to the Gaffer though even though it cost him a red card and their matey stayed on the pitch!
Best Casuals manager you played under: Only played under one - Catesy, so he's definitely the best .... and the worst!
Tell us about your hugely successful partnership with Nigel Jeyes: NJ was and probably still is a legend. Good in the air and skilful on the ground, he made up for all my inadequacies and we notched quite a few between us in 98/99, most of mine being tap ins from six yards or poaching on spills from the keeper when Jeyesy or Rulo had worked their magic.
Worst player you played alongside: The Casuals never carried many players although there have been a couple who anyone with half a football brain had second thoughts about passing the ball to. No names though.
Funniest player: Got to be Ferris. Superb bloke and so many page 3 stories to tell which I'll save for another day.
Favourite match: Clinching the title at Cable & Wireless. Catesy spent about ten minutes in the pre-match team talk telling us they were a decent side and we put twelve past 'em. I got four and even Arf scored!
Worst match: I enjoyed all of them - win or lose, so it's got to be the one where I collided with the keeper in a 50/50 challenge and ended up concussed so can't remember anything for the last half hour.
Most memorable Casuals goal you scored: No idea where we were apart from it was lashing down with rain, Rulo pinged one over from the right and I dived full length around the penalty spot, got there with my head before the lump of a centre half and ended up in the back of the net along side him.
Funniest thing you have seen during a game: Pete Winterbottom getting sent off for abusing the ref and carrying it on all the way off the pitch and up the steps to the changing rooms.
Funniest thing you have seen on a Casuals night out: My memory is bad enough when sober so I've got no chance of remembering anything on a night out. Saying that I do remember me and the missus getting woken up at Reading station one night by the train guard asking us to leave or we'd end up in the sidings and the missus asking him if she could have ten more minutes kip.
Weren't you good pals with a fella who was exposed as a Chelsea hooligan on a BBC undercover documentary: Andy Frain drank in my local when I had a flat in the centre of Reading. A great bloke when sober or with his missus although most of us kept out of his way especially after he and the Reading 'boys' had a party in there one night. I spent about half an hour locked in the pub kitchen with eight riot police who had been called to stop the trouble. They were absolutely bricking it and they weren't the only ones. The following day we put a hoax call into the pub pretending to be him and saying that he was on his way down there to finish the job from last night. Within ten minutes the pub had been locked up and all the staff had gone home! He did get caught out a bit by Donal MacIntyre when he infiltrated the Chelsea Headhunters and got a few years inside for slashing a copper with a Stanley knife if I remember correctly.
You were on the board at Farnborough Town FC when they played Arsenal in the FA Cup at Highbury. You must have fancied pulling the boots on for that one: Chinese whispers strike again! Graham Westley left Farnborough with the bank account after the Arsenal game about three years ago. I got involved last year when my mate bought them in a very hostile takeover and I got involved in controlling all the finances within the club. Got some great footie stories from there but can't put them on here in case Farnborough supporters read them. I wasn't the most popular figure with some of the supporters and they have a field day trying to put me down. Early on they posted my photo on the club message board which they found on my cricket club web site and have taken the mickey on there about anything they could dream up. I knew it was time to go when punched by a female in the supporter's bar and then attacked by about 15 of 'em trying to be 'ard! Got out with the aid of a burly bouncer and an upturned bottle of bud as my only weapon.
Are you still playing: Yep. Always played 5-a-side on a Monday night for the Rudolph Huckers and started playing local Sunday footie last season at centre half! Just signed for Reading Senior League side Reading Old Blues on Saturdays when my potential was spotted one Sunday morning!
Do you still keep in contact with any former Casuals: Only Arf really but will hopefully make up for lost time now I know where you are.
How would you like to be remembered: Committed (I did drive about 80 miles on match day to be there!), a poacher, the one that never took part in pre-match warm ups as I know that I had to save all my energies for the game or I'd never last 90 minutes!
Best thing about being a Casual: The lads. Great players and some seasoned drinkers.
Message to the current team: Make sure you do enough for the Casuals to be regarded as a legend in years to come and be good enough to keep Gaffer on the sidelines. Enjoy it and enjoy a pint or two after the game, win, lose or draw.
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