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A name to be conjured with
By John Brewin
As a former holder of the European Golden Boot, one of the first black players to play for England and a one-time big signing for AC Milan, the name Luther Blissett should be synonymous with that of a successful 1980s striker.
GettyImages
Funky moped man: Luther Blissett takes to the Milan streets after his £1m move from Watford in 1983.
Yet the Jamaican-born Watford legend, who celebrates his 51st birthday on Sunday, has found that his name has a life of its own. As far as we at Soccernet know, there are few footballers who have had their monicker adopted as a nom de plume or collective alias for Bolognese militant activists in performances, media hoaxes, and the production of radical theory, a movement which has spread far beyond Italy's borders.
In Italy, Blissett the player is remembered as the flop of all flops, a big-money buy at £1m (then still a huge fee) who returned back to Watford at a loss of £550,000. So bad in fact, that he was good.
Every team has a player made a fans' favourite for uselessness past; Liverpool fans have Istvan Kozma, Manchester United fans still sing the name of Ralph Milne, Arsenal reminisce about Glenn Helder, while Chelsea fans giggle at the memory of Nikola Jokanovic. AC Milan have Blissett, a reminder of a tawdry 1983/84 season in the era that preceded their return to the pinnacle of European football.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns...b1pos1&cc=3888
By John Brewin
As a former holder of the European Golden Boot, one of the first black players to play for England and a one-time big signing for AC Milan, the name Luther Blissett should be synonymous with that of a successful 1980s striker.
GettyImagesFunky moped man: Luther Blissett takes to the Milan streets after his £1m move from Watford in 1983.
Yet the Jamaican-born Watford legend, who celebrates his 51st birthday on Sunday, has found that his name has a life of its own. As far as we at Soccernet know, there are few footballers who have had their monicker adopted as a nom de plume or collective alias for Bolognese militant activists in performances, media hoaxes, and the production of radical theory, a movement which has spread far beyond Italy's borders.
In Italy, Blissett the player is remembered as the flop of all flops, a big-money buy at £1m (then still a huge fee) who returned back to Watford at a loss of £550,000. So bad in fact, that he was good.
Every team has a player made a fans' favourite for uselessness past; Liverpool fans have Istvan Kozma, Manchester United fans still sing the name of Ralph Milne, Arsenal reminisce about Glenn Helder, while Chelsea fans giggle at the memory of Nikola Jokanovic. AC Milan have Blissett, a reminder of a tawdry 1983/84 season in the era that preceded their return to the pinnacle of European football.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns...b1pos1&cc=3888