Tag: John Salako

The goals that stood out for O’Reilly before a career in broadcasting

DEFENDER-turned-broadcaster Gary O’Reilly’s first ever league goal was scored for Brighton against Crystal Palace, a club he later scored for in a FA Cup final before rejoining the Seagulls.

That goal came in only his fourth Albion game, on 15 September 1984, after a £45,000 move from Spurs and was enough to ensure a 1-0 win in front of a 15,044 Goldstone Ground crowd against an Eagles side who had just installed Steve Coppell as manager.

Danny Wilson and Eric Young celebrate O’Reilly’s first Albion goal, against Crystal Palace

Although O’Reilly had collected a UEFA Cup-winners’ medal that May as a non-playing squad member of the Tottenham side that beat Anderlecht 4-3 on penalties (after the two-legged final ended 2-2), opportunities were few and far between at White Hart Lane.

He still had two years of his contract remaining, but O’Reilly requested a transfer and Chris Cattlin snapped him up. Cattlin later admitted: “I watched him eight times before signing him, and six times with Tottenham Reserves he had stinkers. But I thought then he had great potential.”

In a 2001 interview with the Argus, O’Reilly said: “It was a gamble and I took a cut in pay. Spurs had an embarrassment of riches as far as talent was concerned. Spurs were only giving me about 15 games a season and at Brighton I played regularly in a strong side.

“Brighton included the likes of Chris Hutchings, Jimmy Case, Eric Young, Neil Smillie, Danny Wilson, Joe Corrigan, Steve Penney, Terry Connor, Steve Gatting and Frank Worthington and apologies to anyone I’ve forgotten.

“Jimmy had so much experience and Danny was such a driving force who led by example. Frank Worthington? I had this cliched image of him regarding his socialising but I had that vision shattered.

“He was 36 but was so professional, with a desire to win. He was open with his encouragement, free with his advice and a great rock ‘n’ roll fan! I used to make sure he gave me a lift home from training because we both liked loud rock music.”

If O’Reilly was confident the blend between old-stagers and talented youngsters would be enough to win promotion back to the elite, his hopes were shattered when Case was sold to Southampton in March 1985.

“We sold Jimmy Case in the March and I nearly took the door off the hinges in Cattlin’s office,” he recalled in a matchday programme article. “I asked him what the hell he was doing selling Jimmy! Were we serious about getting promoted? Were we serious about getting into the play-offs?

“Jimmy went to Southampton and they had success with him in their team in the First Division. It was no surprise. How many European Cup medals does Jimmy have that say ‘wiinner’? That’s what Jimmy brought to the team here and he was a massive loss when he went.”

Indeed, Albion ended up just a couple of points shy of the promotion places.

O’Reilly and Young (who also later played for Palace) became an almost permanent centre-back pairing in that 1984-85 season, although, in its fledgling stages, Cattlin admitted he played Graham Pearce in between them “to allow the central defensive pair to learn their trade and settle down into a partnership”.

O’Reilly recalled: “We had a good defence (which equalled the fewest-goals-conceded record of 34) and when we clicked up front we would win 4-0, 5-0. We played good football, through midfield, with pace, power and discipline. I learned so much. It was a brilliant time.”

The following season saw Albion finish in mid-table and Cattlin was relieved of his duties before the final game. There had been a consolation of sorts that they reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup when a Jimmy Case-led Southampton (with Peter Shilton in goal) saw off the Seagulls 2-0 in front of a bumper 25,069 crowd (most attendances that season struggled to reach 10,000).

Before that March match, O’Reilly thought he’d scored two more against Palace but his efforts in the New Year’s Day encounter at the Goldstone were ruled out. Nonetheless Dean Saunders and a Danny Wilson penalty secured a 2-0 win for the Seagulls.readcrystalpalace.com says that game is “mainly remembered by Palace fans for a scandalous dive by Terry Connor which earned Brighton a penalty”.

Nonetheless, maybe O’Reilly had caught Coppell’s eye because, in January 1987, Cattlin’s successor Alan Mullery said Palace were in for him and Albion needed the money – £40,000 – to pay the whole club’s wage bill for the next month.

Mullery had ridden on the crest of a wave during his previous five years with the club but on his return found it much-changed. Attendances at the Goldstone were often below 10,000 and, from the word go, Mullery had been instructed to offload high-earners to stem the outflow of cash.

“The playing squad was cut back to the minimum and I had no room to manoeuvre,” he wrote in his autobiography.

Although he’d played 92 games for the Seagulls, O’Reilly had missed several matches in the first half of the season with a troublesome hamstring strain and by Christmas the side were struggling near the bottom of the table.

He said: “Mullery, who was always very honest, said there was no pressure to leave but that if I didn’t go there wouldn’t be enough money to pay the wages.”

Within days of his move to Selhurst Park, O’Reilly was followed out of the exit by a shell-shocked Mullery, who said: “Of course the cuts had left the team struggling but I could have pulled things round if the board had trusted and believed in me. Instead, I’d been stitched up.”

For his part, O’Reilly said: “I went, not so the wages could be paid, but as a career move and it proved the right one.

“Palace got promotion (in 1989) and made it to the FA Cup final (1990) and I scored in the semis against Liverpool and the final against Manchester United.”

None of the much-hyped enmity between Brighton and Palace affected O’Reilly’s switch to Croydon. “I didn’t have any issues with anybody and neither did they with me,” he said in a matchday programme interview. “I didn’t feel any animosity. I was welcomed and we got on really well. The fans realised I didn’t go to Palace to hate, I went to Palace to win.

“I’d played against them a number of times and Steve (Coppell) wanted to develop the squad and make me part of it.”

O’Reilly told Spencer Vignes: “There were the beginnings of a seriously decent side there. Ian Wright and Mark Bright were just coming through, Andy Gray was already there and John Salako, Gareth Southgate in the youth team – a lot of good talent.”

And of Coppell, he said: “Steve had the hunger and drive that made you want to win. That attitude was reflected in the players he acquired.”

O’Reilly rises to head home for Palace against Manchester United in the FA Cup final

Scoring that goal against United in the 1990 FA Cup Final helped O’Reilly fulfil a childhood dream although ultimately there was the disappointment of United equalising (making it 3-3) through Mark Hughes in extra time and going on to win the replay.

“The FA Cup goal was a set play which was no surprise because we worked hard at set plays,” he recalled. It was from Phil Barber’s free-kick on the right that O’Reilly put Palace ahead after 18 minutes, his header looping over goalkeeper Jim Leighton.

United recovered to lead 2-1 before sub Ian Wright, only six weeks after breaking his leg, went on to score twice, in the 72nd minute and again at the start of extra-time before Hughes’ equaliser seven minutes from the end.

O’Reilly challenges Man United’s late-goal Wembley saviour Mark Hughes

O’Reilly played 79 times over three and a half seasons at Selhurst Park but the aforementioned Young and Andy Thorn were the regular centre-back pairing in 1990-91 when Palace finished third in the top division and also won the Full Members’ Cup. O’Reilly went out on loan to Birmingham City, although he only played once.

In the summer of 1991, aged 30, he returned to a Brighton side under Barry Lloyd who’d lost the second-tier play-off final to Notts County and once again had to sell players to balance the books. And in that Argus interview he recalled: “Again I took a pay cut, but I had no worries about coming back. I wasn’t concerned about any element of forgiveness although there were a few who would voice their opinion of my former club, which wasn’t very intelligent.”

He made 31 appearances in the 1991-92 season but played his last game on 29 February 1992 sustaining an injury to his right knee against Southend at the Goldstone which ended his career. Albion were subsequently relegated back to the third tier and after a series of unsuccessful knee operations, O’Reilly was forced to retire from the game in April 1993.

He didn’t let the grass grow under his feet, though. While he was still hopeful of regaining his fitness, he joined BBC Radio Sussex to do analysis on Albion games. It wasn’t his first experience at the mic either. When he was not playing at Palace, he sat alongside Jonathan Pearce and did summarising for Capital Radio.

“Doing this work has kept me involved with the game,” he said. “It is much better to concentrate when watching as a reporter. I find that when I just go along as a spectator my mind wanders and that really is frustrating. Broadcasting really must be the next best thing to playing.”

Born in Isleworth on 21 March 1961, O’Reilly grew up in Essex: his parents, Gerry and Mary, having moved to Harlow. His education began at Latton Green Primary School in Harlow and he moved on to Latton Bush Comprehensive, where he stayed on to take his A levels.

Throughout those schooldays he was a promising central defender and he started to make a name for himself with the Essex Boys team. As a schoolboy, he played for both England and the Republic of Ireland because his father was from Dublin and his mother English. He played for the England under-19 schoolboys’ side for two years.

Earlier in his teens, Arsenal wanted him on associate schoolboy forms, but it was Spurs who snapped him up at the age of 13 and during his last two years at school he played as an amateur at Tottenham. His youth team-mates at White Hart Lane included Kerry Dixon and Micky Hazard.

O’Reilly had the offer of a sports scholarship at Columbia University but he decided to sign for Spurs as a professional in the summer of 1979.

His debut aged 19 was on Boxing Day 1980 as a half-time substitute for Chris Hughton in a remarkable 4-4 draw with high-flying Southampton at White Hart Lane. Among a total of 45 first-team appearances in five seasons at Tottenham were games in the Charity Shield at Wembley in 1982 against Liverpool (Spurs lost 1-0) and a quarter-final victory in the UEFA Cup over German giants Bayern Munich.

It was the arrival of Gary Stevens from Albion shortly after the 1983 FA Cup Final that began to signal the end of his time at White Hart Lane, together with the emergence of Danny Thomas.

After hanging up his boots, O’Reilly scouted for Bruce Rioch when he was boss at Bolton Wanderers and spent nine years identifying talent for kit supplier Adidas.

Alongside that, he began a successful broadcasting career which saw him on screen for Meridian, Sky Sports, BBC, Premier League Productions, NBC, Fox Sports and ESPN.

His broadcasting work also extended to India, ART Prime in Dubai and Trans World International’s Premier League international feed.

After marrying in Arundel Cathedral, O’Reilly first lived in Crawley, from where he commuted to Croydon during the Palace years, and later moved to Hove. He subsequently moved to New York where, since 2017, he co-hosts a weekly podcast Playing With Science with Neil deGrasse Tyson for media company StarTalk, exploring fascinating topics linking sport and science.

Anyone unsure in which camp O’Reilly’s heart belongs, he answered diplomatically in a matchday programme interview: “Spurs. It’s always been them, ever since I was six. And I learned so much about the game just by being involved there, especially through (former Spurs captain) Steve Perryman.

“He was always such a believer in doing things the right way. He gave time to any young players. There was none of that “Do you know who I am son?’ None of it at all.”

Tony Rougier couldn’t have wished for a better Albion start

A GOAL by Tony Rougier three minutes into his debut as a substitute gave Brighton a glimmer of hope in their battle to avoid relegation.

His strike against Mark McGhee’s mid-table Millwall side at Withdean Stadium on 22 February 2003 was the only goal of the game and lifted Albion out of the bottom three of the Championship.

When Bobby Zamora dummied Kerry Mayo’s pass to allow Arsenal loanee Graham Barrett to turn and move the ball goalwards, Rougier nipped in to complete a neat finish past Tony Warner in the Millwall goal.

Manager Steve Coppell had sent on the Reading loanee as a 61st minute substitute for winger Paul Brooker although he admitted to Stuart Barnes of The Guardian: “I honestly didn’t know if Tony would make a difference, but I felt he would pep up everybody else because we were starting to lose our grip.

“Getting out of the bottom three will give the players a lot of self-esteem. For a long time this season they have questioned whether they belonged at this level.”

Trinidad and Tobago international Rougier joined the Seagulls having been sidelined by Alan Pardew at Reading who paid £325,000 when signing him from Brian Horton’s Port Vale.

Horton gave the Argus an insight of what Albion fans might expect when he said in an interview: “Tony has a great build and he is a threat with his pace and strength.

“We had to sell him because we needed the money and he was one of our major earners.”

He had been Vale’s leading goalscorer with eight goals in 38 games when they were relegated from the First Division in 2000 before moving to Reading that August.

Rougier made a total of 84 appearances for Reading, scoring six goals, and in his first season helped them to the Division Two play-off final where they lost 3-2 to Walsall (and Rougier scored an own goal after going on as a substitute). But a year later, he made 20 starts and 13 appearances off the bench as Reading were promoted in second place – behind the Albion!

He had scored twice in 12 outings for Pardew’s high-flying Royals in 2002-03, including in a 1-0 win against Albion at Withdean. But competition for places was fierce, with the likes of Nicky Forster, Darius Henderson, John Salako and Nathan Tyson.

Coppell told the Argus: “I speak with Alan fairly regularly but this came totally out of the blue when I phoned him up.

“Tony is a big, strong lad and he gives us options. He can play as a wide man or down the middle and the move suits Reading, the player and me.”

Getting to grips with Jason Brown of Gillingham

Coppell needed forward cover because Gary Hart was about to start a four-match suspension, Zamora was banned for the next away game at Gillingham, Paul Kitson was still injured and Barrett was struggling for form and goals.

The following matchday programme observed Rougier had not been signed for his goalscoring prowess, but rather for his “power, direct running, and causing havoc that others can exploit”.

But the goal was very welcome in a season that might well not have ended in relegation if Coppell had started the season in charge rather than joining after so many games had already been lost under Martin Hinshelwood.

Rougier made his first start in a 3-0 defeat away to Gillingham playing up front with Barrett when Zamora and Hart were suspended.

He featured in home wins over Rotherham United (2-0) and Nottingham Forest (1-0) as well as an away defeat at Stoke City (0-1), but he missed the 2-1 defeat at Sheffield United after twisting his right ankle against Forest.

He bowed out in style in his final appearance, making one goal and scoring a second in a memorable 2-2 draw away to Ipswich Town.

I took my then 14-year-old son Rhys to the clash at Portman Road and the lively midfielder-cum-striker in the no.34 shirt, who had been taken to the hearts of the Albion faithful, was suitably serenaded with the chant ‘Ra-ra-ra Rougier’ to the tune of the popular vaudeville and music hall song Ta–ra–ra Boom-de-ay.

His first significant involvement saw him go up for a header from Hart’s cross and Town goalkeeper Andy Marshall diverted the ball into his own net to gift Albion an equaliser.

Future Albion loanee striker Darren Bent missed a penalty that would have put Ipswich back in front, and then, with 10 minutes to go, Albion fans were buoyant with expectation when Rougier slammed the ball into the roof of the net after Ipswich had failed to clear their lines.

Unfortunately for Brighton, a 30-yard thunderbolt from Martin Reuser flew past Dave Beasant to put the home side level and Albion had to be content with a point, which ultimately wasn’t enough to avoid making an immediate return to the division they’d left the previous season.

While the player was keen to extend his stay, Pardew wanted him back to help with Reading’s promotion run-in, although thankfully he wasn’t involved in Brighton’s shock 2-1 win at the Madejski Stadium on 4 April (and Steve Sidwell, who had been on loan at the Albion earlier that season was an unused sub). Goals from Brooker and sub Kitson took the spoils for the Albion, Cureton netting for the home side.

The Royals finished fourth in the league before losing 3-1 on aggregate to Wolves in the play-off semi-finals, and Rougier was released on a free transfer having scored three times in 13 starts and nine appearances off the bench.

Rougier told the Argus he would be interested in returning to the Albion, but nothing came of it and he joined Brentford instead. Manager Wally Downes believed the player had “real quality” although Brentford fans seemed to have divided opinions on what he brought to the side.

‘Snappy’ on The Griffin Park Grapevine reckoned: “The guy is a huge asset, especially in the last 10 minutes of a game when he can hold the ball up and dance his way around players like they were statues and relieve the pressure on the defence.”

‘West Ealing Bee’ agreed: “He is an asset to the club and a very important part of the team.” But ‘Boston Bee’ had a totally different take on the player: “Even when he actually tried (15min/match) he looked like he wasn’t trying. His lack of interest in the game going on around him drove me crazy.”

Rougier made 34 appearances for the Bees, scoring five goals but when Martin Allen took over as manager in March 2004, Rougier was one of five players he allowed to leave Griffin Park as part of a squad overhaul that ultimately helped them to a last-day escape from relegation.

Meanwhile, Rougier linked up with another ex-Albion captain, Danny Wilson, at Bristol City on a free transfer. Indeed, Rougier appeared for the Robins when they lost 1-0 to McGhee’s Albion in the divisional play-off final in Cardiff on 30 May.

But when Wilson lost his job that summer, Rougier followed him out of the exit and he returned to Trinidad, where he won the last of 67 international caps for Trinidad and Tobago.

Rougier stepped into coaching

He has since turned to coaching, becoming a UEFA A licensed coach, and attained a degree in sports development. On his LinkedIn profile, he describes himself as the founder, president and technical director of FC South End, and, in 2014, among his past coaching experiences was a spell working with his nation’s under 20 squad.

Four years later, he had moved to the United States to coach the New England Revolution academy team.

Born on 17 July 1971 in Sobo, a village in south west Trinidad, his footballing career was initially confined to his home country.

Tom Lunn, writing for Reading fan website thetilehurstend.sbnation.com in 2019, profiled Rougier describing how the player began his senior footballing career in his home country with La Brea Angels. His Wikipedia page says he also played for Trintoc, United Petrotrin, and Trinity Pros.

An Albion matchday programme article said Rougier then moved to New York where he spent a year working in the baggage department at John F Kennedy airport before heading to the UK.

After overcoming work permit issues, he was taken on by Raith Rovers where, over the course of two years, he became something of a cult hero. In 2018, he returned to Fife to be inducted into the club’s Hall of Fame.

“This is where it all started,” he said in an interview with the club’s TV channel. “It never felt the same whichever club I went to afterwards. The Fife people gave me respect and it’s something I’ll never forget.”

Rougier welcomed back in Fife

During the interview, Rougier remembered fondly an occasion when he man-marked Paul Gascoigne, playing central midfield against Rangers.

His stand-out moment was a UEFA Cup second round tie in Munich’s Olympic Stadium on 30 October 1985 when Raith only narrowly lost 2-1 to Bayern Munich who boasted the likes of Oliver Kahn in goal and Jurgen Klinsmann up front.

His performances for Raith earned him a £250,000 move to Hibernian. He scored four times in 45 matches for Alex McLeish’s Edinburgh outfit but in January 1999 joined Port Vale, signed by Horton’s predecessor John Rudge for £175,000.

By then, he had established himself in the Trinidad and Tobago national side, a teammate of Dwight Yorke, and often being chosen as captain.

In his own words, he describes himself as: “A highly experienced football coach and former professional player with a career in the game spanning more than 25 years, I has successfully made the transition into coaching, management and club operations through a consistent focus on long term player and team development.

“A former national team captain with Trinidad & Tobago and a promotion winner in both England and Scotland, I have been able to effectively apply my on-field experience to guide team success and coaching strategy at professional, grassroots and school level.

“I am a positive, dynamic and passionate professional who is committed to my continued progression as a coach. I am always open to opportunities in which I can develop while positively impacting a football club or organisation, and would relish the opportunity to work with elite players within an ambitious environment.”