After Asmir Begovic made a poor start to life in a Chelsea shirt last night I thought I would take a look at his and some other debuts that can only be described as nightmares.
Begovic made his Chelsea debut last night against the New York Red bulls and you can safely say it didn't go to plan as he conceded 4 goals in only 45 minutes in the Pre Season encounter. After the game Chelsea boss Mourinho said “Begovic was not sharp, a consequence of being tired from training”. The Premier League holders will hope he is not tired if he is called upon during the season.
Jason Crowe a right back who had come through the junior ranks at Arsenal finally got a chance in the first team in a League cup tie v Birmingham City in 1997. Sadly though it wasn't the debut he might have dreamed of and it certainly didn't last as long as he would have hoped as he was unbelievably sent off just 33 seconds after coming on as a substitute for a poor challenge on Martin O’Connor. He only made 2 more appearances for Arsenal before going on to have a successful career in the football league's lower divisions.
You don't see many Englishmen making the move abroad so when Jonathan Woodgate made the move to become a ‘Galactico’ and sign for Real Madrid in 2004 the whole of England were interested to see how it would go. The £13.4 Million pound signing was injured all the way through his first season in Spain but he eventually made his debut in September 2005 and it was unforgettable but for all the wrong reasons, firstly he scored a own goal then just as he thought it couldn't get any worse he then received his 2nd yellow card and that was the end of his debut. He made 10 appearances during an injury troubled spell in Madrid before returning to England with a move to Middlesbrough.
One from all the way back in 1934 now but maybe the worst of them all. Stanley Milton couldn't have thought his first game for Halifax Town would be this eventful well unfortunately for Milton his debut will always go down in history. At half time they were 2-0 down to Stockport County but no one could have seen what was coming the game ending in a 13-0 defeat not the confidence assuring clean sheet Milton was looking for.
Ali Dia a name Southampton fans and Graeme Souness will never forget after the unforgettable story that came with his move to the south coast. In 1996 ‘The Saints’ needed a striker so when former world class striker George Weah rang Souness and recommend his cousin Ali Dia who had apparently played for PSG and played 13 times for Cameroon, he thought he had hit the jackpot. Sadly it wasn't the legendary Weah on the phone it was Dia’s university friend who made the call and made it all up. But without doubt and any due diligence Dia was signed on a month’s contract. So when he came on as sub v Leeds big things were expected, he did not live up to them being subbed back off and being described as ‘bambi on ice’. That was his only game for Southampton but he did go onto Gateshead where he actually scored on his debut maybe his one and only game for Southampton was just a bad day at the office.
Source: DSG
