So familiar now is the sight of new Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew looking fraught on the St James’ Park bench, it’s easy to forget that he was a top flight player for a while.
He had a couple of very notable moments: one very good, which you may remember – and one very bad, which you probably don’t.
Very good
Pardew’s greatest moment is the main reason why he will always be associated with Palace – the club he has just taken over as manager.
Pardew regularly faced boos from the crowd in his stint at St James’ Park, but that was nothing new to him – at Palace, where he moved having been a semi-professional at Yeovil, he was often the target of the fans’ vitriol too.
That changed, though, during the 1990 FA Cup semi-final when he headed home the winner in a dramatic and famous 4-3 victory. That earned him cult status at Selhurst Park, and he has been popular there ever since.
Very bad
Since Newcastle last won a trophy in 1955 Alan Pardew was born, was an FA Cup finalist, played in Intertoto with Spurs & got 8 year contract
— vÃzzy9 (@vizzy9) December 29, 2014
There aren’t many people who remember the Intertoto Cup fondly – if at all – but Pardew has more reason to hate it than most.
When Tottenham found themselves in the summer competition, which offered a route into the UEFA Cup, in 1995, they put together a squad of reserve players augmented by a handful of loan signings, brought to the club especially for the unwanted honour of playing in Europe’s least prestigious competition.
One of those was Pardew. He played four times in the Intertoto – including an 8-0 hammering by Cologne which remains, to this day, Tottenham’s record defeat. Don’t expect him to take over from Mauricio Pochettino any time soon.
Source: SNAPPA
