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Post by ic59 on May 13, 2010 7:24:53 GMT -5
I know that there are a number of Iona soccer fans and former players on this board who keep talking about Bert Williams, a former coach who died very young. And I believe he was English, but I have to admit that I know very little about the man. Well the other day I was at my doctor's office and while waiting, I was thumbing through an old SI magazine, back about the time of the Winter Olympics. In it was a flashback story on the World Cup, and about one of the great upsets in World Cup history, a 1-0 US victory, in 1960, over a great English team. The story centered on the US player who scored the goal, Thomas Gtejens (I really don't remember his name or how to spell it, but am pretty it started with Gt). He was an emigree from Haiti, who after his 15 minutes of fame returned to Haiti, and was eventually arrested by Papa Doc's secret police, the Tom, Tom Macoute and subsequently killed. In the story on the game it was stated that the only goal scored was either a great goal or a fluke, which got by the great English goalie, Bert Williams. My question is that our Bert Williams?
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Post by tootie223 on May 13, 2010 8:22:29 GMT -5
I know that there are a number of Iona soccer fans and former players on this board who keep talking about Bert Williams, a former coach who died very young. And I believe he was English, but I have to admit that I know very little about the man. Well the other day I was at my doctor's office and while waiting, I was thumbing through an old SI magazine, back about the time of the Winter Olympics. In it was a flashback story on the World Cup, and about one of the great upsets in World Cup history, a 1-0 US victory, in 1960, over a great English team. The story centered on the US player who scored the goal, Thomas Gtejens (I really don't remember his name or how to spell it, but am pretty it started with Gt). He was an emigree from Haiti, who after his 15 minutes of fame returned to Haiti, and was eventually arrested by Papa Doc's secret police, the Tom, Tom Macoute and subsequently killed. In the story on the game it was stated that the only goal scored was either a great goal or a fluke, which got by the great English goalie, Bert Williams. My question is that our Bert Williams? No, it is a different Bert Williams. Given his short stature, Bert would not have made a good keeper :-) Bert was/is a great man and I enjoyed covering the soccer team for The Ionian. SI did a great job with the Joe Gaetjens article.
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Post by gregcrow on May 13, 2010 8:37:41 GMT -5
IC59 - that was a great catch - and a weird connection. The answer is no, it was a different Bert Williams. That game was actually in 1950 and is dramatized in a great movie called The Game of Their Lives (made by the same guys who made Hoosiers and Rudy). Gaetjens scored late in the first half when he barely got his head on the ball and was able to redirect it enough to score the winning goal late in the first half. It's a great movie and an obscure piece of American sports history. I will take another 1-0 victory June 12!
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Post by jcgael on May 13, 2010 13:48:41 GMT -5
Correct, not our Bert Williams. Bert was a great man and hopefully one of these days they can do something to recognize his contribution in getting our soccer program up and running. No doubt it was done on a shoestring budget when it started. I definitely need to talk to my old teammates about that one of these days.
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Post by tootie223 on May 13, 2010 14:43:39 GMT -5
Correct, not our Bert Williams. Bert was a great man and hopefully one of these days they can do something to recognize his contribution in getting our soccer program up and running. No doubt it was done on a shoestring budget when it started. I definitely need to talk to my old teammates about that one of these days. Amen to that! I can remember going on road trips in the "special yellow school buses". Then again, as bad as that might have been, it beat travelling with the hockey team via the wild rides on Coach USA. Wow, did we ever have some crazy and wild rides with the "drivers" (and I use that term loosely) from Coach USA. That is the one thing I don't miss about not having the hockey team around!
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