willie carr game of my life

In this conversation, the host interviews William McEnany, a former player, about a special game in his career. They discuss a famous "donkey kick" goal that McEnany scored against Everton in 1970. McEnany explains that the idea for the free kick came from their coach, and although they had practiced it many times, it rarely worked. However, on the day of the game, everything fell into place and the kick was successful. The goal became famous and was voted goal of the season. They also talk about the lineup of both teams and Coventry City's season in Europe. How are you doing, Willie? I'm alright, thank you very much. How are you? I'm very well, thank you, and welcome all to Game of My Life, where I talk to a former player about a special game in his career. Joining me today is William McEnany. McEnany, McEnany. That's one hell of a mouthful. I tried it, I didn't think I'd get it quite correct, but you did perfect a wonderful kick on the 3rd of October in 1970 with you and Ernie Hunt. We're going to talk about that donkey kick, we're going to go back, we're going to take a trip down memory lane and revisit that game. Coventry City 3, Everton 1, Noel Cantwell was the manager of your boys, Coventry City, and Harry Catrick's team were champions of England that visited Highfield Road on that day in front of 29,212 fans. Firstly, what were your memories about that game and playing against the champions of England? Well, obviously the free kick, but also because Everton were champions, if they're champions you play against, you want to try and beat them because they're champions. But obviously the free kick was the biggest thing about it and it actually coming off as well. Everything just seemed to fit into place when we took the free kick. Let's start with that free kick then. Where did it come from, Willie? From what I remember, we had a coach at Coventry called Bill Asprey. I think he'd been to Lillishall during the closed season on a coaching course and he'd come back and he'd asked us to try this free kick out. We were saying, he'd have to work. But anyway, Ernie was a great bowler, a great striker of the ball. So we tried it in training and stuff like that and a couple of times it would come off and most times it didn't. But just on that day, we'd made up our minds that we were going to try it. There's myself standing over the ball and there's Ernie waiting for me to flick it off. Beside Ernie was Dave Emmons. If you see the match back again, as I flick it off, Dave goes to try and get involved and Ernie's going to try and push him out of the way a little bit. But the thing is, they didn't move because they hadn't a clue what was happening. Obviously, I flicked it off just at the right size and the right level. Ernie was one of the best bowlers I've ever seen of the ball. As soon as he lifted, it was in the net and you knew it was going to be a goal. You flicked it off a hell of a distance, didn't you? You must have flicked it off six or even seven foot in the air. In fact, to be honest with you, I probably flicked it off too high. Everton didn't do anything because they didn't know what was happening. They never even tried to close it down because they just didn't have a clue. Plus the fact that I'd got it in between my legs. I'm sure they'd be wondering, what's she going to do now? I flicked it off and to be honest, I probably flicked it too high. As soon as it left Ernie's boot, that was a goal. Were you always on free kicks, Willie? How come it was down to you and Ernie to do the free kicks? Was it something that you two had already practised before the coach? Usually, in teams, you get people who get involved in free kicks. When I come to the walls, it's usually a couple of ball players that do it. I think you get that at most clubs. There's always two or three players that take free kicks and stuff like that. In training, what was your success rate on that free kick? Not very good, mate, to be honest. Were you surprised when you scored against Everton? I wasn't surprised. It was just great that it came off. I spoke to Ernie, bless his heart and bless his soul. He said that we tried it a week or fortnight before and there was a big clock behind the goal that taught him. He said that I nearly smashed the clock. We tried it a couple of times and it hadn't really come off. The other thing about that day was that it was the first time that much of the day was in colour. Everything just fell into place, basically. They had a couple of camera angles. On the one camera angle, it pretty much missed. You were almost disguised, as you say. The ball was in between your legs and you flicked it off. Everybody was watching with heavy breath. What was Willie Carr going to do? Yes, that's right. Now, it got a voted goal of the season, didn't it? You also tried it again at Stoke City that season and then FIFA banned it, didn't they, at the end of the season? Well, I thought it was the FA that got it banned, to be honest. Really? Okay. They said that I was touching the ball twice, which I suppose I was. For me, it was like you're always looking out for something new. I thought it was just a bit petty to ban it. What it did do, it started a few more free kicks. I know that Asa Hartford and Dennis Stewart at Man City used to put their foot under the ball and flick it up for Dennis Stewart. I think there was one at Southampton where Matt Leticiate and somebody else came in. At Southampton, the lad that took the free kick just rolled it towards Matt and he flicked it for himself and then volleyed it in. The difference between ours was that I'd got it between my legs, so by law, I was touching it twice. The other thing was that because I flicked it up, the ball was apparently supposed to carry its own circumference, which it didn't do when I flicked it up. It brought another two or three free kicks into life as well. It certainly did. Can you remember your team-mates, the Coventry line-up on that day? I know Glazed being goal, Mickie Coot and Chris Stronk were probably the full-backs. I'm cent and a half. Jeff Brockley and the lad that was at Liverpool, Jeff Strong. Then there was myself and Dave Clements. Was Chris Cartman playing? No. Clements was probably the full-back then. Then there was me, Hutchie and Ernie. I'm just trying to think now. When you say Hutchie… Yeah, Tommy Hutchies. No. No, he didn't play. No, Tommy didn't play that game. Dave Coventry, maybe. Neil Martin played. Oh, Neil Martin. John O'Rourke. Yeah. Brian Alderson. Brian Alderson? Yeah. That was the Coventry City line-up. Can you remember the Everton line-up? Well, I know it was like in goal, was it Harvey? Andy Rankin. Andy Rankin. Right back with… Keith Newton. Who? Keith Newton. Right. Brian Lebone. Brian Lebone didn't play that day. No? No. I'm trying to think of who else then. Tommy Wright. Tommy Wright, aye. John Hurst. Yeah. Ray Wilson. No. Roger Kenyon played. Roger Kenyon, wasn't it? Yes. The Midfield trio of Kendall, Harvey and Bullock. Yeah, Harvey and… they were called… what were they called? The Trinity. The Holy Trinity. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, they were all magic players, they were. Joe Royal, Alan Whittle and Johnny Murraysey made up Everton. Yeah, yeah. What? Who was the little blond hair lad, was he? Yeah, he was. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's right. What did Everton's response to the goal be? Well, I don't… we weren't bothered. We just turned round and were sort of like hands up in the air going back towards the half line. You know, we didn't even bother about what they thought, you know. So, we were just over the moon that it had come off as well, you know. In the players' bar after, Willy, did any of the Everton players comment on it? From what I remember, mate, it was a long time ago. Yeah. I can't remember. I probably had a couple of paints by then anyway, so… And you had a decent season that season, didn't you? You finished 10th, you'd finished 6th the season before and got yourself into the FAIRS Cup. Yeah, that's right, yeah. What was your… any other memories on that game against Everton apart from the donkey kick? And why was it called the donkey kick? Who christened it? Well, it didn't have the foot because I was playing for a donkey. It kicks behind itself, doesn't it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's basically what it was, you know. I know they'd asked us to try it before a pre-season match, well, years later. Well, years later. Yeah. And they took us to Highfield Road. But we got out on the pitch to try it and, oh God, I was struggling to flick it up. I was struggling to bend my knees. When I did flick it up, the enemy was smashing the ball into the wall. Because we got some young lads in the wall, you know. And in the end, what we had to do was, I had to sort of like toss it up with my hands and Ernie volleyed it. And I think he volleyed it straight into the young lads in the wall again, you know. So, I think they gave it up as a bad job, to be honest with you. It's a very difficult replicating perspective, isn't it? Yeah, yeah. The 90 minutes, anything else in that 90 minutes that was memorable for you? Ernie scored two. Neil Martin scored the other goal for Coventry City that day. Yeah, yeah. No, I can't remember, mate. No, it was just a long time ago. Your memories of the season? That was the first season that Coventry City played in Europe. Yeah, yeah. Traffy applauded was the first one. Yeah. We played against them. I think we beat them 3-4-0 over there, I think it was. And then we beat them at home. And then I think we drew Bayern Munich, wasn't it? Yeah, you did, yeah. And that was, what do you call them? The big centre half. Well, in those days, probably Franz Beckenbauer would have been in the team. Paul Breitner would have been in the team. They had a very good football team there at Bayern Munich in those days. They were a really good team because I know they batted us over there. And the other thing about that was that, I don't know whether Bill Glazer was injured, but I know Eric McManus went and goal. Yeah. And they used a black and white spotted ball over there. And every shot, it was raining because it was raining, so the ball was sort of like hanging off the ground, you know. And every time they seemed to have a shot, Eric seemed to die for the ball. And just before it got to him, he just used to bounce and I just bounced over him, you know. So it was a bit of a nightmare sort of thing, you know. And then I think we beat them 2-1 at home, but obviously it didn't matter who was over them. But I know when training the one day, they got these black and white balls out, right, to train. And somebody shouted, Oh, don't show Eric then, he'll have a heart attack. But as I say, at that match, every time they seemed to have a shot, he died. And I just seemed to bounce just before him, just went over him, you know. Now, your Coventry career started in 1967, didn't it? Yeah. You were born in Glasgow, but most of your childhood, from the age of 13 anyhow, was spent in Cambridge, wasn't it? Yeah. To be honest, when I came down to England, it was 1963. And then I was only there for two years before I came up to Coventry. Yeah. But my family still lived there anyway. Oh, right. All my family still live in that area. How did the move to Coventry come? To Coventry? Just because I was playing for Cambridge School Boys and was doing all right. Obviously, Cambridge is round about the London area, which is not that far from London. And I went and had a look around Tottenham, Arsenal, West Ham. Out of the three, I preferred West Ham. But I also came up and had a look at Coventry. And I just liked the feeling about Coventry. And I think I was just sort of like taking off then with Jimmy Hill, with Sky Blue Train and stuff like that, you know. And I actually moved into my digs. I left school on this Friday, April 6th, 1965, and I went into digs on a Saturday and started on the Monday. Oh, nice. So I just left school at 15, and just within two days I was up in Coventry. But I was really lucky because I was in the same digs for five years before I got married. And the people that were my landlady were brilliant. They were magic. And they were magic days. You've alluded to Jimmy Hill transformed Coventry. Oh, yeah. Well, you had the Sky Blue Train and all that, you know. And they used to have, I think they played bingo on the train and stuff like that. Some times, I think, with reserve matches, we'd have about 9,000 as well, you know. But it was just on fire at the time. And he'd got some great ideas and stuff like that, you know. He was a revolutionary, wasn't he, in terms of football? Yeah, he was. But the other thing was, he wouldn't take any nonsense off anybody, you know. Because I only played about, he gave me my debut, I played about six games before he left, because I think he'd already started getting into the television by then. Yeah. And I think he left just after Christmas or something like that. So, I think I played about six games. And Noel Cantwell came in, you know, after that. Now, what was Noel like? Because he was quite a charismatic figure as well, wasn't he? Yeah. No, Noel was great. Noel was great. But, like, as long as you'd done what you wanted, he was okay. But if you went against him, he'd let you know. Yeah. And he was a big fella as well. But, no, I liked him as well, you see. And there was a lot of coaches. There was Alan Dix, who was, I think, was one of the assistant managers at the time. And there was a lad who was, the youth team coach was a lad named Pat Sayward. And Pat was Irish, but I think he played for Ireland as well. But he was great with the lads. He'd go to this thing where, for a match day, this is within the youth team, you had to wear a colour and tie, right? And your tie and your socks had to match. They had to be the same colour, you know. If they weren't, you were on a heightened to nothing, you know. It was just discipline, really. Yeah. Just, but he was great. But he was great for the kids as well, because he loved them to play football as well. And you made your debut at Arsenal, didn't you, in 1967? Yeah. The one that was subbed in the last 20 minutes, I think it was. Yeah. When did that happen? I don't think anybody touched the ball, but they'd scored anyway, so. Capped six times as well, during your Coventry career. Your debut being against Northern Ireland. That's right, yes. It's at Windsor Park, yeah. And Dave Clement, who was at Coventry at the time, was playing for Ireland that day. He was. And we beat them 1-0 with a goal by Alan Ewellsine. He was a great player. Yeah. And then we played on, because the only international was Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday. And then on the Wednesday, we played Wales at Hampden. And I think there was about 30,000. We beat Ireland 1-0, 2-0 each with Wales at Hampden. And on the Saturday, we played England at Hampden. And I think there was 137,000. And it was just walking out from the tunnel into the open air. Like, the atmosphere in there. And the roar. They used to talk about the Hampden roar. It was unbelievable. And obviously, there were 120,000 people. It was great. It was magic. And a lot of the England players were quite a few. More than half were from the World Cup winning team as well. You know, that day. Yeah, you didn't do too bad against the World Cup winners, did you? Certainly, in 1967, you came to Wembley and gave England a football intuition. Oh, I had the 3-2 guy. Yeah. Tim Baxter, I think it was. That one, wasn't it? It certainly was. Playing keepy-upy on the pitch. Sitting on the ball or something like that, wasn't he? He certainly did. He got up to all antics, didn't he? Tim Baxter. Did you ever play with Jim whilst you were playing at Scotland? No, no, no. He wasn't even—I think he probably—I don't know. Jim probably made me get on a bit by then. I'm not sure. Maybe I'm doing him a bit of disjustice there. I don't know. But I played with Dennis. Dennis Law and people like that, you know. Scotland had some great players. Scotland have always produced some great players. And hopefully, going forward, Scotland will again produce more great players. The last few years have done all right, haven't they? They've got some decent players. They certainly have, Willie. When did you first team up with Roger Patrick Hunt at Coventry City? Well, I think it had been to the Wolves, hadn't it? Yeah. He got transferred from Swindon to Wolves, I think, didn't he? Yeah, he did. Yeah. And then, in the same season, he transferred to Everton. Yeah. And then he came to Coventry in the same season. Yeah. So I think he was with three different clubs in one season. And that was the first time. But as soon as I'd seen the early time they played with him in training, I knew that I'd love to play with him. Because he played the same way as I wanted to play, sort of. He wasn't the tallest of the both, but, good, he was as strong as an ox. Yeah. And he was very, very skillful. He was. And he was, sorry. He was clever as well. He was very clever as well. And he got a lovely touch. And he was quite a comedian as well, wasn't he? Good offence at you, man. He was as daft as a brush. He was daft as a brush, he was. But really, really funny, honestly. He couldn't swim, but what he could do, he used to love sunbathing. Yeah. And if the sun was really hot and he started sweating, he'd just get up and dive in the pool. He couldn't swim, but he'd just dive. Keep to the side so that he could get himself back out again. And then he'd go back on his lounger. He was a funny man. He was really funny. We'd been out one night, and I don't know whether I should tell you this, but I'll tell you anyway. We'd obviously had a drink, and he'd got up from the toilet, and he sort of shut the door behind him, and then went through another door and shut it. But what he'd realised, he'd shut himself out of the room, and he was in the corridor now in the hotel. So at the end of the corridor, there was a lift, bearing in mind he's got no clothes on, right? And anyway, the lift door opened, and who should be there? But Noel Cantwell and his assistant manager. And he shouted at him, and he says, He says, And then he just said, So he just picked him up and said to Noel, he says, And that's what he was like. He was on the ball all the time. He was brilliant. Yeah. Great lad. Some wonderful times. Some wonderful memories. And a tremendous trip down memory lane, Willard. Noel, thank you for your time, sir. We'll have another meet-up, and we'll do a more in-depth My 70s with Willie Carr, where we'll talk about your career in more depth. Yeah, OK. Yeah, let's do it then, mate. For now, thanks, Willie. Really appreciate your time. Thank you, sir. My pleasure. Cheers, pal. Cheers, mate. Bye-bye. Bye-bye now. Bye-bye. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers.