I was at home, when a friend of mine, a teaching golf pro here in Hua Hin ( John Wither ) , called me to tell me that he was giving lessons to a former Fulham legend ! He would'nt tell me who it was, unless I drove up to see him.
There I was introduced to John Conway. A bit before my time of watching Fulham, by a couple of years, but after confessing my ignorance about him, we had a chat for a few minutes.
He told me that when he signed his first contact it was for 25 quid a week, and was only after that, he found out what others were getting, and went to complain. In the days before agents, he was basically told to go take a run and jump. He did say however, that he had in his contract a 50% return to himself if he was ever sold on, and when he was sold later the next yr for 10,000 pound, he went on to invest the 5k he earned, which had basically set him up for life, in other business ventures.
He told me that he went back to the Cottage last year, and was invited onto the pitch, for the home game against West Brom, which was due to his brother and former Fulham player ( Jimmy Conways ) illness.
He told me he now lives mainly in Switzerland and Germany, but has a holiday home just a few miles from me. I swapped numbers, and he's promised a game of golf with me soon.
For anyone who does remember him. A nice bloke, and I'll keep you informed .
I always thought he was a decent player but I was in a minority. A thoughtful midfield playmaker lacking pace.
Just as he seemed to be making his mark he was the victim of a vicious mugging from a Cardiff defender and never got his place back.
He did actually show me a brutal scar on his left knee , and confessed to this being the beginning of the end of his career . Was that the same tackle ? If so I am impressed mate .
It's one of those things I remember because it was genuinely brutal.
He'd been flagged offside and the game had sort of stopped when a Cardiff "defender" aimed a vicious kick at him.
My son is training with Crystal Palace under 13 academy side, the under 14s coach is our old captain Mark Newson, both teams were training at the same place this morning so i managed to say hello to Mark, One of my mates is the u14s assistant coach and hes been telling me what a great and knowledgable bloke Mark is
Poor John Conway received awful stick from the crowd. Mainly because he wasn't Jimmy I guess.
Cardiff had some bruising defenders around about this time...wasn't Phil Dywer was it?
We are the whites
read Johnny Giles' book recently. He's mentions a couple of times how he got taken out by various opponents, but blamed himself for putting himself in the position where it could happen (e.g. took the ball with his back to the player so he couldn't see what was coming). Amazing how attitudes change isn't it?
Quote from: Travers Barney on August 11, 2011, 08:33:22 PM
Cardiff had some bruising defenders around about this time...wasn't Phil Dywer was it?
We are the whites
Phil Dwyer it was indeed.
I remember the surgeon who operated on John Conway's knee after the foul commented in the Fulham programme that his knee looked as if a bullet had gone through it.
