One for the older bears pt2

Grimsdale

Well-Known Member
After the Law - Greaves comparison was thinking about other players who had big influences at the time..so what about Alan Ball and Billy Bremner. I know the Scots hated wee Bally but I had a liking for him and read his book which he wrote about his love for oor Big Jock....what do you think ?
 
Both would have been players you'd have hated playing against.

Never saw enough of them to say who was the best though Bremner was that maddest!

Ball scored more goals.

Both actually didn't win all that much with their clubs, Bremner won more. 2 titles and a cup or two. Ball I think had one title but also the world cup.
 
I always thought Bremner edged it.

That said my old man couldn’t stand him and used to get enraged when he ‘slowed the game doon’.

WATP
 
Similar to my post on the Mathaaus thread Ball was a player who changed his style as he got older, started as an all action, Duracell bunny type, and finished as a very polished/classy operator.
 
Two outstanding players.
Ball was the better footballer but Bremner had a bigger impact on his team.
If pushed I'd go for Alan Ball.
 
I reckon Ball was more skilfull & had a bit more ability
But Bremner was often more effective

Having said that both reflected the teams they played for
In a general, simplistic sense Arsenal won matches with flair & Leeds won matches with dogged determination & a bit less flair - only my opinion of course & hardly scientific but still my perception nevertheless
 
Both would be continually suspended in today’s climate. :))

Bremner got more exposure due to being part of that Leeds team, but both very similar.
Yes Ball won the WC but it was the West Ham contingents that got most of the coverage.
 
Both would have been players you'd have hated playing against.

Never saw enough of them to say who was the best though Bremner was that maddest!

Ball scored more goals.

Both actually didn't win all that much with their clubs, Bremner won more. 2 titles and a cup or two. Ball I think had one title but also the world cup.

Bremner the maddest? Too right he was!
What a temper and not scared to square up to Dave McKay!!!
 
I’d go for Bremner because I asked Ball for his autograph at a charity match in 1970 something, he said he’d give it me after but fucked off.

It’s taken 40 years but finally retribution is mine

You might have left it a bit late to get your revenge. Doubt he is that bothered now.
 
I always thought Bremner edged it.

That said my old man couldn’t stand him and used to get enraged when he ‘slowed the game doon’.

WATP
Wasn’t just that he slowed it down, he had to do everything.
Free kicks, corners the lot.
One of the reasons Souness became a footballing hero for me.
This guy strutting around playing and receiving pass after pass with I thought, much more effect.
I can’t really answer the op’s question though!
 
Both great players, but a wee story about Ball.
When working offshore Ball & Ron Yeats came out to the rig for a Q&A night, however I was lucky enough to be with another half dozen guys to have afternoon tea with them.
He told us one of his best times in football was in Vancouver, I mentioned I knew Bud & he says ask him about the cigar?
Next time I saw Bud he told me their manager said he had the final piece of the jigsaw to win the super bowl but wouldn't say who
So the team were to meet & greet this new addition in one of the top hotels in Vancouver, Alan Ball !!
He's dressed to the nines smoking a big cigar looking as if he's "Billy bigbaws" the team then grab him fling him fully clothed into the swimming pool
He comes out strips everything off everything walks back into the bar bollock & continues to smoke his cigar, the team love him
Bud says he was a smashing guy
He told some great stories out on the rig as well
RIP both of them
 
Bremner the maddest? Too right he was!
What a temper and not scared to square up to Dave McKay!!!
Mackay had him off the ground by the throat, just seen the pics of that wee Billy shit himself. Bobby Collins was worse, absolute lunatic on the park
 
When Scotland beat England 3:2 in ‘67, Jim Baxter absolutely destroyed Ball.

Alan Ball hated him for 2 reasons, one was the fact that Baxter played so well that day and took the piss instead of completely hammering England and the other was that all through the game, he called him Jimmy Clitheroe! For those who dont know: http://www.jimmyclitheroe.co.uk/
 
And let's not forget him missing an absolute sitter against Brazil.

We’d have been in the last eight if he’d scored that sitter :)
West Germany, Poland and Sweden would have been the next round robin phase opponents for us (as group winners) to see who qualified for the final.
As it turned out we were the only unbeaten team in the 1974 World Cup Finals :(
 
We’d have been in the last eight if he’d scored that sitter :)
West Germany, Poland and Sweden would have been the next round robin phase opponents for us (as group winners) to see who qualified for the final.
As it turned out we were the only unbeaten team in the 1974 World Cup Finals :(
Always tended to think the ball bounced off him rather than him shooting.
 
Alan Ball won the World Cup at 20; Bremner was a wee nyaff. I didn't like either of them but there is no doubt in my mind that Ball was the superior footballer.
 
Both would be continually suspended in today’s climate. :))

Bremner got more exposure due to being part of that Leeds team, but both very similar.
Yes Ball won the WC but it was the West Ham contingents that got most of the coverage.
not if they played in green and grey they wouldn't :rolleyes:
 
When Scotland beat England 3:2 in ‘67, Jim Baxter absolutely destroyed Ball.

Alan Ball hated him for 2 reasons, one was the fact that Baxter played so well that day and took the piss instead of completely hammering England and the other was that all through the game, he called him Jimmy Clitheroe! For those who dont know: http://www.jimmyclitheroe.co.uk/
He also taunted him the full game saying to him you’ll be a player son once your voice breaks(Alan ball had the squeakiest voice ever)
 
Both would have been players you'd have hated playing against.

Never saw enough of them to say who was the best though Bremner was that maddest!

Ball scored more goals.

Both actually didn't win all that much with their clubs, Bremner won more. 2 titles and a cup or two. Ball I think had one title but also the world cup.

The filth could have snapped Bremner up in 64/65 if they could have afforded a spare 30k.

They didn't have it.

However they had a better half back in Bobby Murdoch, playing then at inside right, whose ability Stein had already sussed out as a manger elsewhere.

Ball and Bremner were I suppose players who got into the ribs of the opposing teams.
 
Two great players but Ball was probably the better. Though he was hate by the Scottish fans at the time Ball was actually a good guy. He always said that he wished the English players and Fans had the same passion as the Scots players and fans had at that time. I doubt he would say it about them now
 
Both great players, but a wee story about Ball.
When working offshore Ball & Ron Yeats came out to the rig for a Q&A night, however I was lucky enough to be with another half dozen guys to have afternoon tea with them.
He told us one of his best times in football was in Vancouver, I mentioned I knew Bud & he says ask him about the cigar?
Next time I saw Bud he told me their manager said he had the final piece of the jigsaw to win the super bowl but wouldn't say who
So the team were to meet & greet this new addition in one of the top hotels in Vancouver, Alan Ball !!
He's dressed to the nines smoking a big cigar looking as if he's "Billy bigbaws" the team then grab him fling him fully clothed into the swimming pool
He comes out strips everything off everything walks back into the bar bollock & continues to smoke his cigar, the team love him
Bud says he was a smashing guy
He told some great stories out on the rig as well
RIP both of them

Just before reading your post I was thinking about the time I saw Ball playing for Vancouver against Toronto in 1980.

Right from the kick off to the final whistle Ball absolutely ran the show. I saw a lot of ex international players in those days of the old NASL and not one of them came close to Ball’s performance that night.

I was a fan of Bremner in his heyday at Super Leeds but I have to say Ball just edges it for me.
 
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Talk about having winners in your team. Those two gave everything when they played. Bremner had more ability than some on here are suggesting but he certainly was the dirtier of the two. Both wonderful players
 

Dave MacKay was a genuinely hard guy and although Bremner was never a shrinking violet, he more than met his match on that particular day and he knew it. On the subject of Ball/Bremner, I would always have had Bremner. Ball was more of a pesty type of player who was full of movement and sought to press and close players down. Bremner was hard, could play and was a leader.
 
Read McKay's book....that was his first game back in the first team after a second leg break....wee Billy dived in onto the injured leg hence the reaction.
 
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Both would have been players you'd have hated playing against.

Never saw enough of them to say who was the best though Bremner was that maddest!

Ball scored more goals.

Both actually didn't win all that much with their clubs, Bremner won more. 2 titles and a cup or two. Ball I think had one title but also the world cup.
Bremner was a teriffic wee player,a born leader.He and Giles pulled the strings on probably the best all round British team
I can personally remember in the last 60 years.
Wee Ball was also teriffic,but if push came to shove,I’d take Bremner.
 
Both of them were great players when Britain was blessed with some fantastic midfielders, but I would put Billy Bremner above Alan Ball every time.
Bremner was at Leeds for 16 years, and for those of you that say he did not win very much,
He won all that there is to win domestically,
the English League Championship (2), The FA Cup, The League Cup and the Charity Shield.
He also led his team to FIVE European Finals, winning the Fairs Cup (2), and was a Runner up in all three European Competitions.
He was also a Runner Up in the League 5 times, and 3 times in the FA CUP.
All of this in a 10 year period between 65-75.
Bremner was voted the FWA Footballer of the Year for England in 1970, the same year that Alan Ball won his only domestic honour.

There is good reason as to why there is a Statue of Billy Bremner outside Elland Rd.

Internationally, only Denis Law with 55 Caps, was capped more for Scotland than Billy Bremner (54).

Having said all that, during that period of the mid 60's to the early 70's, our very own John Greig was better than both of them!
 
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