There has never been a tradition about Steve Archibald or his football philosophy.
Most of his Scottish contemporaries would have vanished to the idea of following in Diego Maradona’s footsteps in the crucible of Barcelona’s Camp Nou in 1984.
However, Archibald only accepted the challenge, but created his own litany of memories, learned to speak Fluent Spanish, and is now the head of a powerful company that has proposed a “hero fee” agreement for key staff fighting the coronavirus pandemic.
He never replaced Maradona, who died last week at the age of 60 and is a feature of his long career, from Clyde to East Stirlingshire, aberdeen to Spurs and from Barcelona to Hibernian, who has resolutely refused to verify stereotypes.
Someone once told me that Archibald was “a clumsy guest,” but that wasn’t the impression he gave me when I met him at the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh in the 1990s.
On the contrary, he was witty, articulated, determined, and his verbal exchange was freed with much from the common places of many of his companions.
And it is evident that he held Maradona with anything that approached reverence.
As he said: “I never thought of replacing anyone when I joined Barcelona. Someone’s gone and I’m coming. “
“It’s like that. I didn’t come here to do what Maradona had done, because, obviously, Maradona is incredibly special.
“And more special than anyone I’ve ever seen, sooner or later. His skill is sublime.
Yet Archibald was not lacking in elegance or quality in his own right, nor in trophies on his resume.
He had already won the name of the Scottish Championship with Aberdeen in 1980, won two FA Cups and won a UEFA Cup.
It is not the best time, whether at the club or on a mission abroad, as he demonstrated by amassing 27 matches with Scotland and making his deyet in the 4–1 win over Portugal in 1980: a result that would now be considered a minor miracle. . , however, represented the SFA’s ability 40 years ago.
Archibald had his own modus operandi and this was worth his career. Even when he wore the number 10 shirt at Barca, a decade after being a trialist in East Stirlingshire, he ignored the exaggerations, greeted enthusiasts in his own language and drew his own. Way.
He scored two goals in Boca Juniors’ 9–1 demolition in the Joan Gamper pre-season trophy, then attracted enthusiasts strongly by scoring the goal in the 3-0 win over Real Madrid in the opening match of 1984. – 85 La Liga Campaign.
But even then, he refused to afford a dew-eyed romance.
As he told my former colleague, Alan Pattullo, whose ancestor, George, played for Barcelona more than a century ago, Archibald never cared about seating prominence.
He is the only one to have appeared in the same edition of Top of the Pops with two other teams: the 1982 Scottish World Cup team with BA Robertson and all fa cup Spurs with Chas.
As he said about this functionality opposite the Real: “It’s a tap-in. But if the ball hits the bottom of the net, that’s what makes you earn points.
“I am more than satisfied to score terrible goals and leave the awesome ones to other people, because the awesome ones don’t come very often.
“In the end, it’s the little goals that win the leagues. But you can do it like me or you can do it like Maradona.
The policy worked. Even the pyrotechnics of the Argentine star can end barca’s drought.
But Archibald’s incisive contributions have contributed to the rise of Spanish giants in the championship, his moment in the 24-year-old area.
Equally ruthless in his attitude to dressing with number 10 when his manager Terry Venables asked him if he agreed to this option.
Because he had no time device and may not rewrite history, he thought that he too would generate his own titles and that Barcelona enthusiasts soon christened him Archigoles.
He recalled: “It’s like T-shirt 10 is infected. No one else would accept it. But I had no phobia about it. “
“It’s a lot of nonsense. Whoever nevertheless replaces Lionel Messi would never enter the field if he behaved like this would be petrified. “
It’s a word I’d never associate with that fearsome individual Alex Ferguson once told to return a soccer ball that Archibald had claimed after scoring a hat-trick.
However, he obeyed, but only after starting the sphere in Ferguson’s office.
Which, as you expected, fell like a lead balloon.
It’s not like Archibald hangs out in Pittodrie.
The one from England called, then the one from Spain.
The between Maradona and Archibald shows that there is no single style to generate a world-class reader.
No one assures for a moment that the itinerant Scotsman possessed the same stellar gifts as the South American bullfighter, who encouraged his country at the 1986 World Cup, but even his fascinating chalk and cheese temperament.
Maradona, for example, marked his arrival at Camp Nou collecting an orange from the fruitmaker he had placed on a domain table and betting with it, before reproducing the same tricks with a pair of rolled socks.
Archibald, for his part, said: “My ultimate extravagant act is not breaking a sweat when I shook hands with each and every player in the locker room. “
And yet Barcelona was indebted to his presence and there is even a concept of what he could have been, given the injuries that then upset him at the club.
He was forced to watch from the stands when Dundee United eliminated Barca from the UEFA Cup with a 1-0 win in Tannadice on 4 March 1987 and an astonishing 2–1 fortune with two goals in the last five minutes in Spain two weeks later.
And, returning to the ranks and forming a tough partnership with Gary Lineker, the replacement was in the air with Venables and Archibald’s departure then ceded to Blackburn Rovers and followed with a move to Hibs.
However, she scored 42 goals in 95 games and maintained such a tough relationship with the club, her enthusiasts and the city itself that made her a permanent home.
Steve Archibald has been involved in other roles since retiring from football, being the head of East Fife as premier division manager.
In 2000, he submitted an offer to buy Airdrieonians in monetary difficulties and allowed him to take control of the club, after directors gave him the prestige of bidder.
He was a director and, deploying his contacts in Europe, established a small Spanish colony in the west of Scotland. This aroused some eyebrows from parish observers, but the Scottish Challenge Cup’s victory soon silenced criticism.
However, it failed to complete the acquisition of the club and Airdrie even though everything ceased operations in May 2002, as a result of the formation of a new organization, Airdrie United.
Archibald observed from his base in Barcelona as the COVID-19 in the global battle.
A few years ago, he founded a company called FC Energía, which linked football to the fuel or electric power materials of enthusiasts and the concept proved so fruitful that the company now has the spouse of a dozen clubs throughout Spain.
However, Archibald spent many hours on his terrace during the summer and learned that some things were more vital than football. He marveled at the harsh paintings of doctors, nurses, ambulance staff and other physical care personnel and made the decision to help.
As he said to ESPN, “It’s a feeling in me: “I wish we could do something. “
“And what I can do gives them their energy. I don’t make money from them, not a penny, but I don’t care.
“I called it the hero fee (hero price) and it’s not an offer. That’s a thank you. “
As we mentioned at the beginning, he’s not a normal footballer!
For as little as £5. 99 per month, you can use all of our content, adding Premium items.