Dave Thomas's Thoughts On Ade Akinbiyi
By TheLongside.co.uk
April 23 2009
Is it possible that there has been, over the years, a player more popular than Ade Akinbiyi; a player who left Burnley both a legend and a cult figure? What is a legend; a particular character famous for a skill or talent maybe? Or it is a story or set of stories that have grown over the years that are not really true. It is possible that both these definitions apply to him.
April 23 2009
Is it possible that there has been, over the years, a player more popular than Ade Akinbiyi; a player who left Burnley both a legend and a cult figure? What is a legend; a particular character famous for a skill or talent maybe? Or it is a story or set of stories that have grown over the years that are not really true. It is possible that both these definitions apply to him.
What is a cult figure? It’s a bit more difficult to pin down; we all have our different interpretations. Is it someone, not necessarily hugely talented or even long-serving, but who has made a great contribution to a club, uniquely entertaining us, and for whom we feel deep affection and has left an indelible mark on our memories? Ade certainly had a talent and that talent was scoring goals. The story that he was utterly bad at this is totally inaccurate, but that is the legend that developed, at one club in particular, Leicester City.
In truth, at Burnley too, he missed sitters that Harry Redknapp might say his wife could have scored. But then so do all other players and in many games he displayed all the things that he was good at, and the attributes that he had in abundance. Please click on the link below to read more. |
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