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John Burridge


Yorkshire Saint
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Fondly remember his eccentric warm up routine in the 18 yard box at the Dell when he was with Palace, and the Milton giving him loads of good natured stick (Saints then promptly stuck four past him). Saints fans were generally underwhelmed when he was drafted in to replace the irreplaceable Shilts, but he soon won the crowd over - 100% was the Budgie mantra.

 

Looking back, England had some incredible goalkeeping talent in that era, along with Shilton and Clemence, there was Corrigan, Parkes, Rimmer, Bailey et al. All characters...

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Loved this guy. Always played with smile on his face. I read somewhere that he would get his wife to throw oranges at him when he wasn't expecting it, to keep his reflexes sharp, sort of Kato/Clouseau type relationship.

 

He alway looked quite short for a 'keeper, probably under 6' tall (says the 5'8" ex-goalie :D)

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Loved this guy. Always played with smile on his face. I read somewhere that he would get his wife to throw oranges at him when he wasn't expecting it, to keep his reflexes sharp, sort of Kato/Clouseau type relationship.

 

He alway looked quite short for a 'keeper, probably under 6' tall (says the 5'8" ex-goalie :D)

 

it was in the Le Tiss book.... great! :D

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He is a pundit on the Football Channel in Asia, along with Charlton Palmer. Wears some outrageous suits, have to put sunglasses on at half time just to watch it. As for the OP, he doesnt look any older than when he played for us

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I can rememeber going along to the Camrose to watch the Saints in a pre-season friendly when I was a kid. I was surprised to see that Budgie wasn't playing (if memory serves it was an early start for Tim Flowers). Instead, out he comes in 80's shorts, sunglasses and flip-flops with a deckchair tucked under his arm, strolls round the pitch and sets himself up on the side of the pitch by the halfway line to watch the match. Absolute classic.

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He's in Oman as the national goal keeping coach

 

DubaiPhil and I had the pleasure of bumping into him in Rock Bottom in Dubai a few months back, visiting from Oman. He could certainly belt out a few good old rock n roll songs in The Karaoke sessions.

 

And he was dressed for the part as well, brown leather jacket, white t shirt and shades :smt004

 

He was more than happy to chat with us even though he had a bevvy of Philipino girls with him. Wouldn't let us buy him a drink, but did pose for pics and chat about his time at Saints.

 

His favourite moment was baby sitting Alan Shearer and calming down his pre match nerves on his debut against arsenal ... and of course it worked a treat as Shearer hit a hattrick to become the youngest player to do so in Top Flight football.

 

Yep the guy is as mad as a hatter but a very nice and unassuming bloke to boot.

Edited by ericofarabia
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I bet where ever he is he has his kit packed just in case some team some where is short of a keeper. He is a brilliant man who put everything in to being a goal keeper; I read somewhere he got so drunk as a young keeper on a night out with the team he woke up the next day and thought he could either be an one of the boys and an average keeper or stop drinking and the best keeper he could be. He went down the later path and was a massive trainer, he would wear his full kit and boots just to watch Match of the Day and act out the movements he would do if he was the keeper. His wife said he would dive and tip balls over the bar in his sleep and as he got older he would keep his kit in the car ready for a late call from anywhere.

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His favourite moment was baby sitting Alan Shearer and calming down his pre match nerves on his debut against arsenal ... and of course it worked a treat as Shearer hit a hattrick to become the youngest player to do so in Top Flight football.

 

He should have had a word with Kevin Bond about looking before he passes back to the keeper too!

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He used to practice by diving of his garage roof on to a matress.when saints played cov at highfield rd one cold winters day,he turned up in the saints section wearing a sheepskin and goalies gloves.He was there to watch shilts.Obsessed...mad.....legand.

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He should have had a word with Kevin Bond about looking before he passes back to the keeper too!

 

I remember that, when the score was 1-0 that made it 1-1. Shearer then went on to get his hat trick and Mark Blake scored another. Apparently any TV footage of that game has been lost.

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I remember that, when the score was 1-0 that made it 1-1. Shearer then went on to get his hat trick and Mark Blake scored another. Apparently any TV footage of that game has been lost.

 

IIRC that game was played in torrential rain, I used to stand behind the goal in the Milton Rd stand with some mates. The rain was so bad that we retreated under the shelter of the Family Centre.

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