Denis Hollywood the hardest Saints player ever

[9-3]

Brilliant to see him at St Mary's today.

Right footed left back for Saints in the sixties.

The hardest Saints player ever along with Brian O'Neill and John McGrath.

George Best never got past him!

[Pedro]

Didn't he take a Bobby Charlton thunderbolt smack in the face, shook his head and carried on.

[Toomer]

Didn't he take a Bobby Charlton thunderbolt smack in the face, shook his head and carried on.

 

Yes

[ART]

Cliff Huxford was the hardest Saints player and Terry Paine will back me up on that one. Yet Dennis Hollywood was another of my favorite player. They don't make them like that anymore.

[LostBoys]

A toss up between David Walker and John McGrath. I loved Dennis and had the pleasure of playing with him in the same team after his career. We did well in both the league and the Hampshire A Cup and beat Basingstoke when they would not go near him. Lovely guy.

[lifeintheslowlane]

The Silent Assassin!

 

I had the privilege of being cut-down from behind by Denis in the first minute of a Sunday League game some years ago. Like a true gent he helped me up and asked me if I was OK.

[saintalan]

My intro to Saints back 5 (IIRC) was Byrne/Kirkup, Fisher, McGrath, Gabriel & Hollywood.

 

Used to stand under tha East stand/Archers end when I first went. Good for watching Dennis defend!

[Lorne Malvo]

None of them as hard as Gotze unfortunately.

 

[dronskisaint]

In my era I've got to agree with the three mentioned...and Denis was the hardest of the three. I have an affection for Terry Hurlock too...didn't understand the principle of taking prisoners too well!

[FloridaMarlin]

Played against Denis in the Southampton Sunday League.

 

He was a bit slow by then and our right winger was a flying machine who could catch pigeons. First time he faced Denis, he knocked the ball behind him and scorched past him. Next time they got close, Denis said to him; "Don't do that again, son, you'll get hurt."

 

Sure enough, next time our guy had the ball he knocked it past Denis but as he went to round Hollywod, he took a half-step to his right, body-checked him and our guy went down as though he had run into Nelson's Column. He disappeared from the game after that.

 

One of the guys in our team said: "One of the blokes I work with is looking for a game. He used to play a bit." He was told to bring him along the following Sunday and Brian O'Neill turned up!

 

The opposition visibly used to quail when they saw Buddha trotting out in our line-up, but for his fearsome reputation he was a gentleman who actually cost us.

 

On a couple of occasions he pulled out of the sort of 50-50 challenge he would have thundered into in his Saints days, leaving the opponent in a heap.

 

When asked why he said: "People at this level don't know how to tackle properly. If I'd gone in on him full-force, I would have broken his leg, and we've all got to go to work tomorrow."