They are never the top earners at a club. Probably not a single fan has their name and number on the back of his shirt. The Jamie Redknapps and Gary Nevilles of this world will not interview them after a live game on SSN to get their analysis on a match. Yet no team can really do without at least one or two of them in the lineup.
I’m talking of course about the unsung hero. In my case this was Tim Breacker, to this day my favourite West Ham player, an unlikely choice maybe, but for me it makes total sense. In a recent guest post I told you all about how I became smitten with the Hammers. One reason was this remarkably unremarkable defender from Bicester. All he ever did was bomb up and down the right side of the pitch all game, this guy didn’t appear to have only one Volkswagen engine built in, but two. Very quickly this player represented for me what West Ham was all about:
His overall skills were limited, he wasn’t flash, yet he gave his all in every game, ran and tackled his guts out for the team and didn’t even get or demand much recognition for it.
I was especially impressed since at that time, at least in Germany, it wasn’t a common sight to see defenders cross the midfield line on a regular basis. Breacker was a regular appearance at the opposition’s corner flag putting in one cross after the other only to be back in his own half shortly after to do his main job of defending.
I was gobsmacked and hugely impressed – and delighted to find a Tim Breacker poster in one of the next issues Hammers News Magazine.
Yes, a poster! Of a footballer! I was bloody 24 at the time!
Needless to say I soon went to the cabin on Green Street that constituted the Hammers Shop and got my Breacker shirt:
Me: Hi, I’d like a home shirt please, with Tim Breacker’s name and number on the back please.
Them: Breacker, Breacker, number 2, is he ?
Me: I think so.
Them: Is that Breacker with -ck or -k ?
Me: Not sure. I’ve just come over from Germany. Only been to two games yet. I thought you were the club representative here…
Them: Hang on, I’ll get the squad list…
That is typical of an unsung hero. Sometimes even those working for the club don’t know how the name of an unsung hero is spelled. To this day I wear my number 2 Breacker (with -ck!) shirt with pride, even though not a single soul knows the player here in Germany, but I suppose it wouldn’t get a vastly different reaction in England. Unsung heroes are unsung because they don’t score a lot of goals or assists. Often you only realise how good they were once they have left the club.
They are missing from the headlines and you also won’t catch them in the wrong sections of the newspapers for being on trial for grievous bodily harm or having sex with a prostitute or two. Most of the unsung heroes won’t drive a Jaguar or Ferrari. They just do their job, shower up and go home to do it all again a week later. Most of them probably are quite happy about staying in the background.
Enough of that! Let’s drag ’em out and give them some respect and recognition!
Who was your favourite unsung Hammer hero, today and in the past ?
Breacker for me in the past, Demel today. Over to you!