| Colin Viljoen 08:55 - May 22 with 35550 views | Lord_Lucan |
I started watching Ipswich late in 1975 and don't remember much about Viljoen, I think he must have been injured a lot?
Since the Blue Heaven thing I have been thinking about him. I always got the feeling that he never really mixed much with the rest of the team and was a bit aloof.
Anyone got any stories or comments on him? |  |
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| Colin Viljoen on 20:27 - May 22 with 5694 views | StochesStotasBlewe |
| Colin Viljoen on 09:15 - May 22 by Keno |
Didn’t he have a thing about not kicking a ball before he had warmed up and then pulled a hammy doing his stretching exercises before kick off? |
From what i remember, Viljoen warmed up on his own before kick off doing stretching exercises.
Was a very cultured player who often stood out in matches with his ability to pick out passes amongst the more "agricultural" midfielders of the time. |  |
| We have no village green, or a shop.
It's very, very quiet.
I can walk to the pub. |
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| Colin Viljoen on 20:41 - May 22 with 5683 views | monty_radio |
| Colin Viljoen on 20:27 - May 22 by StochesStotasBlewe |
From what i remember, Viljoen warmed up on his own before kick off doing stretching exercises.
Was a very cultured player who often stood out in matches with his ability to pick out passes amongst the more "agricultural" midfielders of the time. |
Was, and remains my favourite player. Muhren could pick a better pass, Thijssen execute a better dribble, Wark was even more combative - but "Ace",so-named by no less than SBR, could do it all, and did so for nigh on 10 years. |  |
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| Colin Viljoen on 21:24 - May 22 with 5635 views | bluefunk |
I heard Sir Bobby in around 1975, describe Viljoen as having the best periferal vision of any player he had ever worked with (that included Johnny Haynes, one of England finest midfielders who SBR played with at Fulham).
Viljoen was a cultured midfielder, and asapothers have said obviously not the most popular player, but from the late 60’s up until around 1974/5 he was by far the best player we had. Others have been better since but he was an absolute gem |  | | |
| Colin Viljoen on 21:34 - May 22 with 5629 views | solemio |
I was at PR when he made one of his returns after lengthy injury and I still recall the very loud cheering of our supporters when Sir Bobby brought him on as a sub.
He may not have been popular with colleagues, but they liked the chances he laid on for them. Skill-wise he would not have been out of place in the 80/81 team. | | | |
| Colin Viljoen on 21:50 - May 22 with 5608 views | jaykay |
| Colin Viljoen on 18:36 - May 22 by BloomBlue |
Maybe Colin felt he didn't fit in. Ipswich were known as the white club by a lot of other fans in late 70s/ early 80s because of our lack of blacks players. I had completely forgotten about that tag until a Chelsea fan reminded me a few months ago, I was going to prove him wrong and double checked our squads from that period to prove it.... hmmmm
Which also reminded me when the other fans talked about the white club Town fans response was often 'we have Colin Vijoen' |
well i have never heard that said about the town , everton yes |  |
| forensic experts say footers and spruces fingerprints were not found at the scene after the weekends rows |
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| Colin Viljoen on 22:00 - May 22 with 5597 views | CaptMickMills |
Just seen that Colin Viljoen is 16th in all time Town appearance list with 372 appearances scoring 54 goals.
He was one of my favourite players in my early days of supporting Ipswich. | | | |
| Colin Viljoen on 22:28 - May 22 with 5561 views | reusersfreekicks |
A great midfield general. |  | | |
| Colin Viljoen on 22:46 - May 22 with 5539 views | Vic |
| Colin Viljoen on 21:50 - May 22 by jaykay |
well i have never heard that said about the town , everton yes |
I hadn’t either until a few years ago when I got to know the families of a couple of black players. Both independently mentioned the fact that there was a time when they were young that town were not keen on signing them because if their colour! As a result they signed for Norwich. |  |
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| Colin Viljoen on 22:55 - May 22 with 5524 views | Rocky |
| Colin Viljoen on 18:36 - May 22 by BloomBlue |
Maybe Colin felt he didn't fit in. Ipswich were known as the white club by a lot of other fans in late 70s/ early 80s because of our lack of blacks players. I had completely forgotten about that tag until a Chelsea fan reminded me a few months ago, I was going to prove him wrong and double checked our squads from that period to prove it.... hmmmm
Which also reminded me when the other fans talked about the white club Town fans response was often 'we have Colin Vijoen' |
Absolute nonsense from start to finish |  | | |
| Colin Viljoen on 23:01 - May 22 with 5517 views | gosblue |
| Colin Viljoen on 22:00 - May 22 by CaptMickMills |
Just seen that Colin Viljoen is 16th in all time Town appearance list with 372 appearances scoring 54 goals.
He was one of my favourite players in my early days of supporting Ipswich. |
I was once told by a coach to watch Colin Viljoen if I wanted to learn how to be a good midfielder. Especially the way he dropped a shoulder and drifted past players. BTW that coach had nothing to do with Ipswich but knew I supported them. CV is still my favourite Town player of all time. | | | |
| Colin Viljoen on 23:30 - May 22 with 5497 views | jaykay |
| Colin Viljoen on 22:55 - May 22 by Rocky |
Absolute nonsense from start to finish |
i tried to be more polite in my answer to that statement  | |
| forensic experts say footers and spruces fingerprints were not found at the scene after the weekends rows |
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| Colin Viljoen on 23:38 - May 22 with 5491 views | Lord_Lucan |
| Colin Viljoen on 22:46 - May 22 by Vic |
I hadn’t either until a few years ago when I got to know the families of a couple of black players. Both independently mentioned the fact that there was a time when they were young that town were not keen on signing them because if their colour! As a result they signed for Norwich. |
I find that very hard to believe. Are you referring to Louie and Ruel?
Louie Donawa joined Norwich Youth in 1980, he wasn't anywhere good enough to join Ipswich at the time. Ruel was a late developer and spent most of his early seasons as a sub at best and at the very same time he wouldn't have got close to our own Dalian Atkinson.
Ipswich as a football club and town has always lived in racial harmony.
Norwich as a city never saw a black man until the Fashanus landed there from Bernados. [Post edited 22 May 2018 23:41]
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| Colin Viljoen on 23:56 - May 22 with 5479 views | bluefunk |
| Colin Viljoen on 22:55 - May 22 by Rocky |
Absolute nonsense from start to finish |
Colin Viljoen wasn’t black - was he??? | | | |
| Colin Viljoen on 00:02 - May 23 with 5474 views | Lord_Lucan |
| Colin Viljoen on 23:56 - May 22 by bluefunk |
Colin Viljoen wasn’t black - was he??? |
I would describe him as light khaki | |
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| Colin Viljoen on 00:09 - May 23 with 5465 views | Rocky |
| Colin Viljoen on 00:02 - May 23 by Lord_Lucan |
I would describe him as light khaki |
"Willowin"as SBR always prounced his name, was a white South African [Post edited 23 May 2018 0:26]
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| Colin Viljoen on 05:20 - May 23 with 5397 views | shamboy |
| Colin Viljoen on 22:55 - May 22 by Rocky |
Absolute nonsense from start to finish |
No, it is true.
There were some very talented black schoolboys around the town at the time, but none were given a fair chance when they trialled at Ipswich. It was a bone of contention in the black community for many years, but rarely spoken about outside that group.
Speak to any of the key people from Caribbeans FC from that time if you want the truth.
As for Viljoen, tremendous player so smooth on the ball but who can honestly say they have ever met a nice white South African. Their sense of entitlement is legendary. [Post edited 23 May 2018 5:22]
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| Colin Viljoen on 06:04 - May 23 with 5364 views | Colin_Viljoen |
My first Ipswich hero........ amoungst many over the years! |  | | |
| Colin Viljoen on 07:14 - May 23 with 5330 views | BloomBlue |
| Colin Viljoen on 22:55 - May 22 by Rocky |
Absolute nonsense from start to finish |
Ipswich wasn't the only club known as that. Remember this was at the end of the 70s / start of 80s you didn't have 100s of black players around then. The Chelsea fan I was speaking to is in his early 60s and as he said he loved watching Ipswich in those days because of the style of play but he called them the white club because they never had a black player during that period. |  | | |
| Colin Viljoen on 07:30 - May 23 with 5321 views | Superfrans |
| Colin Viljoen on 09:13 - May 22 by Radlett_blue |
He was clearly Town's most skillful player when I first started watching in 1972. Also adept with free kicks & a cool penalty taker. I don't recall him being injury prone until later in his career, notably 1977-78 when he had been out inured & returned for a game at Villa just before the Cup Final. It seemed clear that Robson was giving him a chance to prove his fitness & if he did OK, he would play at Wembley ahead of the more limited Roger Osborne. Now, it was said that Viljoen wasn't too popular with some of his team mates - he was confident to the point of arrogance & he was one of the first Town players to own a car (amazing to think of that now). Apparently, he regularly refused to give other players a lift to the training ground. So, the theory is that a few of the Town players didn't want him back in the team for the final so they didn't want him to look good at Villa & refused to pass the ball to him, although it was normal for players to take it easy with an FA Cup Final a week away. Anyway, we lost 6-1 & Osborne was restored to the team for Wembley. Viljoen didn't kick a ball for Town again & by now aged 30, his career quickly petered out at Man City. |
I was similarly thinking avout Viljeon yesterday when i saw that he had played 372 times for Town, putting him 16th in the all-time appearances list. He just jumped out from the list because the thing I know him most for was this example of “player power” (as it was termed in the press at the time). Seems sad for someone who gave so much for the club should be best known for that incident. |  |
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| Colin Viljoen on 07:52 - May 23 with 5303 views | Lord_Lucan |
| Colin Viljoen on 05:20 - May 23 by shamboy |
No, it is true.
There were some very talented black schoolboys around the town at the time, but none were given a fair chance when they trialled at Ipswich. It was a bone of contention in the black community for many years, but rarely spoken about outside that group.
Speak to any of the key people from Caribbeans FC from that time if you want the truth.
As for Viljoen, tremendous player so smooth on the ball but who can honestly say they have ever met a nice white South African. Their sense of entitlement is legendary. [Post edited 23 May 2018 5:22]
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I'm still not having it - not one bit.
Most clubs were mainly white back then, there were only a handful of black players about.
What years are you talking about and what players? | |
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| Colin Viljoen on 08:13 - May 23 with 5283 views | solemio |
| Colin Viljoen on 00:09 - May 23 by Rocky |
"Willowin"as SBR always prounced his name, was a white South African [Post edited 23 May 2018 0:26]
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No he didn't. He pronounced it the correct South African way Veelyoen, with the J making a Y sound. | | | |
| Colin Viljoen on 08:30 - May 23 with 5266 views | Superfrans |
| Colin Viljoen on 07:52 - May 23 by Lord_Lucan |
I'm still not having it - not one bit.
Most clubs were mainly white back then, there were only a handful of black players about.
What years are you talking about and what players? |
I've never heard this either, but... Just to play devil's advocate....
It's quite possible that the club was no less welcoming to non-white players in the late Seventies / very early Eighties than most other clubs in the country - while there also being a perception that Norwich were *more* welcoming.
The single best advert for inclusiveness is having black player/s. And Justin Fashanu was among the most high profile black players in the country at that time - at that point, (I don't think) Ipswich hadn't had a black player since Johnny Miller (please correct this).
In fact, I remember standing with older fans (who should have known better) at local derbies and hearing monkey chants against Fashanu (we stood in the open corner terrace between the North and West stands). I would have been 10/12, something like that. Of course, I wouldn't say you could tar the club based on this - it was clearly a cultural issue at the time.
Against this, of course, there are widely published pictures of black fans celebrating on the terraces as Ipswich won the FA Cup Final in 1978. So, it's not a simple, clear picture one way or the other.
But it would be perfectly possible for a young black lad to think that Norwich was more accepting of young black players than Norwich in the late Seventies or so. | |
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| Colin Viljoen on 08:31 - May 23 with 5267 views | itfcjoe |
| Colin Viljoen on 23:38 - May 22 by Lord_Lucan |
I find that very hard to believe. Are you referring to Louie and Ruel?
Louie Donawa joined Norwich Youth in 1980, he wasn't anywhere good enough to join Ipswich at the time. Ruel was a late developer and spent most of his early seasons as a sub at best and at the very same time he wouldn't have got close to our own Dalian Atkinson.
Ipswich as a football club and town has always lived in racial harmony.
Norwich as a city never saw a black man until the Fashanus landed there from Bernados. [Post edited 22 May 2018 23:41]
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I've heard more that it was just local boys who didn't get a chance, a couple of whom happened to be black in Louie and Ruel. We were much more interested in North East and Scotland rather than what was on our doorstep.
It didn't serve us badly, but may have been unpopular with the better boys in the area. |  |
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| Colin Viljoen on 16:57 - May 23 with 5187 views | Meadowlark |
| Colin Viljoen on 08:30 - May 23 by Superfrans |
I've never heard this either, but... Just to play devil's advocate....
It's quite possible that the club was no less welcoming to non-white players in the late Seventies / very early Eighties than most other clubs in the country - while there also being a perception that Norwich were *more* welcoming.
The single best advert for inclusiveness is having black player/s. And Justin Fashanu was among the most high profile black players in the country at that time - at that point, (I don't think) Ipswich hadn't had a black player since Johnny Miller (please correct this).
In fact, I remember standing with older fans (who should have known better) at local derbies and hearing monkey chants against Fashanu (we stood in the open corner terrace between the North and West stands). I would have been 10/12, something like that. Of course, I wouldn't say you could tar the club based on this - it was clearly a cultural issue at the time.
Against this, of course, there are widely published pictures of black fans celebrating on the terraces as Ipswich won the FA Cup Final in 1978. So, it's not a simple, clear picture one way or the other.
But it would be perfectly possible for a young black lad to think that Norwich was more accepting of young black players than Norwich in the late Seventies or so. |
Steve Stacey. |  | | |
| Colin Viljoen on 17:01 - May 23 with 5178 views | PJH |
| Colin Viljoen on 16:57 - May 23 by Meadowlark |
Steve Stacey. |
I was surprised to just discover that Johnny Miller was actually on our books(as a 17 year old)when we signed Steve Stacey. |  | | |
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