In the week when Shane Warne will take to the cricket field again in the 2011 Big Bash, and where David Haye looks increasingly likely to step back into the ring to take on Vitali Klitschko, Sports Gazette has been having a look at sportsmen who should have said enough was enough the first time.
Kevin Keegan
Kevin Keegan and his relationship with Newcastle was the stuff of many a teenage love. They were madly in love in the mid 90’s and were so good together. Playing the most attractive football that the Premier League had seen to date and being the main challengers to Manchester United, they seemed a match made in heaven. Keegan left Newcastle in 1997 saying that he felt that he had taken the club as far as he could and that it was time for somebody else to take the club on (a definite case of its not you, it’s me). Fast forward 11 years and with Keegan having been out of football for three years and Mike Ashley desperate to curry favour with the St James’ Park faithful, they decided to give it another go. But things had changed, they were different people now in a new footballing environment and what had worked before just wasn’t the same. They carried on trying to rekindle their former love but results just weren’t there. Despite a positive start to the 2008/9 season the damage had already been done, and this time it wasn’t an amicable split. Both parties blamed each other, friends took sides and an irrevocable split ensued between the club, the fans and Keegan. This time it was over for good.
Michael Schumacher
If ever a man epitomised a national stereotype it was Michael Schumacher. The German driver who won seven world titles with Benetton and Ferrari was ruthlessly efficient, driven only by success and had a certain humourless air. This was a man who dominated F1 for almost a decade through both fair means and foul. He was vilified in the British press following his crash with Damon Hill which denied Hill the 1994 title; he was then disqualified from the 1997 World Championship for deliberately crashing into his main title rival Jacques Villeneuve in an attempt to eliminate him from the title race. Following a four year retirement Schumacher returned to F1 with Mercedes and in his two seasons back in F1 he has finished a creditable 9th and 8th despite being into his 40’s. However, this return has only served to lessen the reputation (but swell the pockets) of the once irrepressible German, had he not returned he would always have been a champion, now
he is a middle of the pack driver, who was once an unrivalled champion.
Brian Close
Brian Close is the most unfortunate man to find himself on this list. A hard as nails all-rounder during the 1960’s and 1970’s Close had the misfortune to be recalled to face the most feared fast bowling attack ever assembled, nearly 9 years after his previous test match. The 1976 West Indies bowling attack featured the likes of Michael Holding, Wayne Daniel and Andy Roberts. Playing on lively, bouncy wickets, baked by the 1976 summer (one of the hottest on record) without helmets the task for the 45 year-old Close was one of the most unenviable in cricket history. Add into the equation that the build up to the series was dominated by comments by England captain Tony Greig who wanted to make the West Indian’s “grovel” during the tour. For the South African born Greig to say something so racially pointed was mind boggling, and it fired up the West Indian bowlers no end. The 3rd test at Old Trafford saw Close and opening partner John Edrich face the most terrifying spell of fast bowling ever seen (if you have never seen it on Youtube then I suggest you take a peek: England West Indies 1976). Balls flew past Close’s head at over 90 miles an hour as the opening pair desperately tried to survive in more senses than one. Close was hit time and time again but he did last until the close of play that day. Close never played test cricket again, but in terms of comebacks this ranks as one of the most brutal and courageous ever, however nine years after his last cap it was clear that Close was by now far out of his depth at international level.
Paul Gascoigne
Paul Gascoigne had the world at his feet in the 1990’s but by the turn of the Millennium all too often he had the bottle in his hand. As this list shows there is a moment in all sports stars lives that they realise that enough is enough. There is nothing worse than seeing the once mighty trying desperately to survive in their sports long after they should have called it a day. Paul Gascoigne is a prime example of a man who failed to call prompt time on his footballing career. After signing for Middlesbrough in 1998 it was clear that the man who had won 57 caps for England, and who had carried the hopes of the nation on his shoulders in Italia 90 and Euro 96, was a shadow of his former self. However, Gazza keep trying to find his form again, he joined Everton but was subsequently loaned out to Championship side Burnley. Failing to earn a contract in England, Gascoigne was subsequently rejected by DC United following a trial, before signing for Gansu Tianma in China. His time in China never got going due to checking into a drink rehabilitation centre. In 2004 he joined League 2 Boston as a player coach, although he only made 5 appearances before leaving the club. Gazza had gone from Premier League legend to League 2 outcast in under three years.
