With knee-high tackles, post-training pints and questionable diets, English football in the 80s and 90s was a different ball game. Perhaps no other club embodied that era more than Wimbledon, whose antics led to them being nicknamed the 'Crazy Gang'.
Nigel Winterburn might be best known for forming part of Arsenal's famously stingy back four under George Graham and Arsene Wenger, but the Englishman first rose to prominence at Wimbeldon, making more than league 150 appearances for the Dons between 1983 and 1987. Looking back on his time in south London Winterburn confirms that it was just as crazy, and often just as unprofessional, as fans might assume.
"It was quite intimidating [joining the club from Oxford United], as some of those guys were big characters: Wally Downes, Paul Fishenden, with John Fashanu, Vinnie Jones and Dennis Wise coming in later," says Winterburn. "It gave you a good grounding, as we had to take our kit home and wash it. You had to buy your own boots, too.
"But Wimbledon was a small club trying to rise up through the leagues. We had loads of fun and scared a lot of teams. On the way back from away games, we used to stop off at the pub and the fish and chip shop. It’s a million miles from what takes place today."
Winterburn also confirms rumours that infamous playground game British Bulldog was a part of training at Wimbledon during his spell at the club.
"Yes, that is true," Winterburn tells FFT with a grin. "You have to get from one side of the field to the other, by any means necessary, while opponents try to stop you. Dave Bassett used to tell us the starting XI on the Friday, but you could guarantee, at least every other week, that someone in the team wouldn’t make it because they’d been crunched in that game!"
Different times indeed. The thought of playing British Bulldog with the likes of Dennis Wise and Vinny Jones sends FFT into cold sweats...
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