Team-mates: Tony Daws

Retrospectively looking back at past programme features, we former striker and now Academy Manager Tony Daws, looking at his team-mates during his six year spell at the club as a player between 1987 and 1993.

Leader…
I’d probably say Joe Joyce, who was captain. Joe came from Barnsley, after being captain there for ten years. He had a lot of experience, a lot of knowledge and was a good captain to have, because he led by example throughout his time at the club.

Best mate…
I would say my best mate at the time was a midfielder called Ian Hamilton. We were both good friends together, so I’d say Ian.

Best trainer…
Apart from myself? To be fair we had a good group of young players then. We had Graham Alexander, we had Neil Cox, and we had Richard Hall who were all good lads, and they worked hard. So I would say those three, and also David Hill (below) - Hilly was a real grafter and worker.

Unsung hero…
I’d definitely say Paul Longden (below), Mr versatile, Mr reliable. He’d play left back or right back, and you’d rarely see people go past him. I think from in the changing room, everyone appreciated his influence and effect - he was the unsung hero for sure. He just got on with it, and he never missed a day’s training either.

Most skilful…
John Buckley. He was a Scottish winger, who was very very technically good. He was skilful, tricky and really really comfortable in possession of the ball. He’d played for Celtic, he’d played for Doncaster and also Leeds United, and he ended up leaving us to go to Rotherham United. Like I said though, a very gifted player.

Joker…
Probably Glenn Humphries. He came to us from Bristol City, and he was big, strong, aggressive and also an absolute head-banger. A great player to have in your team, but full of tricks and pranks. None of which can be repeated!

Most intelligent…
We used to have a player called Steve Greaves, he came to us from Ipswich Town. We used to call him the professor, as he was a little bit different to everyone else, and was a bit of a thinker. Most players are practical, and he was more akin to being a head teacher I think. He’s doing coaching now.

Best player…
I thought for potential at that time, there were three. Graham Alexander, Neil Cox (below) and Richard Hall went on to make really good careers, so I would say those three for their young potential, which hadn’t been unearthed at that time, but you could see it. Matt Elliott’s in there as well, with him obviously going on to play for Scotland and captain Leicester City. Ian Hamilton went on to play for West Bromwich Albion for a number of years too. I played with a lot of good players to be fair, I can’t pick just one.

Worst trainer…
There were some players who were always injured, but you can’t really count it if you’re always injured. I played in a really good side, we were always near the top of the league, so we didn’t really have any bad trainers. We played in four play-off semi-finals, and you don’t get bad trainers in those kind of sides. If you’re getting to that stage, you’ve obviously got a good group of players, who all trained hard.

Quickest…
Me! There weren’t many quicker than me!