The Greatest Player You Never Saw

Robin Friday’s career lasted only four years. He never played for England and he never played in the top tier of English football. For those who did have the privilege of watching him, he was the most outstanding player on the planet. For the majority, though in an era when lower league football was rarely televised he was ‘The Greatest Player You Never Saw”.

Growing up Friday spent most of his chaotic young life in and out of borstal homes. It wasn’t until late 1972 whilst playing for non-league Hayes that he began his footballing career. Despite his endless talent at the age of 20 many thought, he was too old to begin a professional career. That was until Hayes were drawn against Reading in the FA Cup 4th Round.

Friday at Reading

Reading would go on to win the match 4-1. However, Reading manager Charlie Hurley had seen enough in the talented centre forward to sign him after the match. Over the next four years he went on to play 135 games for Reading scoring 55 goals.

However, his 55 goals only told half the story. Friday was a once-in-a-lifetime generational talent. His ability far outshone anything seen in the lower leagues. Of course with great talent, there is always a juxtaposition. Robin Friday was just a bigger legend in the nightclubs than he was on the pitch.

He smoked to excess, he drank to excess and he took drugs. He did nothing in moderation.

Skill and Vision Unrivalled

Friday’s skill and vision were beyond compare. His 55 goals for Reading are still considered to be amongst the best goals ever seen in English football. Even Welsh referee Clive Thomas couldn’t believe his eyes when refereeing Reading in 1976.

Reading were playing Tranmere in a league match, both teams were cancelling each other out. The Reading goalkeeper threw the ball out to the right full, Gary Peters looked up. Friday was lurking at the corner of the penalty box on the left-hand side. The ball was launched in his direction. Friday ran towards the ball and jumped into the air catching the ball on his chest, as he landed he spun around 180 degrees with the ball still on his chest and dropped the ball onto his left foot where he caught the ball on the volley and powered it home into the top corner on the far post.

The crowd were stunned, Reading players, Tranmere players and even the referee could only stop and applaud. Friday ran to the back of the goal to celebrate with the fans and on his way there he saw a policeman applauding so he ran right up to him and kissed him!

Clive Thomas talked of the goal after the match. “I’ve refereed at World Cups, I’ve seen Pele, George Best and Johan Cruyff, this rates as the best goal I’ve ever seen” When he asked Friday “What are you doing playing at this level? I’ve never seen anyone score a goal like that” Friday quipped “You should come down here more often, I score goals like that all the time!”

Player of the Year

Friday won Player of the year at Reading and fired them to the club’s first promotion in 50 years in his first full season. His goals and talent alerted managers like Bertie Mee and Bob Paisley. A move to a big club seemed inevitable. But just as the top teams were taking notice of Friday his wild side began to dominate his life. The man who was the greatest player you never saw was suddenly the greatest player everyone wanted to see.

His binging on drink and drugs began to get him into trouble. He was a notorious alcoholic and was barred from virtually every bar in Reading.

During this period the list of misdemeanours was endless. Hurley tried to calm Friday down and moved him onto a settled street full of pensioners. Friday terrorized them during the day and then played heavy metal through the night. He stole clothes from markets, posed as a train station security guard so he could get free tickets and had a fondness for robbing statues from graveyards.

Drugs Galore

He used L.S.D. and cocaine in industrial-sized amounts. And it was during one of his many drug-fueled binges that one of his most famous stories arose. Reading were playing away from home and Friday was literally three sheets to the wind, players talked about him walking around the hotel naked and throwing snooker balls and darts in the games room while naked.

When the team meeting was called just before the team left for the match a dishevelled Friday showed up still naked but carrying a swan that he had procured from a nearby lake!

Friday’s behaviour on the pitch wasn’t much better. He drank before games and regularly showed up drunk. His disciplinary record was appalling. And it was only his phenomenal performances that kept him at the club. But patience was wearing thin at Reading and in 1977 he was sold to Cardiff for a measly £30,000. Scotsman Jimmy Andrews was managing Cardiff at the time and called a press conference to announce the coup of signing Robin Friday for little or nothing.

Arrested on Day One

On his first day in Cardiff, Friday was arrested in the train station after fare dodging. His first action as a Cardiff player was to be bailed from jail by an unhappy Andrews.

The night before his debut for Cardiff, Friday went on a pub crawl to test the Cardiff nightlife. He was out until five in the morning when he decided it was time to rest up for his debut. So he took a dozen bottles of beer with him to bed. He then went out the next day and scored twice on his debut. While being marked by Bobby Moore.

But in true Friday fashion, he then disappeared on another binge. On returning he would score his most famous Cardiff goal where he beat four players and then rounded the keeper. On wheeling away, Friday gave the goalkeeper a two-fingered salute.

A Sending Off and a S***

His most memorable moment as a Cardiff player came when playing Brighton.

Friday was being marked by a young Irishman called Mark Lawrenson. And was getting frustrated by the close attention he was being given. So he waited for Lawrenson to slide tackle him and as he did Friday turned a kicked him full into the face. Friday was sent off immediately but he wasn’t finished there. He broke into the away dressing room and defecated into Lawrenson’s bag before disappearing on another binge.

I would be his last match and he never played football again.

He returned to London and worked as an asphalter, but he was never able to control his demons. He went through two acrimonious divorces and lived in squalor until he died in 1990 at the age of 38.

For many, Robin Friday was the greatest player you never saw.