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Greg O'Keefe

ECHO reporter and Everton fan Greg O'Keeffe was six when the Blues last won the title. But with a European tour on the horizon and another season of drama at Goodison Park, he is a determined optimist.

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HEROES

Posted by Greg O'Keeffe on July 16, 2007 8:46 PM | 

I HATE to admit it but me and Wayne Rooney have got something in common.

As childhood Evertonians the chubster and yours truly had a common hero - Anders Limpar.

For me Limpar was something else.
Wilfully mercurial, quick-thinking, skilful and cultured, in other words - very Everton.
The little Swede, who joined us in '94 from Arsenal, used to set my pulse-racing whenever he got the ball.
In hindsight he wasn’t perfect, but back in the day he was a streak of class I loved to watch cause mayhem on the wing.
I’ll never forget his jaw-dropping 40 yard goal against West Ham for us (sadly overshadowed when Beckham scored from further away against Wimbledon that season) or his run from our half which led to Rideout’s winner in the '95 FA Cup Final.
I was gutted when I heard Anders had been flogged to Brum for a pittance in 1997 and I don’t think we had a player with as much natural talent until a certain Senor Mikel Arteta first graced Goodison almost eight years later.

I also have an odd but true Limpar story.

One school holiday morning I headed to Bellefield to watch the player’s leave after training.
This particular Thursday they were waiting outside for the coach to an away game in East London.
I noticed Limpar straight away, sat on the garden wall of the house next door to Bellefield happily flicking through a copy of Razzle much to the delight of Graham Stuart who was watching in stitches.
Lost in a world of his own, the porn-loving legend only stirred when the team coach arrived and the driver beeped him.

Anders retired from footy in March 2001 at the age of 35 and is now the youth team coach at Djurgårdens IF.
He also opened a bar, The Limp Bar, in central Stockholm.

Comments (9)

Alanio wrote...

what a player ... my abiding memories of the little Swede are his goal in the 5-0 cup demolition of Norwich in '95, cut inside and wallop! and his 50 yard, inch-perfect pass to Amo for a goal one Friday night v Newcastle towards Spring '95 ... although I do know he was moved on for the right reasons mate: 95/96 at home to Brum, Joe Royle heard him 'geeing up' the Brum players in the tunnel at half time (anders was a sub and stretching in the corridor)saying we were shite (!) ... great blog mate,

al

Posted by: Alanio  | July 17, 2007 9:56 AM

badlydrawnblue wrote...

I HATE to admit it but me and Wayne Rooney have got something in common.

- your both fat???!!!!!

Posted by: badlydrawnblue  | July 17, 2007 12:08 PM

badlydrawnblue wrote...

I HATE to admit it but me and Wayne Rooney have got something in common.

- your both fat???!!!!!

Posted by: badlydrawnblue  | July 17, 2007 12:08 PM

Greg O'Keeffe wrote...

Rooney has got a few pounds on me Thom and he's probably got a better right foot too if I'm being honest.

Cheers for the comment Al. Didn't know that about the Brum game incident. Bang out of order. What a shame...maybe he was delirious after too much ham-shanking over Razzle at Bellefield.

Posted by: Greg O'Keeffe  | July 17, 2007 2:35 PM

The Dude wrote...

Bet his bar wasn't limp when he was flicking through his post-training literature!

Posted by: The Dude  | July 17, 2007 5:34 PM

tony barrett wrote...

Anders Limpar as a childhood hero!
My, how they spoil you at Goodison Park!

Posted by: tony barrett  | July 17, 2007 7:24 PM

badlydrawnblue wrote...

the latch - now there's a legend!

Everton Legends Paintings

Posted by: badlydrawnblue  | July 18, 2007 3:06 PM

Greg Murphy wrote...

95/96 at home to Brum hey Al? Love to know how we got on in that game. Do let us know. So, Big Joe heard Limps "geeing up" the Brum players in 95/96 hey? That's terrible that, especially seeing as though he was still an Everton player in 95/96, indeed until January 1997 (closely followed out of the door by Royle himself just seven weeks later - ask Phil McNulty, he'll remember!). Odd, too, that the Limps was already back in Stcokholm by summer 97. In fact it's head-scratchingly bizarre all round actually because I don't recall Everton playing host to Brum at all during the entire 90s (and indeed a good stretch at the back end of the 80s too). Still every day's a school day, as they say, and I await the bell. Greg, meantime, I think you can rest easy - there might be a very good reason why you hadn't heard of the Brum anecdote - and I suspect your treasured memories of the Limps can stay intact.

Posted by: Greg Murphy  | July 19, 2007 11:50 AM

alanio wrote...

sorry mr. M, you're right ... it was early 97, remember the game well, as it was Joe Parkinson's last ... got confused with the oppo, maybe leicester? they wore yellow anyway ... but it DID happen mate ...

Posted by: alanio  | July 24, 2007 11:16 AM

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