Summer transfer shocks
A look at some of the biggest deals back in the day
Ah the summer is here. The fixtures are out for the new season and everyone is waiting for the announcement of a new signing. It doesn’t seem to matter who it is, as fans we get giddy over a new face.
Before the internet and social media, things were VERY different.
I was on holiday in Newquay in the summer of 1996, 19 years old and loving life. Just a short while after Euro 96, rumours were abound that Alan Shearer might leave Blackburn Rovers. Double winning Manchester United were considered to be in pole position after failing to sign the striker back in 1992.
I was in a shop during the day and could hear the news on the radio in the background. “….United have sealed the transfer of Alan Shearer for a record £15m”. Wow! How much? Manchester United had doubled their biggest outlay there. Then the report continued.
“Manager Kevin Keegan said he was delighted to bring the local boy back to the North East”.
Oh. It was Newcastle United not Manchester United. Now of course, in today’s world I would have gone online immediately. I was on a camping holiday with no TV or radio. So the only way I could find out more about this transfer was by waiting until the next morning to buy a newspaper.
The year before I was on holiday in Mallorca. The only newspapers available were from the day before. So any transfer deals were discovered two days after they were announced.
It’s incredible now; people are lying on sun loungers glued to their phones while their teams haggle over add-ons. However with the constant rumours and fake information circulated online, I prefer the old way.
When you were on holiday you just left it up to the club to get the deals done and you first saw the player holding the scarf or wearing the shirt when the contract had been signed. This was genuine, he was at the club and posing for the press. There were no mock-ups using technology of what he would look like in the new kit IF he joined.
So today I’m going to look at some of the big summer transfers that happened before the 24 hour a day, seven days a week information age. Perhaps you’ll remember where you were when you heard that player A signed for his new club.
