Were our 60's Albion heroes really all that good?

[Q165]

I feel so lucky to have been able to witness that side in my *****. They were exceptional in that period 67-70.

[kettering_baggie]

I may be wrong but at the time that Bobby Hope played for us, didn't Scotland have a policy of selecting players for their national team from teams in the Scottish leagues? I'm sure that I read somewhere that that was the case back then and would explain why Bobby had so few international caps. Our team today could well use a Bobby Hope clone........

[Albionic68]

I may be wrong but at the time that Bobby Hope played for us, didn't Scotland have a policy of selecting players for their national team from teams in the Scottish leagues? I'm sure that I read somewhere that that was the case back then and would explain why Bobby had so few international caps. Our team today could well use a Bobby Hope clone........

I too remember reading something along those lines, however........

Bobby Hope joined Albion in 1960 and left for Blues in 1972.

Bobby got two Scotland caps, both in 1968.

Billy Bremner joined Leeds in 1960 and left for Hull City in 1976.

Bremner was capped 54 times by Scotland between 1965 and 1976.

Courtesy of the much maligned Wiki.

[boingy]

Yes they were that good. There was just a lot of competition and back then there were still the favourite teams to pick the internationals from.

[Londonbaggie1968]

Some great points made on this thread, all absolutely valid. I started following the Albion during the 1967-68 season as an 8 year old and I thought that we had a wonderful side then and still believe that today. Without doubt, we had a great cup squad during the mid to late 60's and during that period there was far more glamour in the cup competitions than winning the league. As for the players rating, Astle, Brown, Clarke, Hope and Osborne were first rate players of the highest pedigree. Very happy memories.

[Leicesterbaggie]

If these players had been playing now they would have benefited from all the training and medical innovations of today and would have been playing on much better surfaces. So yes, what wonderful players these old Albion players would be in 2017!