Читать книгу Psycho Pat - The Autobiography Of Pat Van Den Hauwe - Pat Van Den Hauwe - Страница 6

As I was coming towards the end of my career at Birmingham City, a teenaged London lad was embarking on his and, although I only saw him a few times during training, I thought that even at such a young age he was special. That was in 1977 and, about six years later, I went back to my old club and paid just £90,000 to sign the player who, although still a bit raw, was worth a punt at that kind of money. Hence Pat Van Den Hauwe joined Everton Football Club – it was money well spent!

I had sent my chief scout, Terry Darracott, to have a look at Pat on several occasions and his reports echoed my sentiments that he was a player worth adding to our fast-improving squad at Goodison Park. After a couple of tough seasons, Everton had just won the FA Cup and I believed were in with an excellent chance of competing for honours both at home and in Europe. We had a young, energetic side with one or two older, more experienced players like Peter Reid and Andy Gray helping the less seasoned professionals along the way.

I already had a very good left-back at the club in John Bailey but lacked cover in that area so made the decision to approach Birmingham for Van Den Hauwe. I was fully aware that he had a bad-boy reputation but that probably made the move more likely to go ahead as they were shipping a few players out having been relegated, and most of them seem to have been tagged with a similar image to Pat’s. That proved to be the case as, after a tentative enquiry, I was told in no uncertain terms that if I wanted him, I could have him!

We met and discussed terms in a restaurant near my home and I was impressed with his eagerness to play for me. Money was never an issue with Pat and we had a pleasant afternoon. Before I left, we shook hands and, in principle, agreed that he would join us. I wanted the deal to be kept secret as I was worried some other clubs may be sniffing around him so was delighted when I met him in the morning and he reiterated his desire to join us. I did notice he smelled heavily of booze – in fact, he reeked of it – but I decided against ticking him off. If joining a fantastic club like Everton isn’t a reason to celebrate with a drink or two, what is?

He turned out to be a far better player than we could ever have imagined and soon I had international managers enquiring about him and, although he opted to play for Wales, I believed he could have represented England and not looked out of place alongside the country’s finest players.

Pat was so talented that when he played at centre-half for me when called upon he was often our best player on the pitch, a truly great athlete but also a very talented footballer. I think the ‘Psycho’ tag was unjustified as he was not a dirty player. Hard and tough, yes – dirty, no.

Of course, off the field he would keep me on my toes; he was a colourful character who loved a social drink and the odd night out. Maybe I am being a little protective of him saying that, but regardless of where he went and what he got up to, come match day he was up for it and never, ever let me down.

During one trip abroad, Pat’s antics went a bit far and I was informed by our Chairman, Sir Philip Carter, that the captain of the aircraft had told him that when we landed the police we going to interview the players. Allegedly, one had exposed himself to a stewardess. Once we landed, no player would admit to being the culprit, and no player would point the guilty person out, so we were given a serious ticking off and warned about our future conduct. I was particularly annoyed about this incident as, when we had joined the connecting flight to our final destination, the in-flight bar had been withdrawn!

I met Pat about two years ago at the ‘Boys of ’85’ reunion and he finally admitted that it was he who had flashed at the air stewardess. Over 20 years on, I was in no position to fine him so we had a beer and good laugh about it. It was great to see him after so many years; he still had his film star looks and seemed to be as fit as when he played for me.

I sincerely hope that this project helps to kick start his ventures in South Africa as he has openly told me that he has struggled over the past few years to forge a decent career out there. I have no doubt that things will improve for him, as you can’t keep a good man down for long and, believe me, Pat Van Den Hauwe is a good man.

When I look back at every signing I have made at all the clubs I managed, one stands out head and shoulders above any other – Neville Southall. After Neville, I would honestly say that Pat was my second-greatest signing; £90,000 of Everton’s money was invested very wisely when Birmingham City cashed that cheque. And given that Pat probably paid the club about half that amount back in fines, it was a very good investment indeed!

Good luck, son, you deserve it.