The cringing cult of celebrity. Who have you met?

[Vienna]

My brother has probably bumped into one or two in Oxford when teaching music at private schools in the area. He told me he bumped into Rowan Atkinson taking his son to school one day, who seemed like quite a nice chap by all accounts

[Dick Dastardly]

I worked on a TV programme in the early 90's with Anneka Rice; met a few celebs during that period in the course of filming. Had a very surreal moment in a hotel reception where three of us from the crew were signing in & possibly because we were wearing branded clothing with the programme name on; two young boys came up & asked for our autographs.

Can't say I've ever just bumped into someone famous though; not sure if I could say hello if I did!!

[Windy Miller]

I was on a flight to Manchester from Munich earlier this year, and Sir Bobby Charlton was a fellow passenger (I say fellow passenger but he was actually sitting up front whilst I was sat well down the plane).
He'd been to the memorial service of the 1958 Air Disaster and was travelling back with other club officials. 

[Superclassic]

Great post from Steve Austin,about meeting Brian Clough.We all probably know this,but it's difficult to state how big a celebrity Cloughie was,especially in the mid to late 70s and early 80s.He was everywhere....he kind of transcended football,he was just a massive personality.It really upset me when he had a pop at me during a reserve team game at the City Ground,as I say I was probably no older than 12.I suppose I can now take comfort in the fact that it was during his heavy drinking days,and he may well have been worse for wear when it happened:although he didn't seem drunk.But how Steve Austin said he embarrassed him when he asked if he was a boy or a girl....he could really cut you down to size,Cloughie.And then he could make you feel very,very special at the drop of a hat,too.

I'm not sure if this incident was before or after Brian Clough shouted at me:but I was at another reserve team game,again perhaps 12 years old,and I was sat in the main stand at the City Ground on my own.I had my autograph book on my lap-reserve team games were good for autographs,you could maybe get a big player coming back from injury,and there would hardly be anybody there watching the game.So anyway,I see Brian Clough walking up the steps of the main stand on his way to the 'gantry'-where radio presenters would commentate on games.Now obviously nobody would be commentating on a reserve team game but there was somebody in there that Cloughie wanted to see.He walked right past me-and as he did,I said in my most polite voice "Would you sign this for me please,Mr Clough?".Cloughie liked manners:it was one of those things he was big on.He did the famous finger aloft thing that he always did,and he replied "I'm just going up there,young man,I will sign for you in a minute".I said nothing,my heart was jumping out of my shirt,to be honest.Anyway,maybe five minutes passed,and I just happened to glance round at the gantry:Cloughie was looking right at me when I did.He beckoned me over,so I got up and walked over."Come in,son", he said,and I gave him my book,which he looked at page,after page,after page.(whether this was to see if I already had his signature,I'll never know).Anyway,satisfied at what he'd seen,he finally says "What's your name,son?",and he signed 'To Neil-be good,Brian Clough'."OK,young man.Go and sit down" he says........so I did.And there lies my experience with probably the most famous man I ever met.

[Arthur Pringle]

Your anecdotes about Clough remind me of the incident where he was seen giving a couple of pitch invaders a clip round the ear then later met up with them to kiss & make up. He reminds me of those teachers ( & uncles, priests, coppers, etc. ) you used to encounter as a schoolkid who never seem to miss anything & have a knack of making you feel like you've been up to no good even if you haven't. In those days older male authority figures would tell you to get your hair cut, etc. Kids today have it a lot easier.

[Superclassic]

True,Arthur.With me living in Nottingham,perhaps 5 minutes drive from both the City Ground and Meadow Lane,it's not hard to hear a lot of stories about Cloughie.I'm not meaning to go on about him,(this isn't a Cloughie thread,after all),but there are probably an equal amount of 'good' stories and 'not so good' stories about Forest fans' meetings with the great man.He was slightly school-teacher-ish,I suppose.He didn't walk,he strutted:he held his head very high,the whole thing was that he was a 'somebody'.The incident where he cuffed a few fans in the late 80s....one of the fans was actually my fiancees' cousin,he was the bloke who Cloughie said "give us a kiss" to when he did the press thing to apologise.Again,with that incident,I think alcohol played a big part.I read a story (and this is very true:it's from an impeccable source)of a Forest fan,perhaps 50ish,in the mid to late 80s he was stood at the City Ground whilst the team boarded the bus to travel to an away game somewhere.Cloughie bought up the rear,the rest of the team had boarded,and this feller says to Cloughie "Brian,are you going to play Brian Rice again?He's not doing very well lately,is he?" to which Cloughie says something along the lines of "Keep your opinions to yourself.He's running his bloody heart out and trying his best for the likes of people like you.Now go and lose some bloody weight."(Obviously the feller was a big lad round the waist).Now on the one hand it raises a chuckle,but how did the bloke feel after one of his heroes said that to him?I think I know exactly how he felt.

Anyway,enough about Cloughie.The man was light and dark in very equal measures.

[Cartman]

Yes, Arthur, remember them well. Once, on the bus going to school in about 72 or 73 ish one of the gang of lads I was with had a transistor radio on quite loud. This old guy shouted "shut that off" and we just did...

Wouldn't happen now.

Interesting replies guys, enjoyed the Cloughie reminiscences, I was a huge fan of his at that time and, as said, he was bigger than just football. I saw him once, at a distance when Notts Forest played Bury in the League Cup in early 78 and noticed him in the dug out. Forest won 3-0, not surprisingly!


There were quite a lot of interesting characters who were managers at that time, Shankly, Tommy Docherty, Malcolm Allison to name but three  

[Dirty Epic]

Dec 4, 2015 17:52:57 GMT Windy Miller said:

Dec 4, 2015 16:54:19 GMT Villain said:

I hope you're well stocked up on 'mind bleach' mate...!

Yep, and the rest of the squad avoided the mess.

Never said it was pretty. 

Wow didn't know that one was loitering at one of our pre meet drinks ;( FFS take it she wasn't in those wierd clothes she liked to use for her professional image that night either eh? Also nice to see she's 'down with the Hood kids' in gentrified Hammersmith too... hmm

[Del Boy]

I've met a few Sweeney faces via a Hammersmith Sweeney convention i used to attend   
Prue Gee, John Lyons, Cheryl Kennedy,Georgina Hale, Tom Clegg, Ted Childs, Harry Fielder.
These were top drawer people and most excellent guests. They had a genuine interest in meeting fans of the best british cop show ever.
They shared some banter with us, answered all our questions from the technical to the absurd and posed for many photos with 
us fans of the show. Great times.

Apart from that the other celebrities i have met have mainly been footballers.
I never met Cloughie properly but he told me off once. I was near the dugout about 5 rows back at Highbury watching an Arsenal v Forest game in 1988 or 89. 
Arsenal were losing 2-1 when they gave away a free kick about 20 yards out .The crowd was bemoaning the decision and just as that died down i shouted some abuse at Clough about cheating and he heard it and pointed to me and told me off   
Up steps Stuart Pearce and lamps a world class free kick into the top corner    Forest done us that day. 


Sir Geoff Hurst met him at a book signing event. He was a great bloke who had time for a quick chat with everyone.

Peter Beardsley met him after an England game in the 90's. He is a top drawer fella who made time for all the fans not only signing stuff but chatting about footy with us.

Tony Currie I attended a football skills course which he was running in the mid 80's. A decent guy who really tried to help you
improve.

Martin Keown  It was great to meet Martin at a FA Cup prelim game at Uxbridge. He took the time out during half time to come and chat with a lot of fans even though sections of the crowd that day were being total  :w***er:  and shouting abuse at him. 

Claudio Caniggia  He was playing in the same game at Uxbridge in the FA Cup a few year ago and I spotted him in the car park. He was glad to have a chat about the game and have a photo. 


Squeeze  Briefly met the band after a gig a few years back. All good lads who have time for people. 




and this guy at at Holland Park

[Bomber]

I remember Bertie. He is a really nice bloke.