@owlstalk Posted October 9, 2017 Share Posted October 9, 2017 Mirocevic was the captain of Yugoslavia's Olympic team when he became the first player from a Montenegrin club to move to the west, joining Jack Charlton's Sheffield Wednesday from FK Buducnost for a club-record £250,000 in 1980. Some players struggle to cope when they move to a new country. Mirocevic's problem, he admits, is that he never wanted to go home to Podgorica. "When I start to talk about England," he said, "I can't stop. My friends are always telling me to shut up." South Yorkshire in the early 1980s rarely gets a good press, but Mirocevic makes it sound like paradise. "I loved the pubs," he said. "Lager and lime with a whisky chaser. I'd drink 10, 20 a night and then we'd train the next day. That's what England taught me, how to drink and play. "But once I lit up a cigarette at Hillsborough and Jack knocked it from my hand. You could drink what you wanted but you couldn't smoke." For his first month in England, Mirocevic lived at Charlton's house. "He was a bit eccentric. Football wasn't No 1 for him. He loved fishing and shooting and he could have been world champion at dominoes. His house was like some kind of castle. It had a snooker table and there were fishing rods everywhere. We'd go fishing in a lake near Barnsley. "He took me to Preston once where his brother was manager. We went to the main stand and there at the entrance were Bobby Charlton and Nobby Stiles, who was very short with big glasses but a great player, very powerful. And Jack said, 'You'll know Nobby, of course, but this is my brother Bobby'. His greatest regret is that he didn't take up the footballer's favourite pastime of golf. "Andy McCulloch kept asking me but I never had time." When he had spare time, Mirocevic drove to London to see the sights and visit the theatre, and after an early away game at Chelsea, he toured Wembley. "They reported it on the radio here," he said. "A Yugoslav at Wembley." That was the first visit. The second came in 1982 when he won Wednesday's draw for FA Cup final tickets and saw Tottenham draw 1-1 with QPR. The third nearly came a year later. For all his fondness for England, Mirocevic never wholly adapted to the style or pace of the game. "It was a standard game of long ball, 4-4-2, but Jack wanted to get some more technique in the side and that's what I was for," he said. "So we had a mix of an English style and something different. Everybody played with a high offside line so it was a very compact game with no time on the ball." His finest moment came at Highbury in the 1983 FA Cup semi-final when he reacted to a loose ball in the Brighton box and cancelled out Jimmy Case's thunderous opener. "The atmosphere was incredible," he said. "The only thing that comes close is when Buducnost beat Maribor in the promotion play-off. Robinson, though, nicked a late winner and it was Brighton who reached the final." Jack Charlton - The Authorised Biography - Available now here on Amazon Owlstalk Shop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrmason69 Posted January 26, 2018 Share Posted January 26, 2018 I was at Highbury for the semi final. We were terrible that day after Charlton bottled it and played the wrong team. I was also at ante first game. He scored and ran to the wrong fans to celebrate. He was an awful player Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhForAnotherShez Posted January 27, 2018 Share Posted January 27, 2018 Rubbish player. I was related to the guy who rented him a house up Wadsley. As good as trashed when he left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torryowl Posted January 27, 2018 Share Posted January 27, 2018 bit of fantasy in that story ,bobby Charlton stopped being manager of PNE 5 years before ante arrived ......I liked ante though he was the dave of his day . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OWLERTON GHOST Posted February 2, 2018 Share Posted February 2, 2018 On 27/01/2018 at 21:42, torryowl said: bit of fantasy in that story ,bobby Charlton stopped being manager of PNE 5 years before ante arrived ......I liked ante though he was the dave of his day . Maybe them lager n limes and whisky chasers clouded his memory a tad? Nobby Stiles was manager then ,not Bobby . To be replaced by the Doc in 81 ... He weren't bad, but by no way Wednesdays best player in that team ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torryowl Posted February 2, 2018 Share Posted February 2, 2018 On 26/01/2018 at 20:54, Mrmason69 said: I was at Highbury for the semi final. We were terrible that day after Charlton bottled it and played the wrong team. I was also at ante first game. He scored and ran to the wrong fans to celebrate. He was an awful player what team should jack have played ?..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gypsyowl Posted February 9, 2018 Share Posted February 9, 2018 The 83 semi was awful but I don’t agree with blaming big jack, I was just so upset as my dad never shut up about us getting to 66 final & all I ever wanted was to go to Wembley for a fa cup final had to wait 10 years for that & it broke my bloody heart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mountain Owl Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 The drinking possibly explains why he's one of the worst players Iv'e ever seen in a wednesday shirt. No bottle, no fight had grest technique but hardly ever used it. Stood in midfield and watched the play go by most of the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheriwozgod Posted February 27, 2018 Share Posted February 27, 2018 He was OK but overrated. Agree with the semi final being a letdown..............it says a lot about our preparation that the coach left two players behind who had to make their way to Highbury by taxi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamsandwich Posted February 27, 2018 Share Posted February 27, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I'm an Essex Owl Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 I was at Highbury too. As I was young ("and had no sense"), I thought we wouldn't balls it up. Should have known we would lose. The game was pretty awful as I recall. All standing then off course and it went ballistic when Ante scored. Utter carnage. I only saw him play a few times (as I was living in Essex then ). Seemed to be on a different wavelength to the other players with his passing (!) but had some skill and technique and could dribble. Wanted him to be a replacement for TC. But maybe that is all blue tinted specs and maybe he was just a bit crap after all... That was a right kit though (and the away one even better) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Xxxxxxxxcxcc Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 Was at the the Highbury semi. Great day, rubbish game. Ante was very average at best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexpistol Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 On 02/02/2018 at 22:16, torryowl said: what team should jack have played ?..... Charlie Williamson at left back and kept Heard in midfield. Mirocevic did score but he was poor that game and never played for us again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexpistol Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 Overall Ante was a disappointment for a Wednesday. The odd performance here and there, but mainly he wasn’t that good for us. When he left us, he only played one more season in football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inspector Lestrade Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 On 26/01/2018 at 20:54, Mrmason69 said: I was at Highbury for the semi final. We were terrible that day after Charlton bottled it and played the wrong team. I was also at ante first game. He scored and ran to the wrong fans to celebrate. He was an awful player He was a brilliant player just not suited to JC's style of play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexpistol Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 On 26/01/2018 at 20:54, Mrmason69 said: I was at Highbury for the semi final. We were terrible that day after Charlton bottled it and played the wrong team. I was also at ante first game. He scored and ran to the wrong fans to celebrate. He was an awful player His first game was against Orient in 1980 and he did score. I must admit I can’t remember his goal and I’ve neve heard that story about him celebrating with the Orient fans. In those days the Lep would have been split and I can’t imagine Orient brought many. That game was televised for YTV it ended 2-2 Ive been searching for years for footage of that game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexpistol Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 (edited) 1 minute ago, Inspector Lestrade said: He was a brilliant player just not suited to JC's style of play. You are the only Wednesday fan that I’ve ever seen that has described him as brilliant. From what I remember the fans didn’t like him that much as for most part he was anonymous. Edited February 1, 2021 by sexpistol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inspector Lestrade Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 Just now, sexpistol said: You are the only Wednesday fan that I’ve ever seen that has described him as brilliant. From what I remember the fans didn’t like him that much as for most part he was anonymous. Well brilliant might have been a bit hyperbolic but he was playing a style just not suited to him. Thought he was comfortable on the ball and could pick a pass out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluesteel Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 Always a good idea to have a raging alcoholic in your midfield 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kopparberg Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 £250k ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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