Ron Tilsed – The Final Chapter

We?ve looked very briefly at the early years and what is happening at goalkeeper coach level but here we revisit the past slightly and look at some of the players Ron has played with or against during his career.
The first place to start would be with the team that won the ?little World Cup? in 1970 in which Ron was the ?keeper who saved three penalties against Russia in the semi-final that helped England reach the final and beat Portugal. That team was; Bobby Parker ? Coventry City, Carlisle United (cpt), Trevor Francis ? Birmingham City, Nottingham Forest, Man City (see below), Steve Curry , Mike Dillon ? Tot Hot, Millwall, Swindon Town, Martin Busby – QPR (twice), Portsmouth, Notts County, Burnley, Kevin Lock –West Ham United, Fulham, Peter Eastoe – Wolves W, Swindon Town, QPR, Everton, WBA, Leicester City, Huddersfield Town, Mick McGuire ? Coventry City, Norwich City, Barnsley (see below 2), Alan Dugdale ? Coventry City, Charlton Athletic, Barnsley, Don Shanks ? Luton Town, QPR, Brighton & HA, Wimbledon, Steve Daley  – Wolves W, Man City, Burnley (Seattle Sounders NASL) and Johnny Ayris ? West Ham United with, of course, Ron Tilsed ? Bournemouth, Chesterfield, Arsenal, Portsmouth, Hereford United(plus stints in South Africa and Australia) between the sticks.
Trevor Francis not only won countless caps for England at senior level he was also the first player to be transferred between English clubs for one millions Pounds (975,000 plus VAT) on February 14, 1979 when joining Nottingham Forest. He scored the only goal for Forest in the European Cup Final 3-months after signing against Malmo (Sweden) giving the club their second successive euro title. Sampdoria paid big money to lure him to Italy in 1982 before returning to England and taking over as manager of Birmingham City and others. He is probably better known these days as the co-commentator of live Premier League matches and as a football pundit on several TV shows.
Mick McGuire became Chairman of the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) which is akin to a trade union for players that works tirelessly for the well being of present and past players, especially those who have fallen on hard times, and the body that generally keeps an eye on unscrupulous practices.
Much could be said for all of the above payers but we need to mention someone very dear to the heart of Tilsed, yours truly and many other Australian fans, Johnny Warren.
Ron is the extremely proud owner of a signed and framed photograph of JW when scoring his last goal for St. George against Canterbury (who went on to win the match and meet Prague in the Grand Final) which has a very beautiful and personal hand written message. It is a limited edition item but the value for Ron is in its memories and sincerity being worth far more than mere money.
It was Warren who brought Tilsed to Australia and the two became firm friends from Day One which was to last for so many years until Johnny was sadly and prematurely taken from us.
Another player Tilsed came up against never lets him forget just who it was who put the first goal past him in the old NSL. John Kosmina, another great of Australian football, now coach?s Sydney FC and when they met Sutherland Sharks at Seymour Shaw Park recently it was obvious the bond between them is still strong. ?Kozzie? ribs Ron about ?that goal? as they reminisce but as ?keepers hate to let anything past them even in training, it?s also obvious Tilsed is still going over it in his mind and sorting out whether he could have done anything different before shrugging and allowing himself a small chuckle and you know the admiration for each other still lingers. (‘That goal’ was back in 1977 when Kosmina was playing for West Adelaide against Tilsed?s Canberra).
Once again space is running out and we?ve not even begun to touch on the likes of Tony Henderson (captain Australia and Marconi), Danny Moulas, Steve Hogg, Mick Milanovic, all of whom played international football for Australia and in front to 10,000 plus crowds at Bruce Stadium or Peter Marinello (Arsenal and Portsmouth with Ron), Ron Davies, often referred to as the hardest ?header? of a ball that ever lived, Martin Chivers and Mick Channon (formerly of Southampton and England) and a host of others which, for the time being at least, must remain untold tales but then again, there is always later in the season or perhaps the long awaited biography (auto or otherwise) maybe?
One last piece of information, Ron Tilsed was named and selected as the goalkeeper in the World Xl at the junior World Cup and that is in amongst some very distinguished company.
The tip of the Ron Tilsed iceberg we have covered would have sunk the Titanic just by casting its shadow over it such would be the weight so all together now; One Ronnie Tilsed, there?s only one Ronnie Tilsed.
– By Micky Brock