Football allegiances of Maiden members

srfc

srfc

Ancient Mariner
I always thought it was a bit taking the piss that Maiden are so associated with West Ham, but in fairness I think of the line up on the first album, 4 out of 5 of them must have been Hammers.

Steve - obviously
Paul Di'Anno - has the initials tattooed, wore west ham wristbands, claimed to be a hooligan
Clive Burr - wore the away shirt on Top of the Pops
Dennis Stratton - I saw him talking about being a hammers fan one time can't remember where
Dave Murray - I saw it mentioned he's Tottenham, but I don't think he has any major interest

after that
Adrian Smith - I read he was Tottenham when he was younger but goes to watch Watford now as it's near where he lives
Bruce Dickinson - no interest in football but claimed to like Chelsea recently since he lives near their ground
Nicko - I never have heard of him being linked to a club, but he wore the England shirt on Behind the Iron Curtain and also there was a photo of him wearing a recent England shirt as well (the one with the georges cross on the shoulders), so he must have some interest in football. It would be interesting to hear if he supports a club.
Janick - Hartlepool United, he also went to that game in Rio with Steve so I suspect he's probably the second most interested in football after Steve from the current line up
Blaze - Aston Villa
 
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srfc said:
Dennis Stratton - I saw him talking about being a hammers fan one time can't remember where
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In "Run to the Hills" Dennis tells us that when he answered Maiden's ad in Melody Maker they wanted a photograph, and in the one he sent he was wearing a West Ham scarf "so of course Steve spotted that straight away."
 
srfc said:
I always thought it was a bit taking the piss that Maiden are so associated with West Ham, but in fairness I think of the line up on the first album, 4 out of 5 of them must have been Hammers.

Steve - obviously
Paul Di'Anno - has the initials tattooed, wore west ham wristbands, claimed to be a hooligan
Clive Burr - wore the away shirt on Top of the Pops
Dennis Stratton - I saw him talking about being a hammers fan one time can't remember where
Dave Murray - I saw it mentioned he's Tottenham, but I don't think he has any major interst

after that
Adrian Smith - I read he was Tottenham when he was younger but goes to watch Watford now as it's near where he lives
Bruce Dickinson - no interest in football but claimed to like Chelsea recently since he lives near their ground
Nicko - I never have heard of him being linked to a club, but he wore the England shirt on Behind the Iron Curtain and also there was a photo of him wearing a recent England shirt as well (the one with the georges cross on the shoulders), so he must have some interst in football. It would be intersting to hear if he supports a club.
Janick - Hartlepool United, he also went to that game in Rio with Steve so I suspect he's probably the second most intersted in football after Steve from the current line up
Blaze - Aston Villa
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I think Adrian supported Manchester United, not Tottenham in his youth. Now he indeed supports Watford.
 
srfc said:
I always thought it was a bit taking the piss that Maiden are so associated with West Ham, but in fairness I think of the line up on the first album, 4 out of 5 of them must have been Hammers.
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That only makes sense, considering the entire lineup then is pretty much from West Ham.
 
matic22 said:
I think Adrian supported Manchester United, not Tottenham in his youth. Now he indeed supports Watford.
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Exactly. In fact, he described himself as a Man United fanatic as a kid, before he discovered music and lost interest in football.
 
I must be confusing what I read about Adrian being tottenham with what I read about Dave, or maybe I read it about no one and am imagining the whole thing, who knows?

Didn't Janick used to a good goal keeper but he's not allowed play anymore in case he damages his fingers, or is that another possible figment of my imagination.

I remember reading Steve describe the maiden football team back in the day, and he said that Bruce was bad but because he was fit as a fiddle they used to play him as the midfield hardman.
 
srfc said:
Didn't Janick used to a good goal keeper but he's not allowed play anymore in case he damages his fingers, or is that another possible figment of my imagination.
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This doesn't sound familiar at all (which doesn't mean the info isn't out there somewhere) but in "Run to the Hills" (again - sorry!) he tells us that he was "never a very good footballer" although he was apparently quite keen at one point. I wouldn't be surprised if he has his hands insured, actually.

The other interesting football-related detail in "Run to the Hills" is that Adrian apparently got to know Janick pre-Maiden by playing five-a-side with him.

(Judging by his performance in the "Holy Smoke" video though, Janick is rubbish in goal :lol:)
 
Black Abyss Babe said:
I read somewhere that they have a special terrace chant for him when he comes back off tour, but I haven't been able to substantiate this.

I found this though - not much in the way of actual news but bits of it are amusing:
http://www.pooliebunker.co.uk/newbunker/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=36386
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That was quite a depressing read, and very North Eastern. And yes, he's even described on Maidenfans (on the homepage where nobody ever goes) with the cliche 'fun loving Geordie'.
 
Brigantium said:
That was quite a depressing read, and very North Eastern. And yes, he's even described on Maidenfans (on the homepage where nobody ever goes) with the cliche 'fun loving Geordie'.
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I don't go to the home page anymore because Firefox won't let me on the grounds that it's "insecure" but I do remember reading that ages ago (it actually made me wonder if maybe the term "geordie" might not be specific to Newcastle/Tyneside and I've been trying to find out for sure ever since). But Bruce is as guilty as anyone of perpetuating this misunderstanding - in WDTBD he describes Janick's stage performance as a "Geordie guitar jive" and in Dive Dive Live, where they sing "Fog on the Tyne" as a double-act, he even tells the audience Janick comes from Newcastle! (And Janick actually helps him by doing his best Jimmy Nail impression instead of the softer accent we now know to be his own.) I suppose they didn't realise then that ten minutes later Janick would be famous and they'd be found out ...
 
srfc said:
Adrian puts in a good cross in the Wasted Years video!
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Bruce's impression of Adrian's footballing prowess, circa "Seventh Son", from WDTBD:

"Adrian was quite a skilful player, and he had some style. He was deceptively tricky. In many respects his timing was remarkably similar to his guitar-playing."

I read an interview from probably around this time where Steve discussed the football skills of the band members of the time. I'm sure it was on the Commentary but now I can't find it. Does it sound familiar to anyone else?
 
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