Maidstone legend was stunned by Grobbelaar’s saves. Now Stones shocks him
BILL WILLIAMS once watched with his mouth open as Bruce Grobbelaar made a save before hanging from the crossbar by his feet while barking like a sea lion.
But nothing has wowed Maidstone’s 81-year-old director of football – the oldest in the country – than George Elokobi taking the non-league minnows to the FA Cup last 16.
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The Stones, who travel to Coventry tomorrow, are only the second sixth-tier club to reach this stage.
And Williams – who famously signed the mad Grobbelaar as manager of Durban City before becoming a goalkeeping legend at Liverpool – believes George Elokobi is also destined for greatness as a manager.
Williams managed the former club when it was in the old fourth division when they went bankrupt in 1992 – and was one of the masterminds behind their non-league re-emergence until this historic season.
And few people will be prouder tomorrow than Mr Maidstone himself of what Elokobi has achieved with the National League South team.
The veteran has played for Portsmouth, QPR, West Brom, Mansfield and Gillingham and has managed in South Africa, the United States and at home at Maidstone, Dover and Kingstonian.
And he told SunSport: “George was great. He has achieved in his first year as manager what I have tried to do throughout my career as a player and coach. I never got past the third round.
“To be honest, I didn’t think we had a chance against Stevenage or Ipswich in the last two rounds, but through sheer faith and incredible luck we are in the last 16 of the FA Cup.
“This is his first job in management and it has all been a learning experience. I believe it takes three to five years before you really understand management.
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‘You have people who think they know it all after five minutes, but George is not one of them. He is a humble man and knows he is still learning.
“But in terms of learning, he’s doing a bloody good job, making history in the FA Cup and keeping us fighting for promotion. And what makes the work he does so remarkable is that he never has a full squad available every week. We have always eliminated four to six players, which shows what a great achievement this all is.
“The most important thing he has done that has been crucial to our run is the fitness. He trains them very hard. He does a lot of gymnastics and leg work. They know what their job is and are involved.
“And then George makes players believe they can do things they normally can’t do.”
Williams has been playing for the seniors for over sixty years.
And his biggest claim to fame was the discovery of an 18-year-old Grobbelaar when he was in charge of Durban in the 1970s.
And he said: “An Irish coach called Harry Weir, who had spent most of his life in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), told me about this young goalkeeper he once saw playing for Highlanders, so we went to watch him.
“The game was only five minutes in when he came out and met a cross. Instead of catching the ball, he headed it away. I looked at Harry in bewilderment, who smiled, “Just wait and see.”
“As the match progressed, he made such a series of remarkable saves that I decided to sign him.
“But I was worried about making the move after I heard he had signed with Highlanders.
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“They offered him a cow, a sheep and a goat – all the club wanted to know was whether he wanted to deliver them dead or alive.
“Bruce apparently decided to put the goat in his backyard while the beef and mutton went into the freezer.”
Grobbelaar spent a season with Durban and Williams continued: “He had incredible character and an outstanding athlete. If he ran a mile, he would win. If he did the high jump, he would win. If he did shot put, he would win. What many people also don’t realize is that he was a great baseball pitcher.
‘I remember him jumping onto the table in the dressing room before a match and doing a backflip with all our hearts in our mouths, because one slip would break his legs.
“Bruce would also make a save and then hang from the crossbar by his feet, barking like a sea lion.”
Williams also signed the deal that saw Manchester United defender Chris Smalling move from Maidstone to Fulham in 2008, then managed by former Stones player Roy Hodgson.
And when he signed for United, Alex Ferguson invited Williams to Carrington.
He said: “I was nervous because it was like meeting the Queen, I have such high regard for him. He wanted to know everything I could tell him about Chris.
At Maidstone it has been a remarkable story since 1992, when the club collapsed into the fourth tier literally a few weeks after the birth of the money-grubbing Premier League – with debts of £650,000.
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The new team had to start SEVEN leagues lower in the Kent County League Fourth Division.
But they have steadily risen up the pyramid and have recently yo-yoed between the fifth and sixth levels – with a built-up business model that includes renting out their 3G field to the local community, earning them around £150,000 a year .
The club have earned a whopping £450,000 during their FA Cup run so far this season.
And Williams says the money will almost certainly be largely reinvested in the facilities
He said: “We have been at Gallagher Stadium for 12 years and it needs renovation. We need a new field, toilet blocks, electricity, boilers and a new stand.
“This cash injection will serve us well and put our foundations in order to try to get back into the Football League.
“It will be nice to spend half a million on new players, but I wouldn’t recommend it.”