Mick Channon
Michael Roger ' Mick ' Channon ( born November 28, 1948 in Orcheston ) is a former English football player and was present both scorer for Southampton FC as well as for the England football team in the 1970s. Subsequently, he was known as a successful trainer in horse racing.
Sports career
Channon made his debut at the age of 17 years for Southampton in 1966 and already scoring a goal against Bristol City. Within three years he was able to establish itself as top scorer in a mostly below-average club in the First Division.
When he was employed by Alf Ramsey for his first game in October 1972 for the English national team against Yugoslavia at Wembley and the 1-1 completed a good performance, it was used in two consecutive qualifying matches for the 1974 World Cup in Germany. He achieved this in February 1973 in a 5-0 win against Scotland at Hampden Park scored his first goal for England.
In the further course of the year Channon scored again in the game against Wales, and added two goals in a 7-0 thrashing of Austria added, before he was then first used by Ramsey in a competitive game, a crucial and ultimately unhappy qualifying match for the 1974 World Cup in Germany against Poland which took place at Wembley. The English team had thereby win the game in order to qualify for the tournament.
In his tenth international match Channon was used in this very attack-minded team. The game was mostly transferred to the Polish half of the field in which the English team struggled to overcome the defensive defensive barrier. Channon often failed while on the extroverted but also powerful Polish goalkeeper Tomaszewski January and the meeting ended with 1:1. Things went worse then for Channon, as his club FC Southampton were relegated to the Second Division at the end of the season despite 21 goals from Channon.
Channon kept his club, despite some concerns in relation to its international competitiveness, loyalty. He played for the English team in a series of friendly matches, met three occasions and was also the following October still in the team, as England began with the qualifying matches for Euro 1976. Channon scored a goal against the team from Czechoslovakia and England won 3-0. Channon Next hit for England was a Freundschaftsspieltor against Switzerland, which England won. In the remaining two qualifiers for the European Championship at the end of 1976 Channon met in both games. England, however, lost with 1-2 against Czechoslovakia in Bratislava and played 1-1 against Portugal in Lisbon and could not qualify for the final round, the Czech team then became European Champion.
The year 1976 should still be a very special year for Channon. Although Southampton continued to play in the second division, the club was a successful way through the FA Cup tread and met in the final to Manchester United. Although Southampton played a class lower, they were considered experienced against a very youthful team from Manchester. Southampton won the final 1-0 and Channon had a large proportion of the late, decisive goal from Bobby Stokes. The FA Cup was thus the first major title for Channon.
A day later Channon scored twice at Wembley Stadium when the team from Northern Ireland was defeated 4-0; four days later was followed by a renewed goal against Scotland, with England but lost 1:2 at Hampden Park. In a summer tournament in the United States as part of the 200th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence Channon contributed in an exciting game in which England against Italy was 0:2 convert to a 3-2, two goals at. Two weeks later, Channon scored again in a 4-1 win against Finland in Helsinki and started so well in the qualifiers for the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, although this way due to the subsequent defeat against Italy in Rome received a setback.
In March of 1977, Channon shot against Luxembourg at Wembley again scored two goals and helped his team to return to the track for a successful qualification. Later in England should require against the whipping boys of Luxembourg another big win to still overtake Italy and thus ensure the qualification. Channon was at this time in a very good shape and the English nurtured the hopes of being able to achieve a high win in Luxembourg. He scored his 20th goal in the 2-1 win against Northern Ireland and left a week later, followed by a penalty against Scotland. However, this game turned out to be messy, because after Scotland won 2-1, flocked enthusiastic Scottish supporters on the pitch, tore out a number of pieces of turf for a souvenir and damaged a gate.
Only a month later Channon left his longtime club from Southampton, who continued to play in the second division, to join for a fee of £ 300,000 Manchester City. Manchester City had just won the runner-up behind Liverpool, but could not confirm in the new season's performance and Channon had problems to integrate into the team. He scored twelve goals in his first and eleven goals in the second season, but his initial difficulties in adapting ensured that the national coach Ron Greenwood cut it at the qualifier in Luxembourg in October 1977. England won the game "only" 2-0 and despite a victory in their final game against Italy, the goal difference was not enough to qualify for the World Cup. Channon also did not return to the national team, so that he no longer was able to add his 46 caps and 21 goals.
Channon returned in September 1979 back to Southampton, which now again played in the first division. He was now over 30 years old and continued to play regularly, although its hit rate with only ten championship goals in the first two seasons was weaker. He joined in 1982 after a total of 507 games and 185 goals for Southampton to Newcastle United.
In Newcastle Channon was not even a month before he joined the Bristol Rovers. His intense football career now apparently went to meet his end when he should succeed a goal in nine consecutive games. Again he joined the club. In this case, he went to Norwich City, where he, at the age of 34 years now, back took a little to his old strength. He graduated from there 88 games in three years, scoring 16 goals and decided in 1985, the time in Norwich with success and failure, when the club through a 1-0 victory over Sunderland League Cup, Channon's second and last trophy won, but also relegated from the first division. Channon then moved to Portsmouth, before he finally retired from football.
During his long career Channon was famous for his way of celebrating a goal been shot. Due to its circular motion of the fully outstretched right arm, he made known the jubilation in the form of a windmill.
Horse racing
Channon had been throughout his football career a special interest in horse racing and started after finishing his football time, first as assistant coach and in 1990 as a licensed trainer. He had initially ten horses.
He switched to the barn in West Ilsley / Newbury, who was previously owned by Queen Elizabeth II, and increased the number of his horses to nearly 200
In 2002, he finished the season with 123 wins and outreached the 100 mark for the first time in his career. He is one of the most decorated coaches, although it is not yet activated victory in a Triple Crown race succeeded.
Among the owners who have their horses under the care of Channon, are old friends and colleagues, including Kevin Keegan, Alan Ball and Sir Alex Ferguson.
Achievements
- FA Cup Winners: 1976
- Scorer in the English Premier League: 1974