I think Murray is in with a good shout for being Britain's greatest ever Sports person.

You have to factor in that in his era he was up against the three most successful male tennis players of all-time.

Novak Djokovic (24 titles)
Rafael Nadal (22 titles)
Roger Federer (20 titles)

To have even been able to live with the 3 GOATS of tennis, never mind being able to win majors himself during this period has to put him in the mix for Greatest Ever British Sportsman.

 

japanarab wrote:

Fair enough but Stan Wawrinka has won the same amount of Grand Slams as Murray during the same period and nobody mentions him as one of the greatest. 
 

I wasn't saying Murray was one of the greatest ever tennis players though, he's clearly miles behind the three i mentioned in terms of success (as is Wawrinka).

But that doesn't mean he's not in the running to be one of Britain's best sports people.


 

japanarab wrote:

Tek wrote:

japanarab wrote:

Fair enough but Stan Wawrinka has won the same amount of Grand Slams as Murray during the same period and nobody mentions him as one of the greatest. 
 

I wasn't saying Murray was one of the greatest ever tennis players though, he's clearly miles behind the three i mentioned in terms of success (as is Wawrinka).

But that doesn't mean he's not in the running to be one of Britain's best sports people.


 

I was more thinking like surely the greatest UK sportsperson ever has acheived more than someone like Stan Wawrinka. All subjective of course and people will have differing opinions and reasons. Some might even have a shout for someone like Eric Lidell or even Lennox Lewis. Then you've the lesser known sports where you have guys like Joey Dunlop who have (imo) acheived more on the international stage. I like a good stat and O'Sullivan and Taylor's numbers are insane and will probably never be surpassed--in my lifetime at least.
 

Eric Liddel is a good shout 

To win the Mens 100M race in the Olympics is pretty much the zenith of sporting achievement and excellence.

Very proud that a Scotsman has achieved that.
 

Tek wrote:

japanarab wrote:

Tek wrote:

I wasn't saying Murray was one of the greatest ever tennis players though, he's clearly miles behind the three i mentioned in terms of success (as is Wawrinka).

But that doesn't mean he's not in the running to be one of Britain's best sports people.


 

I was more thinking like surely the greatest UK sportsperson ever has acheived more than someone like Stan Wawrinka. All subjective of course and people will have differing opinions and reasons. Some might even have a shout for someone like Eric Lidell or even Lennox Lewis. Then you've the lesser known sports where you have guys like Joey Dunlop who have (imo) acheived more on the international stage. I like a good stat and O'Sullivan and Taylor's numbers are insane and will probably never be surpassed--in my lifetime at least.
 

Eric Liddel is a good shout 

To win the Mens 100M race in the Olympics is pretty much the zenith of sporting achievement and excellence.

Very proud that a Scotsman has achieved that.
 

 
I think that’s why I would vote for Liddell. He DIDN’T win the 100m, Harold Abrahams did. Remember the final was on the Sunday? He won the 400m, which was his third best event. From memory, he not only won it, but, won it with an Olympic? World? record, which stood for 23 years. Even the great Michael Johnston didn’t achieve that.

Furthermore, Liddell was a Scotland rugby wing.

I would agree, from an athletic perspective, Coe deserves a mention (the 800m was his less favoured event). Colin Jackson too, because he is only 5’11 and was up against McKoy, Florian Schwartzkopf, Nehamiar. Finally Daley Thompson for winning Olympics twice particularly in LA against Hingson and Siggi Wentz.

I’ll shut up about athletics, now.

David_Blunkett wrote:

Daley Thompson for having one of the best Spectrum games and his Mum being a Shed boy should be in the conversation, agreed.

A bit of googling suggests problematic views, thoughts and maybe not a nice person.

So i'm changing his mum to a Derry wanker and he can fuck off.


 

Daley Thompson's Mum, Dundonian?
 

The other (more recent) contender for me, would be Mo Farrar. Double golds (5000, 10,000) in 2012 Olympics, then repeated the same feat in 2016 Olympics. Six World Championship golds, against some of the best distance athletes of their generation.

At a time when it is politically expedient to sound tough on illegal immigration, let’s not forget this was an 8 year old orphan smuggled from Somalia to the UK for the purpose of working in domestic servitude.

Last edited by Macbonzo (09/7/2024 12:25 pm)

Tek wrote:

Eric Liddel is a good shout 

To win the Mens 100M race in the Olympics is pretty much the zenith of sporting achievement and excellence.

Very proud that a Scotsman has achieved that.
 

Allan Wells!

Canadian Arab wrote:

Road cyclists typically have a career "at the top" - the very few that get there, at least - of a maximum of two years. In an absolutely brutal sport, Bradley Wiggins was the world's best in the general classification for a little longer than that. And Mark Cavendish has won grand tour stages over a period spanning 18 years and just became the cyclist with the greatest number of Tour de France stage wins of all time. The athleticism and mental strength required in that sport goes beyond anything else IMO.

And much as I enjoy watching and playing snooker, if we're calling it a sport for the purposes of this thread, then we might as well bring Jocky Wilson into the frame (no pun intended) for the title of the UK's greatest sportsman!

A good post illustrating why Murray often gets mentioned—-the popularity and coverage of his sport. People like Carl Fogarty, Dunlop, and other “niche” sportspeople are often overlooked even though they’re multiple world champions. Regarding snooker being a sport—if archery and bowls are classed as an Olympic sport then snooker is definitely a sport. 
 

Dave Narey is the only Scotsman to score against Brazil from open play in a real game, and what a goal!

I think we have a winner.
 

Macbonzo wrote:

Are we not overlooking another Scotsman? Sir Chris Hoy, who I think, won 7 Olympic golds. The other person, who has yet to be mentioned is Sir Steven Redgrave with 5 Olympic golds and no less than 9 World Championships. What made this even more impressive was he was suffering from ulcerative colitis.

Wells is an interesting one. I was going to dismiss him completely by pointing out that the Americans boycotted Moscow Olympics and had they been there Wells would have been lucky to medal. That said, I actually looked at the times of the top Americans in 1980 and they were unimpressive. It wasn’t until 1983 when Carl Lewis, Dennis Mitchell and Leroy Burrell appeared. For me, Wells (who still holds the Scottish native record) was unfortunate to be caught between two generations of sprinters. Had he been five years younger he may have dipped under 10 seconds and been a contender in 1984.

I would just also mention another Dundonian (not a contender) who will be going to her fourth Olympics - Eilish McColgan.

Covered above, with Tory wanksock.

If Steve Redgrave is sitting at the front of a skinny wee boat and he has ulcerative colitis, surely the plaudits should go to the lad sitting behind him who would row like fuck to get to the end and get himself out of there?

Allan Wells was a unit. Shoulders wider than the gap between Mulgrew and Edwards. He used to go to his blocks after everyone else so they had to watch him rolling his shoulders and stretching his pecs before getting into the blocks, just to intimidate them. It worked. As was pointed out, the Americans would have struggled to match him at that time.

My Grandad played for Scotland at the bools. My understanding was he wasn't selected again after threatening to rap an English guy in the pus who had coughed just as he was delivering his bowl. I don't think even he would have classified it as a sport, even though it needs coordination, judgement and physical ability. They need a new category of Olympic Pastimes for bools, archery and snooker!

With all the cycling talk it reminded me about Graeme Obree. Amazing athlete and story. The Flying Scotsman starring Jonny Lee Miller in the title role is worth checking out.



 

Last edited by japanarab (12/7/2024 12:27 pm)