We’ve changed things up a little bit in this week’s Retro Corner and based the column around a video.
The clip in question is our tribute to Billy Mehmet, a man who made 42 appearances for the club during the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons, scoring ten times along the way.
But Big Billy’s impact went way beyond his bare statistics, for here was a player and a character who quickly established himself as a cult hero among the Glory faithful.
While undoubtedly a serious threat in the air, it would be wrong to pigeon-hole the former Ireland Under-21 international as a traditional target-man.
Superb at linking up the play, he was as comfortable receiving the ball to feet as he was looking for a flick-on and while it was Shane Smeltz who claimed most of the goalscoring plaudits as Glory surged their way to the 2012 Grand Final, Mehmet’s influence cannot be ignored.
Ably assisted by close mate Steven McGarry, along with the likes of Andrezinho, Travis Dodd and Liam Miller, the 1.89m Londoner ensured that the predatory Smeltz never went short of service and it was little wonder that only Champions Brisbane Roar managed to score more goals than Glory during the regular 2011-12 campaign.
His star may not have shone for long here in the West, but it definitely shone brightly, so we invite you to sit back, relax and have a watch of our our tribute to the one and only, Billy Mehmet:
https://players.brightcove.net/5498268486001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6151184789001
#OneGlory
