John Aldridge’s mother refused to speak to him for two days after his foul-mouthed rant at the 1994 World Cup.
Liverpool legend Aldridge, who turned 66 on Thursday, played a key role in Ireland’s run to the Round of 16 in the USA. However, his most memorable moment came when he completely lost his rag as the Irish almost came crashing out at the hands of Mexico.
Jack Charlton had subbed off Steve Staunton and Tommy Coyne so he could introduce Jason McAteer and Aldridge. However, a FIFA employee only allowed McAteer to come on, as he thought two substitutes were not allowed to enter the game at once, leaving the Irish with only 10 men on the field.
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Already baking in the sweltering heart, the Scouse striker was left fuming, and McAteer opened up on the situation on the Under the Cosh. He said: “The two of us were going on, the linesman stopped him as, in his head, he thought two substitutes could not go on at the same time, [so he] stopped John Aldridge from going on.
“He [Aldridge] was there on the side-lines going: ‘I’ll f***ing knock you out you f***ing d***head’. He runs on and even then, he turns round and goes ‘k***head’ as a last little one.”
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(Image: BBC)
Aldridge’s touchline rage is still replayed on a regular basis. While football fans admired his passion, Aldridge’s sweet and innocent mother was horrified by the colourful language that spewed out of his mouth.
McAteer added: “The side story to that is after the game, it was on the BBC, Aldo rang home and he was talking to his dad. He goes, ‘Put mum on’ and his dad went to him, ‘She won’t talk to you son’.
“He goes: ‘Why’ and his dad went: ‘All that swearing on the telly, your mum is really embarrassed and she doesn’t want to speak to you, she’s really annoyed’. She didn’t speak to him for two or three days, she wouldn’t come on the phone.”
(Image: Icon Sport via Getty Images)
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Aldridge and Charlton both received fines for their angry reactions at the side of the pitch. In the days after, the forward admitted he was not proud of the language he used, but insisted he had a right to be upset.
He said:“I know now I was out of order,” he said after the game. “When you are two goals down and have just 10 men on the field in a situation like this, the frustration comes out.”
Aldridge, who won a league title and FA Cup during his time at Anfield, before scoring for fun with Real Sociedad in Spain and returning to play for and later manage Tranmere Rovers, finally got onto the pitch after six minutes of trying.
He then scored to give Ireland a chance to get back into the game. Despite losing against Mexico 2–1, his goal was crucial in securing qualification for the second round. Because all four teams in the group had finished with the same number of points and the same goal difference, Ireland’s qualification was at the expense of Norway, who had scored just one goal fewer.