Cardiff City Legend Finally Gets a Film to be made about Him

" Life of Cardiff City legend Robin Friday to be made into film starring Hunger Games actor "

Monday 11 May 2015

By Hannah Jones


The colourful life of Bluebirds bad boy Robin Friday will soon be coming to a screen near you


Sam Claflin is set to star in a biopic about controversial Bluebirds legend Robin Friday.

Outspoken comedian Russell Brand had previously been attached to the role about the man who was dubbed the “Keith Richards of the soccer pitch”.

But according to reports coming out of Hollywood, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Henry-Alex Rubin will direct the film from a script by Julian Stone and Paolo Hewitt with Claflin as the hell-raiser.

“This will not just be a film about cheering a goal, but about tears and laughs and music and silence and anger and love … because this working-class hero with outrageous talent lived it all. It was a time before the age of privileged athletes, a time when the fans lived next door to their heroes.

"As Robin Friday walked down the streets of the 70s, everybody wanted to be him. But quite frankly, no one else had the balls,” said Stone.

“Robin Friday’s legacy continues to live on today and is a story tailor-made for the big screen given the larger-than-life energy which Friday brought to the sport and his life. The talented Sam Claflin is the perfect actor to fill the shoes of this British legend due to his background in the sport prior to pursuing his acting career,” added de Barros on the website The Wrap.

Oh, who's a bad boy then:



Friday, who named #1 in a Channel 4 list of soccer 'Bad Boys', earned the love of Bluebirds’ fans in late ‘76 when he was transferred under a black cloud from Reading where his boozy, bad behaviour, both on and off the pitch, had repeatedly earned him the wrath of the management.


For example, one outlandish tale from the forward’s eventful tenure with the English side involved him turning up just before a match naked, drunk and carrying under his arm a swan he had just liberated from a nearby lake.

And his antics weren’t limited to that side of the Severn either – on the night before his New Year’s Day debut at Ninian Park in 1977 the 25-year-old Londoner went on an all-night bender around Cardiff’s bars and clubs, only retiring to his (or someone else’s) bed at five in the morning.

However, despite the Herculean amount of alcohol consumed and subsequent lack of sleep, he still managed to score twice – even running rings around the usually impassable Bobby Moore.

Yet, despite only playing 20 games for the side, City fans never stopped adoring Friday – who died of a heart attack in 1990, aged just 38 – naming him as their All-time Cult Hero in 2004.

They also used the iconic image of him flashing the V-sign to Luton Town’s goalie during a ‘77 home match in their recent demonstrations against club owner Vincent Tan’s controversial decision to sack manager Malky Mackay.

The shot was also famously used by the rock group Super Furry Animals for the cover of their 1996 single The Man Don’t Give A F***.

"Colourful character" he may have been...but bit of a myth that this guy is a City legend...only with us for 6 months or so if memory serves me right !!!

"Colourful character" he may have been...but bit of a myth that this guy is a City legend...only with us for 6 months or so if memory serves me right !!!

No doubt he is an icon in our history.

"Colourful character" he may have been...but bit of a myth that this guy is a City legend...only with us for 6 months or so if memory serves me right !!!

Don't think he really wanted to be her either.

The word legend is banded about very easily nowadays. It shows how little you have to do to get the label.

I think I'd go more with the word infamous.

I did love his attitude though. A different type of legend.

"Colourful character" he may have been...but bit of a myth that this guy is a City legend...only with us for 6 months or so if memory serves me right !!!

Don't think he really wanted to be her either.

The word legend is banded about very easily nowadays. It shows how little you have to do to get the label.

I think I'd go more with the word infamous.

I did love his attitude though. A different type of legend.

I think I would go with the word "scumbag". Did very little at city except cause trouble. Certainly no legend.

I dunno, his debut was good, two goals and excitement in the crowd when he got the ball - not many players can do that, Blakey was probably another who could turn defenders..lots of Oxford bags around that day, early 77'.

Another player made his debut that game, any guesses??

Article written by someone who has never read The Greatest Footballer You Never Saw !
TOtally inaccurate about the night before his City debut !

Reading legend, without a doubt...Cardiff legend, nah...

Disappointed thought it was going to be AR

No one in my generation would even know who he was if it wasn't for that picture

Your bad boy footballer.

Up there with the best and that includes George. How these guys made it with their on goings really confused me in those days. They might be icons but lets be honest none of us want our children going that way.

I felt this thread could do with a little bit of illustration.

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