http://www.footballhistory.org.uk/cult-heroes.htm I found this list of [players considered to be cult heros. Vinnie Jones Gazza Alex Lalas Higuita Tony Adams Cantona Pfaff -- I do not really understand how he was considered a cult hero. Di Canio -- for the racist fans only. I will add Jorge Campos(Althrough his jersey was the ugliest in the history of the game) and Crouch to the list. Wasn't there a player for Rangers whose name prounced exactly liked "ShXt" and his jersey was the best seller in Scotalnd?
Definitely a United cult icon. Forlan was also somewhat of a mini-cult hero. If you including managers Ian Holloway and Gordon Strachan might be worth a mention for their often-hilarious interviews and one-liners.
i would put Cuauhtemoc Blanco over Campos. Blanco could be 100 with no legs and somebody would still want him on the national team.
All clubs have their cult heroes. My favourite cult hero is Werder Bremen's Wynton Rufer. Little clubs have their legends too. George Berry (Stoke City) and Derek "The Dude" Dawkins (Torquay Utd) were infamous for their haircuts and dress sense. Cambridge still sing the odd song about "Wolfie" Smith.
Epi Drost for Twente. Played for us from 1968 to 1980 as central defender, played for the Dutch national team nine teams in the 1970s, played a key role in Twente's glory days in the mid 1970s when we notably reached the uefa cup final after beating juventus away. Epi died in 1995 and Twente fans still run a schedule where members alternate to visit his grave to make sure there's always a clean Twente scarf on his gravestone.
Zola at Chelsea and Massimo Palanca for Catanzaro. Catanzaro is a small team from southern Italy and when the club was in the Serie A in the late 70s and early 80s, Palanca was the goal-scoring hero. Once scored a famous hat-trick against Roma at the Stadio Olimpico. I'm surprised than Robin Friday of Reading hasn't been mentioned yet.
Zico at Kashima Antlers. He almost single-handedly made them into a J-League powerhouse, and a statue of him has been erected in front of Kashima's home stadium.
That is more liked a legendary status than a cult hero. Or else I would have put Batigoal for Fiorentina or Cantona for MANU.
Cult Heroes at the Albion - Cyrille Regis is probably the main one. Followed by the likes of Willie Johnstone, 'Big Dave' (Darren Moore) and Bob Taylor. It's kind of hard to distinguish between a cult hero and a legend. I suppose cult heroes don't necessarily have to be great players, but Cyrille Regis WAS a great player and so falls quite easily into both categories. I'm not sure whether i'd class players like Jeff Astle and Tony Brown as cult heroes - just legendary figures.
Im surpised no one mentioned Maradona! He is practically everything to many people. As a matter of fact I am sure he literally has a cult that follows hims a s a God...lol(not kidding!!). He inspires a whole nation and then some more. Not to mention his relationship not only with Napoli but with Boca too. It had to be a British site to "forget it" I guess...lol just kidding...
I think you are referring to Rafael Felipe Scheidt who played for Celtic (although barely ever, he was one of the biggest wastes of money in football). Shite is the Scottish word for Sh*t, and the name was apt. He was signed from Gremio partly due to that he had 2 Brazil caps, but Celtic were unaware that he had only played a very small part in meaningless friendlies and came to be very disliked by the fans because he was such a useless football player and cost so much money. I don't think I've never seen anyone with his name on their shirt, and anyone who got it wouldn't be too likely to boast about it. In fact, I think he wore 'Rafael' on his shirt, due to the meaning of his name in Scotland.
You should know better. may be it was an urban legend that the fans rushed to get his shirt as a joke on the day he signed for celtics.