CF: Adrian Patulea – Romania

Adrian Patulea is a cult hero. 11 goals in 33 outings, he had the qualities fans loved to see; guts and fight. He chased everything, he ran endlessly and of course, we all love a tryer. Not one like Kevin Gall, a runner who goes away from the ball, but a proper tryer. Patulea was like you and I, a seemingly normal bloke living the dream. He didn’t read the script that you’re not meant to smash a hat trick against Lincoln United in the preseason and let’s face it, we all loved the wife on his back story.

Even now, Adrian Patulea will be toasted as ‘one that got away’, a player who lost in a battle with the manager. A contract wrangle, still unclear to this day, left the Romanian striker free to leave, and he did, for Leyton Orient, Hayes and Hereford, before heading back to Romania to see out his career.