To most, if not all Ipswich Town fans Mauricio Taricco was one of the Ipswich greats. In 1996/1997 he was voted Player of the Year and was fully deserving of it, to younger fans who do not remember Arnold Muhren, Frans Thijssen and a whole host of other 70's and 80's stars, Mauricio was one of THE star players to take their eye. It could have been for his energetic runs up and down the wing, his excellent play when in posession and also his strong tackling. It could have just been the way he looked. Whatever it was though Mauricio achieved a legendary status at Ipswich Town, one that came close to destroying the love that some of us have for the club when he finally left for Spurs.

Mauricio Taricco arrived at Portman Road in September 1994, there were no problems with gaining a work-permit for him as his father is Italian. His father Piero played for Juventus and Torino in the 1950's before deciding on a move to Argentina to play for River Plate. John Lyall the then Ipswich Manager commented on Mauricio "Both players (also arriving at this time was Adrian Paz) were very keen to come to England, Mauricio brought forward his wedding by four months so that his wife Evangelina can join him in Suffolk" he went on to say "I am sure that all supporters will be thrilled as I am by their arrival and wish them a long and happy career at Ipswich Town" - Not sure about Mr. Paz, but Mauricio definitely had a very happy time at Ipswich, one which I am hopeful at some point in the future he may continue!. Paul Goddard the First-Team coach at that time commented "Mauricio is a youngster with a great deal of promise" - He wasn't wrong.

Mauricio's first game for Ipswich Town was on the 21st September 1994 against Bolton Wanderers at home in the Coca-Cola Cup 2nd Round 1st Leg, a game in which we lost 3-0. His last outing in a Town shirt was on the 21st of March 1998 against Wolverhampton Wanderers at hime in a Division 1 game we won 2-0. Mauricio got injured as the final whistle was blown and our last view of Mauricio was of him laying on a stretcher being carried off the pitch. - What an awful farewell!.

When it was made public that Mauricio was to be leaving Portman Road it did not really come as a suprise. Tottenham had been keeping tabs on him and a bid was expected any time. Rather suprisingly it was a bid of one million, seven hundred and seventy five thousand pounds. A figure that suprised a lot of people as it had been thought Mauricio would go for a lot more than that. With the players who have left Ipswich over the past few years for good money (Kiwomya, Dozzell, Dyer, Wright, Johnson, Scowcroft) I must say that I was very suprised by the fee.

The fans of Ipswich Town reacted angrily over the transfer, there were letters to the East Anglian Daily Times, Phone calls to the local radio stations. It was safe to say that it was not a good response from some of the fans. In the end David Sheepshanks, the Ipswich Town Chairman came onto a radio show to explain about the transfer. The transfer made more sense when everything was explained. We were in debt and the club was running at a loss. We needed to sell a player in order to not only balance the books but also to allow us to keep the squad together without the need to sell again in the future.

During the phone-in Mr. Sheepshanks was getting a hard-time from some fans, whilst other fans accepted the decision to sell Mauricio. To sum it up in one sentence when asked by a fan that surely a club has to buy players to succeed, even if they can't afford to, Mr Sheepshanks replied that "Ipswich Town are not a shit or bust football club and that in order to proceed with the 5 year plan on getting Ipswich back in the Premiership some sacrafices had to be made". -- Mauricio was indeed that sacrafice!.

Mauricio Taricco was a special player for Ipswich fans, his legendary matches against Sheffield United and Norwich were ones to savour. He scored some great goals for us and will always be looked on as one of Ipswich Town's better players. We all thought that he would eventually come back to the Town and wear the blue and white again, but this did not happen and is probably the most disapointing thing for me. There were always numerous rumours doing the rounds every so often that we had been interested in him, rumours that have never come to fruition. Whatever happens though Mauricio is my favourite player of all-time and one of the favourites of many other Ipswich fans.

So, Mauricio left Ipswich to join possibly one of the most well known English clubs to Argentine football supporters, Tottenham were of course the team whom the duo Ossie Ardiles and Ricardo Villa played for. Now another Argentinean was heading off to London. Mauricio was signed by the then Spurs manager George Graham, a player who he had looked at for quite some time. The offer was made but as Mauricio was injured at the time, a deal was only agreed with him verbally, there was nothing signed, sealed or delivered. The local press in Suffolk were sure that a deal had been done, but Mauricio stated in an interview with the Ipswich fanzine Those Were The Days "I went along a couple of days after to speak with the club, and we agreed terms. It was agreed in word only because of the injury. That was it really. I kept having treatment in Ipswich. Everyone was saying that I was a Tottenham player, but at that stage I wasn't.". Well, injuries do clear up and approximately 2 weeks after the first official contact from Spurs, Mauricio indeed made the switch from 1st division footbal with Ipswich Town, to top flight Premiership football with Spurs.

The general views from the Tottenham fans of the signing were good, fans commented: "I was very pleased. The left back area has been a problem area for as long as I've been going to Tottenham (last 13 years!). The only decent one we had before we signed Mauricio was Clive Wilson and he only really had one season left in him!", " I Was pleased when he signed as he's a footballing full-back as opposed to a kick & rush merchant. Skilful player, who works hard". Whilst Ipswich fans were gutted, Tottenham fans seemed pleased with their new signing, after all it was a little bit of a gamble signing a lower division defender for that amount of money but it seemed to have been a good signing.

Mauricio played his first game for Spurs on the 16th January 1999, a Premier League game against Wimbledon, it finished 0-0 and Mauricio was a sub brought on to the field after 71 minutes. To see a complete and up-to-date rundown of every game involving Mauricio at Spurs please click the career profile link on the left of the screen.

After a terrible last season with Spurs, being frozen out of the first-team it was with sadness that we learned Mauricio was on his way to Upton Park, I really wanted him to be a blue again but it was not to be!

The news broke in this order:

"West Ham have today completed the much-rumoured signing of Argentinian defender Mauricio Taricco from Tottenham.

The free transfer deal will keep the 31 year-old defender at the Boleyn until the end of the 2005/06 season.

Taricco was George Graham's first signing for Tottenham when he joined from Ipswich Town in November 1998 for a reported fee of in excess of £1.75m. He had spent the previous four years with the Tractor Boys and was recently linked with a possible return to Portman Road.

The right-back, nicknamed "Treacle", is noted for his tough tackling and Hammers fans may remember his confrontation with Glen Johnson at the last time the two sides met at the Boleyn.

Taricco made over 150 appearances for Tottenham but had not featured in the side this season. He will go straight into the squad to face Millwall at the New Den on Sunday."

Mauricio Taricco has left West Ham United Football Club by mutual consent just one week after signing from Tottenham.

The Argentinean left back signed on a free transfer from White Hart Lane in time to play in last Sunday's local derby with Millwall.

Taricco though suffered a hamstring injury in that game and when he learned that it would keep him out for two months he offered to cancel his contract so as not to penalise West Ham financially.

The deal was only expected to be short-term until the end of the season at the most and Taricco is now expected to reture from football altogether.

Alan Pardew described Mauricio Tarrico's offer to terminate his contract following the injury sustained against Millwall as : "One of the most honest acts from a player that I have experienced in all my years in the game".

Pardew explained:

"When Tano knew he was going to be out for so long, he felt very uncomfortable about the situation and came to me offering to terminate his contract. He didn’t have to make that decision which shows that his character and personality off the pitch is far removed from the image sometimes portrayed".

Taricco was substituted after only 27 minutes of Sunday's derby match against Millwall. Tests showed his injury to have been a torn hamstring. Such injuries are notorious for their slow recovery time, prompting the Argentinian defender's unselfish offer. Taricco explained:

"When I discovered the extent of the injury I was very unhappy about the situation so I approached Alan Pardew and offered to cancel the contract so the Club would not suffer a serious financial loss by paying wages to a player who had only played for them for less than half-an-hour. This will now give Alan Pardew the opportunity to spend the money on a fit player rather than to someone sitting around in the treatment room.

"Naturally I am upset because in my very short time at West Ham I was impressed by the friendly, family atmosphere at the Club. I’d like to wish them every success for the future and hope they achieve promotion this season.”