Pity, he was becoming quite influential and decent partnership forming
Pity, he was becoming quite influential and decent partnership forming
Is it just my imagination or is there far more injuries these days? There is us winning the league in 61/62 with only 15 players with the substitute players only playing 9,4,3, and 2 games each, meaning majority of the players played every game (did the Arabs not win the league with 12 players or so their story goes, that number is reduced in their minds in the same way that their crowd numbers are inflated though). Back to injuries as young lad I remember broken legs, collar bones etc. and the, at that time, dreaded cartilage injuries but not the plethora of muscle injuries, acl's, achilles injuries etc. Maybe it is the flimsy boots they wear nowadays, the last player I remember wearing substantial footwear (rugby boots iirc) was John Duncan in the early 70s. Maybe it's the training nowadays or maybe the players are just made of chocolate!!
John Duncan like a lot of boys at the Morgan wore Rugby boots to play both Rugby and Football, in the early 60s a lot of boys parents couldn’t afford to buy 2 different pairs of boots , and the Morgan was a mainly Rugby playing school and at that time they never had a first year school football team , they didn’t play football matches till 2nd year ,
Interesting point, makes sense. Duncan continued to wear such footwear even in senior football presumably to guard against injury.
In the 60s I remember having and playing in Tommy Docherty boots. A real substantial boot with a solid toe cap. Not much use for silky soccer skills but defenders could do some damage with them. Even taking such 'weapons' i.e. boots into consideration there still didn't seem to me as many injuries back then.
A lot of injuries are caused by playing on artificial pitches.
Last season I was sitting next to Sam Fisher’s father and he told me that a lot of injuries such as cruciate injuries are caused by football players playing on artificial pitches.
I think that the Dundee FC players train on an artificial surface when they are training indoors at Caird Park.
You’re lucky I had Tom Finney boots that were handed down from my older brother, by the time I got them the sharp end of the small tacks that held the studs on were starting to come through the soles , at the end of every game there was small blood marks on my socks and wee painful holes in my feet ha , the good old days playing football in the park all day Sunday , jumpers for goalposts , next goal winner
Remember well games at Kirkton Park that seemed to go on all day. Teams changed, players went 'hame for thir tea' and reappeared later to get a game again sometimes on the other side. And as you say didn't matter the score when the cry went up for next goal the winner. Happy days, nae phones, and nae computers, two channels on the tv. Just played fitba' a' day.