Leg Ends

I have met a few former professional footballers.

They are from the generation who played in the 1960's and 1970's in the top echelons of the English League, then known as the First and Second Divisions.

Now very much of senior citizen status they carry and endure the scars and impairments from a professional game where, by modern standards, the level of physiotherapy, nutritional advice, medical care and of course , financial remuneration were rudimentary.

I have come across them in their own homes and have learned to wait patiently for their laboured footfalls from degenerated muscles to reach the front door after having rung the bell some minutes before. In the lounges of the football stadium on match days they act as hosts to avail corporate guests and civic dignitaries of the stories of their time in the game.

It is good to see the respect in which they are held by a captive audience. However,in the quiet moments after everyone has made their way to their reserved seats the stiff joints from arthritis will surely return to remind them of their mortality.

I followed football very closely in the early 70' although I did not attend my first proper league match until some years later.

Like most 9 year olds in that era I avidly collected football cards and stuck these in an album , the packets being two and a half new pence each which was all of my pocket money. The 1972-1973 season for the old First Division was the only album that I fully completed. My favourite team was Liverpool.

As you can see I used sellotape rather than glue which explains the messy appearance. Ignore the juvenile scribbling in the top left hand corner.

The album usually sits at the bottom of a storage box but was retrieved a couple of weeks ago for a bit of research following a piece of writing I felt necessary to commemorate the demise of the former Leeds United goalkeeper, Gary Sprake.

Working through the faces on the Liverpool team page evokes many happy memories of black and white television coverage albeit quite sparse at the time but more from recollections of being huddled against the valve induced warmth of an old radio set on which I would listen to the weekday matches of Liverpool in the league and on those magical nights of competitive games in Europe. Was it always the case the Liverpool needed and got three goals in the second and home tie against a German team to get through to the next round?

The Liverpool team at the beginning of the 1972 season were an exceptional bunch.

It is amazing to realise that the youngest and arguably the most celebrated , Kevin Keegan is 65 years old and Peter Thompson the most senior is 73.

Unfortunately, Emlyn Hughes, the inspirational Captain and Brian Hall, have passed away.

So what happened to the rest of them in that period from leaving Liverpool (if at all they did) until statutory retirement age?

The end of a football career in that era often meant the beginning of a new venture in order to save for that distant time when putting their feet up was possible.

The options appeared to have been limited to staying on in a scouting, training, physio or managerial role or running a pub.

Those of the 1972-73 album page going into management had varied experiences. Roy Evans, John Toshack and his former strike partner Kevin Keegan all had success with a number of teams. Ray Clemence worked on the Football Association staff until recently but retirement was enforced by cancer which he still battles with his family.

A few players headed for the United States at a time when the game was attracting good money and an attractive lifestyle. Steve Heighway and Alec Lindsay were enticed to the Stateside league but later returned to roles in youth squad development and a publican respectively.

A deeply rooted knowledge of the game gives a great insight into scouting future talent and Chris Lawler took this path.

Playing to a football crowd must have been inspirational and both Tommy Smith and Larry Lloyd continued in this vein in Public Speaking and Radio Broadcasting and Jack Whitham performed regularly as a singer around the UK Club Circuit.

The oldest of the squad, Peter Thompson for a time ran a caravan park before going into the hotel and hospitality business. Phil Boersma worked as a physiotherapist in football in England, Scotland and Wales.

Ian Callaghan perhaps sums up the lot of the professional footballer of his era.

He was a member of the 1966 World Cup winning squad but it was not until 2009 that he was awarded his medal after a campaign to extend this honour beyond those who actually played in the Final.

Like most great figures their true value will not be appreciated until they hang up their boots for good.