Entertainment For Lively Minds
The Hard Paper Rounds of 70s Scottish Footballers
While browsing through the Flickr photostream below, it struck me that some of the footballers plying their trade in the Scottish Premier League in 1979 looked a bit, well, "lived in".
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aberdeenfc/collections/72157608539904174/
I realise that in those days footballers thought that a moisturizer was a device you ordered from the back pages of Mayfair. And as for sports diets, I recall that when Rangers midfielder Bobby Russell was asked in his Shoot! profile to name his favourite food, he replied "chips from a bag".
But even so, it does seem that we produced footballers north of the border who looked as though they'd had a hard paper round. In fact, I'd say we did it better than anyone else. Of course, unless you know otherwise ....
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Great photos
I'm sure I remember Kenny Dalglish saying that even the lauded Liverpool teams which he graced had a diet heavy on fish and chips. Whilst never obese, he did have a fairly substantial arse which he used to great effect in creating space in a crowded penalty area...
Talking of Substantial Arses
I think Derek Johnstone could have crowded a penalty area all by himself.
(N.B The photo below is of a professional athlete)
jesus!!
i had that sticker book...and just had serious flashbacks..
Said here before
but Leeds and Scotland circa 1974 were this 9 year olds heroes and I was from West London, I wanted to be Joe Jordan more than any of them. I imagine he ate his meat with just the arse wiped and the horns removed
Lo Squalo
In Italy he's remembered by the nickname Lo Squalo, which means "The Shark" and is also the name under which Jaws was released in Italy. Think the latter had more bearing on the nickname.
Couldn't believe it
when Gennaro Gattuso tried to have a bit of a scrap with him last season. There would only have been one winner.
Incidentally, just wiki-ed the players shown above to see how old they were at the time the photos were taken. The oldest (Gerry O'Brien) was 31.
If you have
Danny Masterton and Walker McCall of Ayr utd let me know. I'm missing those two and Hamish McAlpine.The guy only has 79/80
The 1978/1979 stickers were brilliant.Adhesive back, which when put on Windows were a bugger to remove as my neighbour found out while trying to remove a Bristol City team photo.
I've got Hamish
I'll swap him for the bottom left hand corner of the Nottingham Forest team picture. Or the Sheffield Wednesday badge.
This is serious stuff
http://cards.littleoak.com.au/index.html
I Have all these albums from 69 to 1980 and kept all the swaps too. Currently being stored at a mate's house,he'll go through the swaps and see if we can do a deal.But what of the elusive Mr Masterton ?
The Elusive Mr Masterton
Sounds like a great name for an Agatha Christie book. However, I fear you've got as much chance of finding him as Ayr Utd have of getting back in the SPL.
Looking back at the cult of
Looking back at the cult of stickers, Lazy Comedian-esque, I retrospectively love that about them.
That any swaps that don't find a new home were stuck on headboards, wardrobe doors, or lunchboxes in a great display of football supporting as opposed to unwavering devotion to Paul McStay, Walter Zenga or Tony Meola (from the Italia 90 Panini collection).
Got, got, not, got....
Swapsies?
in my neck of the woods
the exchange was.."doop, doop, doop, hivnae got it"
(doop meaning duplicate...not that vile #1 from the mid 90s)
Young men looked older back then
I think these guys are rockin' the "domestically contented man" look.
Shoot! Annuals of the 1970s had frequent "at home with..." photos. Scenes of chunky jumper wearing and labrador stroking were rife.
40 years ago, by your early twenties you were expected to be established career-wise and probably very much like a younger version of your dad. You had probably got married, secured a mortgage and started a family. Teenagers were young people whose indiscretions were natural, but by the age of 21 - you really should have sorted yourself out (lad).
George Best was one of the exceptions, which is why he was newsworthy. When Best began to play for Fulham, I remember thinking that it was a bit ridiculous and desperate. Yet he wasn't even 30.
Agreed
And it also manifested itself in other countries. One of the things you note when looking at pictures of Spanish or Italian footballers from the 70s and early 80s is how many of them wore moustaches. It's not just that they looked older, they also aspired to look older. The photo of Beppe Bergomi below is taken from the 1982 World Cup album when he was 19 years old.
He has something of the Billy Connolly about him...
shave the 'tache and...
it's scowling Andy Murray!
gis
a job..
I was thinking more along the lines of
In a comedy Keegan wig
How many teams in this game?
Photos like that
When I see photos like that, I get an indescribable emotional response - a combination of taste, smell, warmth, sadness, happiness inside of me.
nice candidate
for viz "up the arse corner" too
looks like
it was from a Topical Times annual.
The 1979 Morton
team seems to have included the lead singer of Brotherhood Of Man, several porn stars, a fella who once played a baddie on Hill Street blues, a bloke who surely once duetted with Tammy Wynette and a number of haircuts to suggest that the local barber was avoided at all costs by the younger squad members.
One guy's head is so wide the frame can barely accomodate any suggestion of his club shirt, he must have subsisted on deep-fried Mars Bars and those ace pies they sell at Scottish grounds.
bald
one of the problems (aside from the 'chips' problem) was that footballers have always been balder than the average as they can't wear wigs or toupees (due to heading duties). These days this problem is addressed by the shaved all over look, but back in the '70s the comb-over was still king. Hence 20-something athletes with their dads' hairstyles...
3 great comb overs
Top: John Dempsey
Bottom: Ralph Coates
Fantastic shirts though, eh?
well, the top and bottom ones at least...
oh...
...and also, from memory, they were pissed most of the time
A long time ago when Stewart Lee was still funny..
He and Ritchie Herring had their very funny Fist Of Fun show. The bit which never failed to make me near wet myself were the bastardised Panini stickers. A scalpel, a Pritt Stick and a warped sense of humour could produce gems like these, nicked from the Fist Of Fun book.
Dearthur Saundcoxompson!
Christ, a mate and me both had that book as students, and regularly pissed ourselves at that. Brilliant. If I can dig it out, I'll bring it along to the next drink up for a giggle.
And here's the other page
Aston Vest's Dandy Mountfarto is my favourite.
Hee hee
Must make an "I saw Lallaghell Score" t-shirt...
Their favourite drink
was invariably lager and the favourite restaurant for footie players based down south was the one at the top of the telecom tower.