THE VIEW FROM THE STANDS
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PLAY ON, REF
I know this has been discussed a lot, but football’s gone a bit soft, right? If there was ever any proof, it 323]. As much as that Everton-Leeds game in 1964 sounded brutal, I loved Derek Temple’s description of Bobby Collins as “one of the best players around... but he’d kick his own gran if it made him a few bob.” I’m not saying that I was anywhere near as ‘committed’ as Collins, but I remember one or two slide tackles I made as a 12-year-old girl – perfectly taking the ball, player, a stray dog and passing car. OK, the two-footed jump into Derek sounded like a challenge and a half even for ’60s standards, but I feel that match does highlight the huge changes in our game since then. I’m all for fair play and not baying for violence, but football’s a contact sport. Sometimes it seems like the game’s become an overly sanitised whistle-fest.
