Gold from Wikipedia: "Whitehurst's robust style of play attracted much notoriety and he is considered by many to have been the hardest player to have played the game."
I always remember an interview in some kind of kids football magazine, Shoot or Match or suchlike (I was a kid at the time), asking Alan Hansen who his most difficult opponent was. Alan responded something along the lines of "I've played against Maradona, probably the best player to ever play the game, but without doubt the most difficult opponent was Billy Whitehurst." Even as a young kid of less than 10 this made me grin ear to ear.
They both scored, though in that game Hansen never played! I remember Payton killing Gillespie, well nearly...
I've no idea if it's accurate, but I read Billy's reply to that. He said something like, I must have scared him, I've never played against him.
Aye I've read that. I read Hansen's auto biography years ago and it did help inflate Billy's legend. When you read it you realise, and he admits it too, he was an absolute coward inside. He wanted games called off if it was a heavy frost. He hated Phil Neal as he loved a good scrap. Billy was a tough uncompromising player but christ there were loads of them back then.
