Rudolph has said RvP is lucky to be alive after Ashley Williams kicked a ball at his head! Can anyone remember lace-up balls when wet? Read it HERE
How pathetic Fergie is 'One of the worst things I've seen if football for a very long time'. Pffft, the man's a raving bloody lunatic. And yes Dave. I do remember the laced balls. I asked my dad for a proper leather football for my 9th birthday, and he got me one of them. When that ball was wet and you went to head it, it nearly broke your bloody neck
Just saw the video, its never gonna kill him, but Williams does hit it with some force point blank at RVPs head, probably should have been a red.
Didn't former West Brom Striker Jeff Astle die a premature death in part through having to head those heavy old footballs that they used in the 60s? They were as hard as bullets and even harder when they were wet!
Ferguson has just proven beyond all reasoned doubt why he is so hated by so many.. His hypocracy is just simply breath taking! If it had been any other Manager making these absurd and outlandish comments the good old FA would have them on a disrepute charge in no time. I won't be holding my breath over old beetroot head getting the same treatment!
I would imagine if you had an aneurysm then the old leather ball, especially when wet, could do untold harm, but then the cause of death would be the aneurysm, not the ball! This is just old "Rudolph" up to his usual tricks! Will we miss him once he's gone? Yeah, like you'd miss a broken leg!
I thought Rooney's assessment of the incident is level headed and well reasoned so I say well done Wayne! Its a shame your manager couldn't be so intelligent!
Hi Warky bor, Mrs Astle did state that the use of the leather ball contributed to Jeff's death and blamed the FA for allowing it. At the time there was no alternative ball to use. The advent of the plastic coated ball has been one of the best improvements in the game. I knew Jeff well, he was my under 18s coach, bloody perfect gentlemen and was a shock when I heard he had died. How are our country cousins doing ? You are a bit off our radar at the moment but rest assured you aint forgotten !!!
Even the old Mitre Multiplex used to do some damage. The ref always pumped it up so it felt as if Readicrete had filled it up. And as a centre back, you can be sure, the first thing you had to do was head the bloody thing. I spent one night in hospital with concussion after getting a kick to the head and nowadays you could die in hospital from a disease that doesn't exist outside a hospital. You had more chance of dying from the diseases you could pick up from half the pitches you played on. I remember one was on an old council tip and when it rained, the smell came back.
