The RIP Thread

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Jeff said:
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Have to be honest, it's one of those where I assumed he'd been dead for years!

A throwback to the days when a classical musician & composer could be a mainstream celebrity.

These days you need a poncy haircut, a tan & to let a million people watch you doing basically nothing.

If you're also as thick as pigshit that's a big bonus.

Progress.
 
Tommy Smith was the epitome of the old fashioned footballer - for good or ill, Even by the 1970s he was slightly out of date playing like a 1950s fullback. His job was simply to make the opposing left winger ineffective. In this he was helped by referees who were very lax by todays standards.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s players began to go down easily. Leaving aside that it was usually Smith's victims who went down Tommy Smith followed the Shankly dictum "Never let them see they have hurt you"

Tommy Smith would have struggled with modern football even apart from the referees. He did sometimes help his winger but always looked uncomfortable doing so. He was not fast and would lacked the athleticism of todays fullbacks.

On the other hand he had the virtues of the old fashioned footballer. He played for his local club and only moved when age made him no longer able to play for Liverpool. He had a rapport with the fans that came from growing up with them and then living among them.

It seems the last years of his life were sad with knee problems followed by Alzheimars. There is evidence that constant heading of the ball has caused problems in later life. The old time footballs (like old time footballers) were rock hard. It is to be hoped that modern footballs will reduce this problem.
 
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