With Marc Rizzardo talking about some of his amusing experiences as a team trainer/physiotherapist when on-the-road, instead of his usual monthly column on soccer fitness and the avoidance of injuries, I thought I would pinch hit for him with 4 short stories of injuries in the "Good Old Days" where the level of expertise was not quite as it is today.

The Good Old Days

by Tony Waiters                              

The good old days may have been for some - myself included - but it wasn't all good, particularly if you were injured. 

Treatment systems in those times were based partly on science, but mainly on folklore and witchcraft.

Treatment #1

One of the greatest moments of my career nearly came as a result of an injury.  Playing for Blackpool against Leicester City I came out to catch a high cross, was tipped and spun through 180 degrees in mid-air to land on my head, neck and shoulder.  But I did manage to hold on to the ball! 

On returning to my feet I had lost the use of my left arm.  The later diagnosis was a damaged nerve from the neck to the upper arm.  It was the end of my goalkeeping for that day, but not the end of my involvement in the game. 

In those days there were no substitutes allowed.  So they strapped my arm across my body, put Dave Durie, one of our midfielders in goal, and I played center forward. 

There were 30 minutes to play after my injury.  We were leading 2-0.  Leicester scored to close the lead, but we eventually held on to win 2 - 1. 

10 minutes before the end of the game I received a ball with my back to goal, played it wide to our right winger, Mandy Hill, turned and made for the far post and came into centre to meet Mandy's cross.  It was picture perfect as I headed the ball down and away towards the far corner of the net to eliminate Gordon Banks (later to become World's best goalkeeper). 

Banks was beaten, but Ritchie Norman, recovering towards his own goal, got a knee to the ball and managed to deflect it for a corner. 

It would have been the greatest moment in my career.  I probably would have retired immediately after to bask in the glory of that goal, but it was not to be. 

A few days later I was having treatment for the shoulder/arm injury from our trainer, who for litigation purposes shall remain nameless.  He was using Faradism - the application of an intermittent current of electricity. 

This method used an electronic stimulus to the muscle and nerves to produce a contraction.  At best, it helped maintain the muscle definition and presumably helped regenerate the nerve. 

The strength of the impulse was on a scale of 0-10.  Even though I could not use the arm my muscles were in good shape and the injury recent, so we were getting a strong response at Strength 3. 

The trainer took the electrode off, turned the strength to what he thought was zero, applied a saline solution to my shoulder and re-placed the electrode.  There was such a strong reaction it literally threw me off the treatment table.  In thinking it was at zero our trainer had tuned the strength dial to 10. 

After a week my nerve was back working, but I had acute pains in the back of my shoulder.  In their wisdom the club decided an X-ray might be a good idea.  After all, it was only 7 days after the injury! 

It revealed a fracture to my shoulder blade (scapula).  The doctor had never seen a fractured scapula before and couldn't understand how I could have sustained it.  He obviously did not know our trainer. 

I was out of action for 6 weeks. 

Treatment #2 

Gordon West and I were competing for the goalkeeping spot at Blackpool.  Later he was traded to Everton.  We both ended up playing a handful of games for England. 

Gordon sustained a lower back injury and was being treated by our trainer by means of a heat lamp as he lay naked on the treatment table.

The lamp exploded and Trainer Jack Duckworth spent the next 2-hours picking shards of glass from Gordon's backside with tweezers.  Westy looked as if he has been blasted with a shot gun. 

Treatment #3 

Verdi Godwin, my mentor and great friend, was playing at Grimsby Town.  One of the key players had a knee injury and was being tested by the trainer for mobility and pain. 

After 5 minutes the trainer said, "I've taken you through a full range of movement and you have full mobility and at no time did you flinch because of pain." 

"That's great," said the player. "There's only one problem." 

"What's that?" asked the Trainer. 

"The injury is to the other leg!" 

Boom! Boom! 

Treatment #4 

Liverpool FC in the 70's was - still is - a great place to be.  It was my privilege to be on the coaching staff there for a couple of seasons. 

The treatment room was off limits to manager Bill Shankly.  He felt any player in the treatment room was malingering and letting the team down.  The psychology worked.  You had to be desperate to seek treatment from then trainer, later manager, Bob Paisley. 

Bob had a small, portable "Black Box" that was attached to injured areas for various impulses and heat treatment.  No one quite knew what it did.  Most thought it was some kind of voodoo. 

I can remember as if it was yesterday Emlyn Hughes trying out on a Friday morning before the Saturday game.  He has sustained an ankle injury in the Tuesday mid-week game.  His ankle looked like an elephant's foot.  He had absolutely no chance of playing the next day as he limped painfully through the fitness test. 

But he played the following Saturday! 

The phrase "active recovery" hadn't become a buzz word of rehabilitation methodology then.  Liverpool was ahead of their time - in some respects! 

On one rare occasion Shanks ventured into the treatment room - only because his old war horse and defensive midfielder, Tommy Smith, was being treated there. 

"What's wrong, Son?" was his terse question.

"It's my leg, Boss," Tommy replied 

"Your leg?" spat out Shanks.

"Your leg? That's not you leg, Son!  That's Liverpool's leg." 

And so it was.  We all bought into that at Liverpool FC.