05 Mar 2026 14:33:57
I think ' the crazy gang ' would batter LFC and Arsenal. Macca would fall ground just looking at Vinnie Jones'menacing face.
05 Mar 2026 15:18:56
Vinnie Jones was no hard man. Imagine how frustrating it must have been as a teammate of his, watching him get sent off in under a minute.
05 Mar 2026 15:47:59
Jones was a pretend hardman. He was terrified of Steve McMahon.
05 Mar 2026 17:05:41
I'd like to see an AI simulation of a Billy Bremner Leeds side playing any current PL side. At any given moment, there would be 5-6 players on the ground, looking and sounding as though they'd been cut down in combat. It wouldn't be much of a football match.
05 Mar 2026 17:31:50
I got this from an ex Wimbledon player, who joined them after their FA Cup win over us.
Quote, it wasn't Vinny people were scared of, it was Dennis Wise. I asked how come, reply, DW's uncle (allegedly) was an armed robber.
Useless fact, my LFC-mad cousin was on Wimbledon books (youth) at the time, he has a picture of him holding the cup.
05 Mar 2026 17:34:40
Kew, I saw a recent clip of Vinnie Jones about who he deemed as "hard" or "not hard." I think he said Roy Keane was in the latter camp. He said Dennis Wise was the one he was most scared of. lol.
05 Mar 2026 17:51:26
Jimmy Case. Hard as nails.
05 Mar 2026 18:11:05
Rome - All teams back in those days had players who could dish it out & take it.
I had the pleasure of seeing Norman Hunter as a young kid down at Ashton Gate for Bristol City. He still had a wand of a left foot, but he was as tough as teak. If Norman didn't get you, Gerry Gow would!
05 Mar 2026 18:18:56
Tommy Smith would have left today's players looking like a seal cull.
It's a long list though. Souness, Case, McMahon etc.
Money and greed have killed the game I grew up watching and playing.
It's a great shame that sportsmanship is seen as a weakness in the modern game too.
05 Mar 2026 18:23:16
Bristol, I'd forgotten that Hunter played for Bristol after Leeds. And Gerry Gow, I remember watching him. A Bristol City legend. Happy days for you, they must've been.
05 Mar 2026 18:36:12
Rome - only 4 seasons in the top flight, and 3 of the 4 were a struggle, but the opportunity to see top flight football was great for a young kid - I also got the chance to see the mighty Reds a few times at Ashton Gate & my youth football team managed to get a few trips to Anfield.
Brilliant memories!
05 Mar 2026 18:48:15
Bristol, I remember watching Bristol City at the Albion when I was a kid, and City were struggling. Alan Dicks was the manager, and I remember City fans singing "Dicks out!" It amused me as a kid, and my sense of humour hasn't changed!
05 Mar 2026 18:59:07
Rome, that's a funny memory you've shared.
05 Mar 2026 18:59:28
The "Mitchell brothers" would batter them all at the same time!!
05 Mar 2026 19:09:53
Always came off second best against the Albion, Rome.
Big Cyril used to give Gary Collier a proper going over!
I'm not sure about the other oldies on here, but I'm glad I managed to see those great teams & players from the First Division & Second Division!
The very top sides weren't paralysed by the fear of not qualifying for the CL, so they had the chance to build squads without the financial stress & implications of not getting a CL spot!
The Cup Winners' Cup was a great comp and the UEFA Cup most seasons was collectively stronger than the actual European Cup!
The only thing that's not changed is the Gooners never won anything in Europe back then either!
05 Mar 2026 19:26:20
We're of a similar generation, Bristol. I'd love to experience those days again. I'm beginning to sound like an old man, I know, and I am an old man! There were dark days as well. I haven't got rose tinted glasses on, but the positives far outweighed the negatives when it came to football.
Anyway, it's almost passed my bedtime!
05 Mar 2026 19:30:54
Tommy Smith, Jimmy Case, Graeme Souness & Stevie McMahon would make mincemeat outta the lot of them.
05 Mar 2026 20:05:33
It was a different game back in the 60's. It was a physical contest as well as a game of footy. The game had a high percentage of hard men, not just the ones who tend to get a name check. The entire Leeds team (late 60's, early 70's) were hard. If you wanted to play football, they'd play football; if you wanted to 'get stuck in', they would be more than happy to oblige. Like I say, though, most teams were happy to get stuck in.
The best player I've ever seen live was George Best (who was also happy to mix it). He played on crap, muddy pitches, pitches covered in snow, with the old orange footballs, and had opponents who were deliberately tasked with taking him out. Hardly anybody got near him. We talk about Mo being a legend, and in the context of the game today he is. I'm not so sure he (or Mac A) would have lasted very long in the old style game.
05 Mar 2026 20:11:07
Stevie G is the hardest of the modern era players. have stated that if you had the ball and he was on you, panic would set in.
05 Mar 2026 20:47:33
Imagine the likes of Stevie now going up for a "header" against Fellaini. Bang. Take that.
05 Mar 2026 21:21:44
Mick Hartford - he was a hard man.
06 Mar 2026 07:20:27
Any of those LFC players sporting a full moustache was indeed as hard as iron.