You think he’s dirty? Compared to Julian Dicks he’s a princess! When I played I was known for my late tackles. Like when they were in the car park going home!
At school, late primary and early to mid secondary, late childhood, early to mid teens - Other Brother was a tidy, skillful, footballer, and a dapper and elegant (and successful) striker.
As it happened, my mother had been sports captain at her "high class boarding academy for young ladies", she excelled at tennis, and table tennis, team sports, (and later, golf) during & immediately after WW2, and had played table tennis for several years at just under international level in the 1950s, so some sporting genes existed in the family.
However, he was also small, and slim, and physically, was something of a late developer; so, his bigger, stronger, less skilful, and sturdier opponents eventually cottoned on to the fact that the best way to stop him - he loathed physical aggression - was a bit of professional fouling.
Eventually, (and it didn't take terribly long) he came to the realisation that scoring goals - and securing victory - was not worth the cost in bruises, sore ankles, and the pain of being thumped, pushed, kicked and knocked over by sturdier and stronger lads intent on proving their masculinity by stopping a small, slim, skilful striker (who yes, he did enjoy taunting them when he scored) by whatever means it took.
My mother (given her own successful sporting background) was surprisingly supportive of his decision to remove himself from being a target on the football field; besides, to be candid, she was more concerned about academic performance than sporting prowess.
