The news about Alex Cropley, that dynamic Villa midfielder of the late '70s, is indeed very sad. Yet another serious football-related condition it would appear, adding to the ever-increasing list of sufferers. And the issue seems to have developed in Rugby Union, too, where the obvious solution is to ban scrums, as they have been in Rugby League.
One thing that I did not know about Cropley was that he broke the same leg on three occasions before he came to Villa, and when he suffered a fourth break that spelt the end of his short career at Villa Park. But what a formidable tiger of a player he was. Villa fans loved him.
Although we heard of great footballing competitors like Dennis Law and Tommy Smith suffering serious long-term body ailments, those conditions were almost considered as just an accepted outcome of football, but now the matter has got to an understanding that everyday mental functions can be impaired, it brings on a touch of deep sadness.
We were all so innocent about contact sports, were we not, back in the 'old days', and contact by body or head was all part of the physicality which we loved - and love. But the long-term effects are all too sad.
Oh, by the way, Villa's great centre-half of the 1890s, Jimmy Cowan, regarded footie as being just footie - he refused to head the ball, although perhaps he did when he had no other choice.
For me, I seriously question the future of football now, with not only that very sad on-going news but also the farce of VAR in the way it is being applied and is now so clever it can't pick up a ball that has gone out of play (West Ham v Man U last week-end) before swerving back in and allowing a goal to be scored.
I also seriously question how the game still fails to pick up seriously bad tackles like that on Virgil van Dijk earlier in the season, where - in my view - the Everton 'keeper was quite reckless in coming out to ensure that van Dijk would be stopped. And we all remember the hatchet-job done on Wesley last season.
This is all in addition to the farce of the length of time being taken now to determine whether an offside has taken place,
Sport is sport, and the old distinction between amateur and professional is now very blurred. But for me I think the real future lies in non-contact sports such as tennis, badminton and golf, in which I have to say I found far more participatory enjoyment, despite my deep allegiance to Aston Villa from boyhood and family tradition. The first two sports named can be very physically demanding, too.
Importantly, the non-contact sports, in my view, help more to generate real understanding between people, for what we have witnessed particularly in the last 50 years and more, is a violent antipathy between supporters of rival clubs which is just plain unhealthy and did not exist before the 1960s, apart from small pockets of fans. You do not (except perhaps rarely) get any of that in rugby, let alone the non-contact sports.
Further, though football has always had a number of 'hard men' (old fans will remember the likes of 'Chopper' Harris), they were the exception. Today, the snidey clipping of ankles and bumping from behind that are commonplace now, and so-called shoulder charges without use of shoulders, do - in my view - threaten the integrity of the sport.
Understanding between peoples is the goal of the future, not antipathy nor snidey play, if the world is to have a chance of surviving the mammoth problems that have particularly engulfed us in the decades since 2000.
Although football has played a great part in creating understanding in the past and probably will continue to have a role in the future, I think footie is in danger of becoming a dinosaur in this ever-changing world - but how is footie to adapt, I ask. I ask because I do think that we have now become more consciously aware of the drawbacks and money-orientated nature of this often lovely contact sport which will necessitate a serious change in the nature of the game in the future that is upon us on this planet. Can we ignore these drawbacks as 'something for them to sort out'?
That view may not be acceptable for many, but I foresee that forthcoming circumstances will force us all to take a view on this.
Fortunately, Aston Villa as a football club has, for the most part, always stood up for fairness and high standards, and has been a credit to the game in that regard.
Anyhow, that's just a thought to dwell on, but please don't think we have a lot of time in which to choose!
For a deeper exploration about the need for change in the world, please click here.
Despite all - UTV!
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