…there was one player who stood out for me in particular, one Frank Stewart Worthington.
It seems today all you need to do is appear on national television or in the papers and you can become an instant hero. Back in the 1970’s you had to earn it and most kids worshipped footballers in those days and I was no exception.
After moving to Leicester in the early seventies I soon began to support the city, which was helped by the fact that we only lived a few hundred yards from the training ground. (Once you left the house if you ran across the cricket pitch chased by the irate groundsman and vaulted a 6 foot chain link fence you could be sat down watching a training session within five minutes).
There were the likes of Weller, Glover, Shilton, Cross, Whitworth, and company an impressive array of talent, but there was one player who stood out for me in particular, one Frank Stewart Worthington.
He had style, ability and that rock and roll appeal that Best, Bowles, Hudson and Marsh also shared. When training had finished I would race down to the milk float and fetch Franks pint of milk and would get five pence for my troubles, although truth be known I would have done it for free.
He graced the pitch at Filbert Street with enough self-confidence to turn defenders inside out with his trickery. It was during his time at Leicester that he received his England call up, however he was not given an extended run in the side. It was amazing to think that a player with his ability only finished up with eight caps.
I enjoyed five years of watching Frank play and indeed if he hadn’t failed a medical at Liverpool in 1977 he would have gone on to European honours and became a household name.
Players come and go but legends remain with your memories forever. Frank went on to play for Bolton
and scored a famous goal against Ipswich after receiving the ball with his back to goal, he lobbed it over a defender’s head before volleying into the net.
After a short spell as player manager at Tranmere Rovers Frank
