"When you had to play on hard pitches, people came with athletics spikes and sometimes someone would sharpen the spikes, just to hurt you. These things don't happen any more.”
Anders Frisk thinks that television has played a part in cleaning up the game: “I have the feeling that today we are not seeing so many hard footballers because of the cameras – and also because of the punishments.”
Asked to name football's hardest men, Gullit was spoiled for choice. “In those days you had a lot of players that were tough. You had Miguel, for one," he says, recalling the Barcelona player who played a Cup Winners Cup final despite having a broken collar bone.
"Dennis Wise was really tough too," recalled a wincing Gullit. "He was small but he really dug in, had a good sense of humour and was difficult to play against.
“[Daniel] Passarella was hard: he just smashed you in your face when there was a corner kick or whatever. And the funniest one was with Vinnie Jones. He wanted to kick me when I played him and he couldn't kick me – he'd get a red card against me without even hurting me! And I told him, and he was very upset about it!”
Ford's Feel Football programme engages fans in debate with Champions like Jose Mourinho, Anders Frisk, Patrick Vieira and Ruud Gullitat live events around Europe.
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
