Quote:
Originally Posted by Sir Crispin Lane
I think back then the rules were that a gk could only bounce the ball if he wanted to move with it , allied to the shoulder charge rule which was still in use , then if you were a keeper you probably wanted to get rid of the ball ASAP !
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I'm sure that was certainly part of the thinking - another factor was the forwards generally did not 'track back' and there were 5 of them waiting for the ball probably where you would expect them to be. Especially in wet conditions, if a goalie managed to kick the ball over the half way line, he'd done very well. It was 10 years or so later that the great Kevin Keelan could kick it the whole length of the pitch if he so wished. (The ball had also eveoled at that point.)