Billy practised headers with a spongy helmet!
the coronavirus crisis means footballers can’t train together.
Managers always hope to improve individuals by working with them in a group situation.
Billy Collings found his career took a slightly different turn in March, 1960, when a new man started coaching him.
Morton boss Jimmy Mcintosh was asked to resign after a run of poor results and club chairman, John S. Thomson, took over the team.
That led to Billy being moved further up the pitch – after some training sessions with a difference.
His first game as a centre- forward saw him score twice in a 5-2 win over Cowdenbeath.
It meant the Greenock side had scored 14 goals in two matches with the chairman in charge.
The first game, however, was a 9- 0 victory over Babcock & Wilcox in the Renfrewshire Cup.
Billy recalled: “John Thomson was the main Ford motor dealer in Greenock.
“I remember going to his house when I signed for Morton from Vale of Clyde, and he pointed out his boat in the marina.
“I was an inside- forward but he tried to convert me into a centre-forward.
“He got players to keep crossing the ball into the penalty area for me to head them at goal.
“But he was obviously concerned about the damage it might do to me.
“So he asked me to wear a helmet, with a big sponge on it, for the heading practice.
“I only thought about that years later when I saw some former players having problems that could have come from heading a heavy ball.
“Another thing he did was have us run about with antennas on our back.
“They were linked to an earpiece, allowing him to watch from the stand and send us instructions from a radio.”
The techniques were well ahead of their time but Morton still finished as Scotland’s bottom side.
Billy was on the move after three years in Greenock, where he also worked.
He said: “I was a brickie in the shipyards, building a dry dock.
“I would leave my home in Glasgow’s Parkhead at half-past-six in the morning.
“I’d hear the Auchenshuggle tram car coming down London Road and set off.
“I’d do a day’s work and then walk along the railway line to go training.
“By the time I got home, there was only time for something to eat and then go to bed. I can’t see players doing that now.
“I had a spell with Dumbarton, and then Jimmy Mcintosh, my old Morton manager, took me to Berwick Rangers.
“That lasted for a season but I got fed up of the travelling and gave up football.
“Then I was playing snooker one night when the new manager of Cambuslang Rangers persuaded me to join them.
“I rediscovered my enthusiasm for the game and was capped by Scotland at junior level.”
Billy then went senior again with Queen of the South and became a real favourite during his six years at Palmerston.
It was a move that was nearly scrapped before he kicked a ball for the Doonhamers.
Billy recalled: “Queens’ manager George Farm was keen to sign me, but I told him I’d had a bellyful of part-time football.
“He told me I’d get a full- time contract as long as they stayed in the First Division.
“I signed the deal and was allowed to stay at Cambuslang because we were still in the cup.
“But I watched the results every week, and saw Queens heading for relegation.
“I asked for a free but that was refused. “Allan Ball had just started playing as goalkeeper and we became great friends.
“I travelled up and down to Dumfries from Glasgow and then decided to relocate.
“I got the chance to work in a car dealership and ended up becoming managing director.”
Billy, now 79, also played more than 100 games for Stranraer, giving them the lead against Celtic in the Hoops’ first- ever visit to Stair Park.