Vic took on the defender and woke up in hospital
Getting injured in a trial game with a new club is really unlucky.
That seemed to have scuppered the chances of Vic Rickis becoming a professional footballer with Millwall.
But the London club stuck by the Scottish winger, and offered him a contract.
That led to him making his first-team debut exactly 60 years ago.
Vic hit the net in a 4-1 win over Chester City, but got hurt again and ended up on the sidelines once more.
Vic eventually decided that rugby was the sport for him – it proved to be less painful.
He recalled: “I was playing for Dalkeith Thistle, and there was a suggestion that Celtic were watching me.
“I had been hoping that Hibs would come in with an offer, but that never happened.
“A Millwall scout spotted me and I was invited down to London for a trial match.
“Just a couple of minutes into the game against Portsmouth, I tried to cut the ball back and their centre-half nudged me off the pitch.
“I smacked my head on the trackside wall and was stretchered off.
“Apparently I was adamant I wanted to get up and go back on the pitch, so they gave me a jag and I woke up in a hospital bed.
“The manager, Reggie Smith, signed me on the basis of that brief appearance.
“I made my league debut at the age of 19 in September, 1960 and scored against Chester.
“But I got injured and was out for a month when a full-back clogged my left ankle.”
It wasn’t just on the pitch where Vic was leading a dangerous existence.
He went on: “Millwall allowed me to go home to Edinburgh, and I travelled with my team-mate, Alan Anderson, who later played for Hearts.
“It was the first time I’d been on an aeroplane, and I had to ask Alan if we were supposed to land on grass.
“As I know now, that wasn’t supposed to happen. We went careering away from the runway and the nose of the plane ended up in the ground.
“The only injury was to a passenger who jumped off the wing as we got out and broke his ankle.
“I was always a good flyer after that. I figured that being in a plane crash was probably a one-in-a-million occurrence and I’d had mine.”
It wasn’t all glamour in the bright lights of London for this young footballer.
He said: “My first night in London was spent sharing a three-quarter-size bed with Alan Anderson. It wasn’t the most comfortable experience.
“The next night I said: ‘Alan, I think I’ll just sleep on the floor’.
“We played together in a League Cup tie against Chelsea when we got beaten 7-1.
“It was still a good experience. They had Jimmy Greaves, Terry Venables and Bobby Evans in their side.
“I left the club when Ron Gray took over as manager and seemed to take a dislike to me.”
Vic became a bit disillusioned with football after a spell with Alloa, got a job in insurance and started kicking a different shape of ball.
He said: “Some pals were playing rugby for Holy Cross Academy FPS and I gave it a go.
“I really enjoyed it. I played again in my forties for a veterans’ team, and we played games all over the world.”
There was another game of football that proved memorable for Vic.
He said: “It was a game for Edinburgh’s student charity week, and I was asked if I fancied playing with Hibs’ Famous Five.
“The SFA wouldn’t let Willie Ormond and Eddie Turnbull play because they had coaching places. Bobby Johnstone couldn’t make it from England and Lawrie Reilly was ill.
“But I got to play as inside forward to the great Gordon Smith. He was a god to me.
“I scored past Jess Conrad in a showbiz XI team goal from one of Gordon Smith’s crosses.”