Ignoring an injury meant Ricky signed for Cloughie
The way football injuries are treated has changed dramatically over the years.
Derby County manager Paul Warne asked midfielder Jason Knight to be honest about the condition of his ankle when he slipped during the warm-up for their midweek Carabao Cup game at Liverpool.
The boss didn’t want his player out for an extended period by playing through the pain barrier.
It was very different when Scottish striker Ricky Marlowe was at the Rams under Brian Clough in the early 1970s.
He recalled: “I was playing against Manchester United for the Derby reserves, and suffered an ankle injury with 20 minutes to go.
“There was no substitute to come on – and no chance of me being allowed to come off.
“I was just told stand about up front and be a nuisance.
“There was a lump the size of my fist on the ankle by the time the game ended.
“I later had to spend more than two hours limping home. Everyone was away by the time I left the Baseball Ground, and I was living on the outskirts of Derby.”
Ricky was signed twice by Clough, and his start as a professional footballer was also influenced by injury.
He went on: “The way my career came about was quite unusual.
“I went to a school in Edinburgh where they played rugby.
“I started playing for an Under-17 juvenile team, Gorgie Hearts, which was run by the brother of Hearts manager Tommy Walker.
“I was selected to play a trial for Scotland schoolboys.
“In the first game I suffered a broken elbow, although I didn’t know it at the time.
“If I’d gone to hospital, I’d have ended up in a stookie and unable to play the second match.
“In that game, I scored a wonder goal and was spotted by scouts from Leeds and Derby.
“I had a short time with Bonnyrigg Rose, then went to Derby County when they were top of the Second Division.
“I was there when they became League Champions under Clough in 1972.”
Despite being with a top team in England, there wasn’t the glamour you associate with today’s Premiership.
Ricky said: “I wasn’t given a proper pair of trainers when I first joined the club.
“Instead, I was given an old pair of football boots with the studs cut off. I had to put them on and go out pounding the streets.
“That led to me having a problem with my Achilles. It would take a while to warm up in winter and be roasting hot in the summer.”
Ricky had a loan spell with Limerick. It was a successful season for him and the big bonus was meeting his wife in Ireland.
He said: “I was on the verge of the first team at Derby when Clough left after a falling-out.
“I was on the bench for Alan Durban’s Testimonial against Nottingham Forest, then Alan bought me for Shrewsbury when he became manager there.”
In July, 1974, Ricky moved to Brighton. He said: “Clough was only at Brighton for a couple of weeks when I signed, and then left for Leeds.
“I didn’t actually meet him for a second time. Peter Taylor, his assistant, stayed on.”
After two seasons with the Seagulls, and a few games on loan at Aldershot, Ricky helped Wimbledon win their third-consecutive Southern League title.
He then moved back to Edinburgh and worked at a variety of jobs.
He coached an amateur side and was asked to again don the Brighton and Hove Albion kit.
An annual charity game was set up to honour Brighton fan Robert Eaton, who lost his life in 2001’s World Trade Centre attack in New York.
Ricky, who was Robert’s favourite player, has been an ever-present in the game.
Now 72, he stays super fit and believes he’ll be pulling on the boots for several years to come.