Norman Deeley is the man accused by Dave Whelan of breaking his leg in the 1960 FA Cup final when Blackburn Rovers were soundly beaten by Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Whelan never fully recovered from the injury sustained by a 50/50 tackle during the one-sided affair that became to be known as 'the dustbin final'. Deeley, now deceased, was 5ft 4ins and eight stone at the time; one of the smallest players ever to play in the football league.
Deeley, and his fellow team mates, had always denied any malice towards Whelan, and the incident was deemed to be purely accidental. This became common knowledge throughout the game, and no hard feelings were ever made known in the years that followed.
Whelan must have held a secret grudge that was only made public after the release of his autobiography a few years back. In it, he openly accused Deeley of deliberately breaking his leg.
I have the match on DVD, and the challenge was almost an afterthought - neither clumsy, nor malicious.
The 'dustbin final', the term thought to have originated in East Lancashire, was sadly appropriate at the time: the Rovers fans threw rotten fruit at the victorious Wolves team as they made their way towards the tunnel. Poor losers, or what?
Trivia on a windy Wednesday afternoon.
Make your own minds up: watch the footage on Youtube.
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