Golden Vision Alex Young's appeal to solve blister pain
"HAS anyone a cure for blistered feet?"
As first column headlines go, Alex Young's introduction to the Echo in August 1961 was an unusual one.
Still to receive his Golden Vision nickname, Young had moved to Merseyside from Hearts the previous November, and was unveiled as an Echo columnist on the eve of the 1961/62 season.
And his first offering was headlined with that unusual plea to fans.
"Whenever the ground is firm, or anything other than holding, I find that the soles of my feet blister easily and that is what happened last Wednesday (at West Brom)," he wrote.
"My feet had been very sore after the opening match against Aston Villa the previous Saturday, but within half an hour last Wednesday my feet started to cripple me and I could hardly put them to the ground without pain. Blisters formed on both feet and I could hardly run long before the game ended.
"This has happened before in Scotland and although I bathe my feet twice a day in methylated spirit to try to harden them I don't seem to be able to toughen them.
"I have tried all I know to prevent these blisters forming, but so far I have not been successful so if anyone reading this should know of any treatment I could try, please let me know and I'll be eternally grateful."
Predictably Young wasn't short of offers. "I certainly put my foot in it last week," he quipped in his follow-up column.
"For days afterwards each mail at the Echo brought a score or more suggestions on how to get rid of my blisters and I have read so many that it was almost necessary for me to find an eye strain cure this week!"
There was free advice from a foot consultant in Rodney Street, together with almost 100 different suggestions from well meaning readers.
Ex-Servicemen who suffered during their marching days suggested "rubbing ordinary household soap inside football stockings to form a cushion of greasy substance".
Others favoured "paddling in salt water".
Steve Long of Ponsonby Street reminded Alex that Ted Burgin, the former Sheffield United goalkeeper, cured tender skin on his knuckles by 'pickling' them. He "bathed them for one to two hours a day in a bowl of brine and vinegar. After a week Ted's knuckles were bone hard".
Mr T Hunt advised only wearing leather soled shoes, another suggested soaking the feet in paraffin.
How many Young tried is uncertain, but he continued to be plagued by blistered feet throughout his career.
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