Beards are back! It's emo Everton vs. smoothie Sunderland
The natural state of man, and therefore footballers, is to be bearded.
But the global daily assault by razors (with up to and including five blades) indicates that there are few western cultures where a hairy lower face is desirable.
And so, from a high water mark in the mid-‘70s, beards have disappeared from the face of British football. We’re not talking about a bit of lazy Wayne Rooney stubble here, but a proper beard. Months of growth, preferably with the same diameter as a piece of 13 amp fuse wire.
A Trevor Hockey. A Frank Lampard. A Derek Hales… Proper beards, for proper blokes.
And yet it wasn’t always easy for Beardies. In 1976 Sunderland boss Bob Stokoe told his striker Roy Greenwood that he couldn’t be in the pre-season team photo because he had a beard.
Greenwood hit back: “I don’t care what the manager says. I keep it trimmed and I think it suits me.”
Ignore him Roy. He’s a beardist.
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