8: Colin Hendry, Scotland, PG Tips International Soccer Stars Picture Card Album

Emlyn Shepherdson-Jones heads north of the border to have a look back at the good old days when footballers had proper mullets and could do a job up front and at centre half. This post’s subject earned the nickname Braveheart partly due to his fearless performances for club and country but, more realistically, because he happened to be at his peak around the same time the film came out and had an excellent haircut. Over to Emlyn.

For plenty of people, myself included, their love of football is formed in childhood, and the modern iteration doesn't hold quite the same charm as their first exposure to the beautiful game. I'm sure this was true for people from every era, with innovations from goalie gloves to coloured boots all being surefire signs that 'the game's gone'. For me, early memories of Eric Cantona bamboozling opponents, or the cultured play of Dennis Bergkamp or David Ginola coming up against the grit of Julian Dicks and Neil Ruddock, will always hold more charm than the modern era. It's much harder to get excited by the kind of tippy tapping around an increasing number of defensive players that saw England line up for a game with zero strikers on the pitch. At the risk of sounding like the old man I'm rapidly becoming, I miss the days when a team could win the title with a defence formed almost entirely of alcoholics.

The result of this, combined with Reading's continued languishing in the third division, is that my knowledge of modern top tier football is patchy at best. Each morning, my wife and I will have a cup of tea in bed and do the puzzles in the New York Times and Guardian apps. I've always enjoyed the 'On The Ball' option in the latter, trying to guess the footballer from as few clues as possible - but inevitably have to start with the debut year, knowing that if it's any time within the last decade it's probably a lost cause. Fortunately, one of the recent queries posed in the quiz listed their Premier League debut as 1992, which instantly raised the heart rate. A clue of Blackburn Rovers and a defender gave me a small group to choose from, and the strong memory of a yellow-hued head being arced over by Gazza's liquid football saw me type in Colin Hendry.

Colin Hendry began his career in his home nation of Scotland, lining up as a striker for Dundee for four seasons. A transfer to Blackburn Rovers followed, and with his record of two goals in four years no doubt in mind, he was converted into a central defender, notching up over a hundred appearances. Manchester City of the division above swooped for Hendry in 1989, and he was player of the year in his debut season, but Peter Reid's arrival saw him fall out of favour, and Blackburn took the chance to pick up the Scot as they looked to progress from the Second Division.

This second spell with Blackburn would be truly special, as Blackburn were promoted before winning the Premier League in 1995, with Hendry instrumental in defence while also contributing four goals. He became famed for his blonde mullet, and remained a first choice player throughout his spell, until he took the opportunity to return to his homeland in 1998 after captaining Scotland at the World Cup. Hendry's international career saw him play at two international tournaments, including being the unfortunate victim of Gascoigne's 1996 chip past and controlled volley to secure the group game in England's favour, moments after Scotland had missed a penalty. He finished with 51 caps, with the highlight surely being lining up against the likes of Dunga, Ronaldo and Bebeto as captain at the 1998 World Cup.

Following the World Cup, he joined Rangers, winning the domestic treble in his first season, before falling out with his manager and beginning a nomadic spell in the later years of his career, joining Coventry City, Bolton Wanderers, Preston North End and Blackpool before his retirement in 2003. There were a number of forays into management and coaching, with his former club Blackpool and later as manager of Clyde in Scotland, however these were met with limited success.

Unfortunately, Hendry has had a number of struggles in retirement, including the tragic death of his wife in 2009, a bankruptcy declaration in 2010, drink drive ban in 2015, and two charges for harassment after an ex-partner reported him stalking them after the relationship ended. As Manny wryly pointed out on our WhatsApp group, he probably should have done a better job marking Gazza.

Being remembered primarily for either being bamboozled by Gazza, or for the lustre of his barnet probably isn't the greatest measure of a title winning player who captained his country. Hendry has continued to play in legends games and is fondly remembered by fans of his former sides, and his son continues to enjoy a career in the game, currently playing for Motherwell. The most recent news article I could find was a ringing endorsement for a hair transplant clinic, with Colin having been distraught at the notion of his creeping baldness, and beaming in his photograph following the success of the procedure. Hopefully this will mark the return of a bouncing blonde mullet in future legends games at Ibrox.