When I saw a feature in today’s Daily Telegraph about 1970s football star Kevin Beattie, I experienced a rush of nostalgia. It reminded me of long-ago days collecting football cards featuring stars such as Beattie, Peter Lorimer and Trevor Cherry.

The profile describes the hardships Beattie has suffered since injury forced him to retire from the game aged 27. He suffers from arthritis and is a full-time carer for his wife Maggie, who has multiple sclerosis. "Maggie, bless her, never complains so why should I feel any anger at how life turned out?" he says. The lavishly-paid Arsenal and Chelsea stars who disgraced themselves in the brawl at last weekend’s Carling Cup final in Cardiff could learn a lot from Kevin Beattie’s example.