Leigh Jenkinson will always be remembered and revered in Perth for the double shuffles that befuddled many a Scottish right-back.
Those and the two free-kicks he scored in St Johnstone’s New Year’s Day 7-2 hammering of Dundee.
Jenkinson was a First Division title winner with Saints, played in the English top flight with Coventry City and got a call-up for Wales.
With a ball at his feet he was a throwback left winger.
And, without one, he could run very fast.
It’s the 30th anniversary of the day Jenkinson was part of an iconic Wembley occasion – the 1992 Rumbelows Sprint Challenge.
The concept of professional footballers taking part in regional trials and then a final at the national stadium to discover who was the fastest in the country over 100 metres doesn’t fit with the super-slick branding of the game down south these days.
Changed days
But the Premier League, Andy Gray’s tactics board punditry, cheerleaders and wall-to-wall live action were still a few months away and pre-cup final entertainment had a more authentic charm to it.
Just discovered there was something called the Rumbelows Sprint Challenge where fans turned up to watch the fastest top-flight players race the 100m in full kit and football boots at Wembley. Magnificent. pic.twitter.com/bpaal1SzP2
— Differently Dave (@GoldenVision90) July 12, 2020
What’s not to love about eight not particularly well-paid players running as fast as they can in full kit and boots (shin-pads optional) at the side of the pitch as a brass band waited patiently in the centre-circle and Nottingham Forest and Manchester United players tried to find enough grass to warm-up?
Saint and Greavsie giving it the big build-up.
Celebrity bookmaker John McCririck explaining the odds.
Steve Cram joining Alan Parry in the commentary box to talk the viewers through the race.
And Gary Lineker and Jack Charlton finding the whole ‘do we treat this seriously or not’ thing wonderfully awkward after it (Des Walker would have won had he not had the misfortune of his team being in the actual cup final seemed to be the gist).
Jenkinson had earned his spot by finishing second in his regional heat at Sheffield’s Don Valley Stadium, then winning the north east final (with another future Saint, then 18-year-old Sunderland striker Craig Russell among those trailing in his wake).
And 12.1 seconds was all it took him. On grass.
It was a different story at Wembley, though.
Jenkinson should have been happy with his wide left lane but he crossed the finishing line last out of the eight and Swansea’s John Williams took the plaudits and the £10,000 cheque.
Had John Blackley and Paul Sturrock been yelling at him, he’d surely have won.
