West Ham United legend Julian Dicks admits he can pinpoint the moment he started to put more aggression into his game. It came when he was just 12 years old playing for his local Sunday league side.
After starting his career at Birmingham City, Dicks went on to enjoy a decade-long association as a player with the Hammers either side of a year at Liverpool, where he was named the Club’s Player of the Year four times.
Dicks became known as something of a hothead during his playing career with a no-nonsense approach to defending, coining the nickname The Terminator.
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Despite that, Dicks would only receive one Premier League red card during his successful career, and admitted to FourFourTwo he was quite different as a youngster, and certainly not the tough-tackling defender he became well known as.
“Not at all. As a young player, I was a skinny little thing – six stone, wringing wet,” Dicks recalled. “When I was about 12, I was playing for my Sunday side and some kid stamped on my hand and it came up like a golf ball. I said to my dad, “I'm hurt, I’m coming off,” and he went, “No you're not, son – you get back on there and sort it out”.
“That always stuck in my head. I didn’t become aggressive, but I started looking after myself. When I was 14, I signed for Birmingham and later played alongside the likes of Mick Harford, Tony Coton and Mark Dennis. They used to kick the s**t out of me in training. That was my education.”
Somewhat aptly, Dicks’ testimonial against Athletic Bilbao was marred by a 17-man brawl, "I f**king loved it. What a fitting end to my career," he told us. Dicks returned to playing briefly with non-league side Canvey Island in 2001, where he was part of the club’s famous FA Cup run which saw them knock out league sides such as Wigan Athletic and Northampton Town.
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