WEATHER WARNING: as the temperature drops, the sight of oversensitive footballers in gloves will spread across the country at gale force. Excluding training, in my playing days I refused to wear gloves or long sleeves. I wasn’t even comfortable with a T-shirt under my kit. It made me a laughing stock among my team-mates at Nancy, who played in one of the coldest places in France. But I wasn’t trying to create a hard-man image; it just made me feel I would run faster and work harder if I was wearing less. And I played in the Eighties, when kits were skin-tight and shorts were skimpy.

The old-school British managers I played under wouldn’t let their players wear gloves because it created the wrong impression. In winter your best hope was to put your socks on the dressing-room radiator before the game or go to the physio for a drop of Cognac. At Nancy, I once told a team-mate — a young Algerian — to take his gloves off. He refused, saying that he was afraid an opponent might tread on his hands and it’d be less painful with gloves on.

More players wearing gloves and the greater number of foreign players these days is probably not a coincidence, yet many of them come from far colder places than England. A shiver runs down my spine when I think of a game I played at Sochaux. It was the coldest I’ve ever been. Even so, all the players were fully committed, despite the pitch being as hard as concrete. Snow was a useful team-bonding aid in training. I remember a session we had at Gillingham. We must have been playing in six inches of snow — it was almost impossible to achieve anything meaningful, but it was great fun.

Playing against a centre half in gloves? I loved it. A rugged man-mountain defender with a pair of gloves on? Not so tough after all. I felt it gave me an edge and I would feel confident I could outmuscle him. Though perhaps it doesn’t really make a difference — the Arsenal squad’s love of gloves didn’t stop them winning the title last season. Thierry Henry, socks over his knees: is he keeping his knees warm or being trendy? I notice Mateja Kezman, the Chelsea striker, wears his socks like that. It’s about the only thing he has in common with Henry.

I much preferred playing in warm weather, but Ireland under Jack Charlton were a far better team in the cold. We played Spain in chilly Dublin and Michel, the brilliant midfield player, didn’t want to be there. We were looking at him thinking, “you’re not in the Bernabéu now!” We knew we could win that game.

Let’s face it, footballers are softer these days — I’m sure that Britain’s weather is less severe than it used to be. One day I wonder if a player will run out with a scarf on. Ryan Giggs looked like a ballerina in his leggings the other week. My best advice to a poor, shivering player: forget the accessories and try running around a lot. It’s old-fashioned, but it might just work.

GLOVE STORY

MOST FOOTBALLERS WOULDN’T DREAM of driving inexpensive cars, so why do they settle for basic gloves? A pair of cashmere-lined deerskins would cost a mere £72, while those made of lamb leather with cashmere lining could be acquired for just £6 more. Then there are Forester animal-handling gloves, available for £91 and useful if you are facing Vinnie Jones in a charity match. But why be so gender specific? Since footballers often adopt women’s hairstyles à la Beckham, or — in the case of Keith Weller, John Barnes, Ryan Giggs and others — wear tights, why not invest a couple of hours’ wages in some glamorous Louis Vuitton long gloves, a steal at just £474. At least Jerzy Dudek deviated from the norm when he bought some specially made Teflon gloves. Unfortunately there are few of them about, so the Pole has to lend them to his fellow goalkeepers when he is not playing, as he did generously to Roy Carroll last week, 24 hours after using them himself.

BILL EDGAR

Explore Football

• Premier League

• Football League

• Scotland

• European Football

• International Football

• TheGame

• Live Match Tracker

• The Fink Tank

• Fantasy Football