The meaning of ” leading the line” is another facet of the game that’s changed over the years. Tony Hateley, Jeff Astle and even Steve Torpey led the line by winning 90% of headers they went up for with most centre backs, held the ball up by being physically stronger than most centre backs and being very aggressive physically against most centre backs they came up against. When they got fouled and went down, 90% of the time they had been genuinely fouled. Mr Whitehall doesn’t win many headers by comparison against most centre backs he plays against, usually wins the odd header late on when the semi professional sides are tiring, rarely holds the ball up and falls down seeking many fouls when he has barely or not even touched. He would not last 10 minutes as a frontman 15 years ago indeed I don’t think he is a genuine leader of the line, the guy up front for Southport is and the guy up front for Solihull is, Whitehall is nothing like them IMO but he’s a good shouter at refs and likes taking pens to make his scoring record look impressive. Freddie Mercury was a better frontman than Danny O Fanny but it’s only my opinion.
