DE Margrett informed us (You Say, Thursday, August 29) that professional footballers in the early 1960s risked suspension if they "downed half-a-pint of beer during the season".

Half a pint in a season? Tell that to Jimmy Greaves, Norman Hunter and even the late Sir Bobby Moore to name but a few!

Why did the vast majority of clubs have a "players' bar" if such draconian restrictions were enforced?

This is another fine example of Mr Margrett's view of the world through rose-tinted spectacles.

I've been watching top class football for 30 years, and I'm a season ticket holder at a Premier League club (not Aston Villa, WBA or Birmingham City incidentally).

I can assure him that the levels of fitness, professionalism and dedication shown by players today are far higher than they've ever been, and I concur that it certainly should be given the ridiculous salaries some of them are paid.

Clubs today employ not only physiotherapists, but fitness trainers - who have nothing at all to do with football - and even dieticians. Nobody had those in the 1960s. So much for "standards collapsing", as Mr Margrett put it!

Of course, players go drinking and occasionally become involved in trouble.

But, let's face it, most of them aren't exactly rocket scientists, so perhaps it's not really surprising.

The main difference between today and times past is the ubiquitous coverage by the media.

They seem equally as interested in some players' personal lives as they do with their sporting performances.

GARY WEBB,

Bath Road,

Worcester.