Source: Liverpool_Echo
Merseyside hardmen: Liverpool FC legend Jimmy was a hard Case but no head case
Jimmy Case 300[LNB]Merseyside's hardest footballers - part two[LNB]JAMES ROBERT CASE is remembered on Merseyside for a number of reasons. They vary greatly depending on which side of Stanley Park your loyalties lie.[LNB]Those of a Red persuasion would suggest his middle name should have been 'hard'. Blues would probably prefer 'head'.[LNB]While Liverpool fans will instantly recall his high work ethic and goals against FC Bruges in the 1976 UEFA Cup final and then Manchester United at Wembley a year later, Evertonians have a dimmer view of Jimmy Case.[LNB]They never forgot his tackle on Geoff Nulty in the 1980 Merseyside derby that ended his career and persisted in reminding Case of his part in the incident when he returned to Goodison Park as a Brighton and Southampton player years later.[LNB]Whatever their opinion of him, however, both sets of supporters would agree that Case was no shrinking violet when it came to more physical side of the game.[LNB]With a no-nonsense attitude, he was renowned for his ferocious tackling as much as his fierce shooting.[LNB]Diminutive in stature but hard to the bone, Case developed his rugged edge from an early age when he had little choice but to prove size didn't matter.[LNB]'I suppose the edge to my game, if you want to call it that, stemmed from being a small kid,' he explains.[LNB]'When I was eight I was one of the smallest kids in my school.[LNB]'But I was never frightened of getting stuck in to the bigger lads.[LNB]'It was something I carried all the way through my career.'[LNB]Case joined his beloved Reds from non-league South Liverpool.
