Even before transfer fees became larger than the GDP of small nations, it was common, if not a normality, for footballers to play for multiples clubs. And they did so for the same reasons that persist today; better pay, longer contracts, change of scenery, trophies.
Even legends synonymous with one club donned another jersey. Bobby Charlton played one season for Preston North End, Dixie Dean played for Notts County after Everton. So when you find a player with a single team on their CV, you know that person is a truly special figure for that certain club.
For Brian Little, that club was Aston Villa, a club he played for and managed, and continues to have an association with 50 years later. But his legacy as an Aston Villa icon might have changed had a failed medical not changed history.
"I was nearly transferred once," Little told Tribalfootball.com. "(Aston Villa manager) Ron Saunders and I didn't get along the best. I learned to respect him as a I got older but we really did fall out an awful lot. When Trevor Francis became the first million pound player, Birmingham actually agreed a fee of £650,000 for me, which would have made me the second highest transferr in the world. I talked with Birmingham and nearly signed for them, but I failed my medical.
"Nowadays it relieves a little bit of pain because if I had of played for Birmingham things would not have been the same as they are today. I became a bit of a hero at Villa because Birmingham offered me such an incredible contract and when I came back I told all the lads what I was offered and we all went down and banged on Ron Saunders' door and got a pay rise!"
Little's journey from a humble apprentice at Villa to eventual club legend is recorded in his fascinating autobiography, Brian Little: A Little is Enough.
After making his first-team debut as a 17-year-old in 1971, Little was part of the Villa side that climbed from the Third Division to the First Division. In the 1974/95 season, in which Villa sealed their return to the top-flight, Little led the charge with 20 goals.
Little's lasting legacy as a Villa player is reflected in the League Cup final victories in 1975 and 1977, under the leadership of famous manager Ron Saunders, who sadly passed away earlier this month.
A knee injury tragically ended Little's playing career at the age of 28, meaning he just missed out on Villa winning the First Division title in 1980/81 and European Cup in 1982.
There has been plenty of debate about who was the best team of that decorated era at Villa, but Little says there was only one team every player wanted to be part of.
"I think Ron's team progressed each era. The 1975 team, which won promotion back to the First Division, I was part of that team, the 1977 team was a progression of that by many standards. I think the League and European Cup winning side were another progression of that.
"I don't think you can define individuals. There are individuals in the 1975 team, the 1977 team that were every bit a match for the players in the 1981 side. But the whole group was a progression, there were similar players but it all moulded together better. The lads who won the league and European Cup are my heroes to be honest."
After retirement, Little would take charge of 902 matches in his management career with multiples clubs, including Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leicester City.
But it was his spell at spiritual home Villa Park where Little solidified his reputation as a talented manager, following a League Cup final win and fourth-place Premier League finish in the 1995/96 season.
And he says his combination of experience and youth, with the likes of Andy Townsend and Gareth Southgate, was an effort to emulate the great sides of his former mentor Saunders.
"He was ahead of his time, Ron Saunders. When I became a football manager I realised how good he was and I tried to emulate a Ron Saunders team when I went into management. My 1995/96 League Cup winning side that finished fourth in the Premier League was me trying to mirror a Ron Saunders' team. I looked at individuals and tried to match them players who played the same type of way as Ron played. My captain, midfield player Andy Townsend was Dennis Mortimer. My Ian Taylor was a Des Bremner. My Mark Draper was a Gordon Cowans. My Yorke and Milosevic were Shaw and Withe."
And with a tinge of what might've been, Little explains why that great side was unable to go to the next level, although it is a still squad that makes current Villa manager Dean Smith a tad envious.
"The way the Premier League was progressing then, you genuinely needed a bigger squad and bigger squad rotation. That would have been the important thing. Back then the game was starting to bring the fitness coaches in, the analysts in. The players were becoming more athletic. That team was a great team, but that team also needed to rest more. My next progression would've been to have a bigger squad of equal type players. But the team itself was brilliant. I speak to Dean Smith occasionally, 'Dont' forget I only had McGrath, Ehiogu and Southgate as centre-halves', and he goes 'Crikey! Wow if we could find them today.' And it was, they were incredible players."
Over the last four years Little has worked in an unofficial role at Villa, although he states reports he serves in an official advisory role are wide of the mark. And the 60-year-old is certainly proud to still be where it all started.
"Overall it is just great to be involved. It's been 50 years, I joined Aston Villa in 1969 as a 15-year-old kid. If someone had said to me then in 50 years time you'd still be there I'd never have believed them. But I still get the buzz, every day I go in I still get as excited as I did back then."
If you'd like to purchase Brian Little: A Little is Enough, please click here.
