Originally Posted by
Dundiggin'
Notwithstanding the previous post, it 'never' rained in Aden. The pitches consisted of hard compressed sand/rock granules and were prepared by the
You could always tell a footballer by the bandages around each elbow and both knees in his vane attempt to heal the infected wounds!!
These 'injuries' could mostly only be healed by spending full time in air conditioning and , if you spent too much time off work could lead to being banned from playing football altogether.
It certainly rained at Sharjah in 1963 and quite literally the desert bloomed, albeit for 24 hours or so. As to sports injuries, any broken limbs meant an automatic return to the UK. Other cuts & grazes meant a dip in the sea every day to clean the wounds and only if things got really serious would SSQ become involved. I remember that ears were a particular problem, cured by the insertion of a "wick" soaked in some evil-smelling concoction and followed by a ban on swimming for a couple of weeks.