Former Aberdeen and Arsenal footballer Willie Young dies aged 73

Former Aberdeen and Arsenal defender Willie Young has died on the age of 73.

Young performed over 180 video games for the Dons earlier than profitable the FA Cup with the Gunners in 1979.

He is maybe finest remembered for forcing a change to the principles of the sport and the creation of a “professional foul” after his sort out on West Ham ahead Paul Allen within the competitors's 1980 closing.

In a press release, Arsenal mentioned that his “physical ability and commitment have made him an iconic figure among the club's supporters”.

He added: “Reliable, effective in the air and fearless, his immense contribution over a successful period means he will always be remembered by those who saw his huge frame smother attacks and devastate opposition defenses at set pieces.”

Posting on Twitter, Aberdeen mentioned the membership was “saddened” to study of his passing.

Born in Edinburgh, Young grew up within the village of Heriot in Midlothian and commenced his profession at Aberdeen within the Nineteen Seventies.

He spent 5 years on the membership earlier than becoming a member of Tottenham Hotspur in 1975.

He made a controversial transfer from North London to Arsenal two years later, linking up together with his former supervisor Terry Neill at Spurs.

With his large 6 ft 3 in body and trademark ginger hair, he fashioned a robust defensive partnership with Irish middle again David O'Leary, reaching three consecutive FA Cup finals between 1978 and 1980.

He earned a winner's medal within the 3–2 defeat of Manchester United within the 1979 “five-minute final”.

But the next 12 months, in a 1–0 defeat to West Ham, he defeated the then 17-year-old Allan, etching his identify into the historical past of the sport.

With the ahead heading in the direction of aim within the closing phases, Young cynically introduced him down on the sting of the realm, virtually saving a sure aim.

He acquired a yellow card for this incident, but it surely sparked a nationwide debate on the necessity for a particular legislation governing skilled foul play.

Automatic crimson playing cards for “denial of a clear goalscoring opportunity” had been launched two years later.

Young additionally performed in Arsenal's 1980 Cup Winners' Cup Final defeat to Valencia in Brussels.

Despite his success at membership stage, Young by no means appeared as a senior participant for Scotland attributable to a lifetime ban following an altercation in a Danish nightclub.

The “Copenhagen Five,” Young, Joe Harper, Arthur Graham, Billy Bremner, and Pat McCluskey, had been all ostracized from the nationwide system due to this incident.

Harper and Graham had been later reinstated after being cleared of any wrongdoing however Young was by no means allowed to put on the darkish blue jersey.

He left Arsenal in 1981 after 237 appearances and joined Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest.

Young retired attributable to accidents in 1984 after quick spells at Norwich City, Brighton & Hove Albion and Darlington.