SCIENTISTS believe they have discovered one of the secrets behind the match-winning performances leading footballers.
They have exceptional peripheral vision and awareness that helps them to see sideways across the whole pitch as they run forward.
Wayne Rooney, for example, is among an increasing number of top-class players now receiving special coaching to develop and refine their visual talent.
United, Tottenham Hotspur and other Premiership clubs have hired ophthalmologists to help their players score goals.
The drive to improve eyeball skills follows the success of Sir Clive Woodward who took a visual coach to Australia last year to help the England team win the rugby World Cup.
Bobby Moore, ex-Fulham and captain of England’s 1966 World Cup winning team, is now recognised as the first player to have had exceptional peripheral awareness. When he was a 13-year-old schoolboy he was coached by Malcolm Allison, the future Manchester City manager, who insisted that he should know at every instant of a match what he should do if the ball came to him. This was directly related to an awareness of the position of other players on the pitch.
Ron Greenwood, Moore’s manager at West Ham, would blow his whistle during a practice match and Moore would be the only player to know exactly where everyone was.
Players are now being taught to improve their own widescreen vision by standing directly in front of boards of electronic lights 5ft high and 4ft wide. Each time a red flashes they have to touch it to show they can see it out of the corner of their eye.
Geraint Griffiths, who is chairman of the Sports Vision Association, said: “Visual performance is the single most important consideration in preparation for competitive sport. It is more important than weight, diet and how much you sleep.”