A study: What ages a person more – Football or Politics?

Kenny Dalglish recently took over at Liverpool

Soon after Barack Obama’s victory in the US Presidential race, there appeared to be physical signs that the job was ageing him.

It was the same during Tony Blair’s 10 year spell as Prime Minister. “Look at how the pressure of running the country has made him turn grey!” we would exclaim.

Yet, is running a country as stressful as running a football club? Kenny Dalglish’s post match interview, following Liverpool’s entertaining 2-2 draw with Everton, appears to show a man who has aged 10 years in little over a week.

Here’s a video of Dalglish on taking over at Anfield last weekend (click here)… And here’s one of him a week (plus two defeats and a draw) later (click here).

With the scientific credentials of Mystic Meg, I present a quick study on how politics and football age a person. I leave it to you to decide which line of work takes the greatest toll…

Tony Blair: Pictured here in 1997, the year he became Prime Minister, and in 2007, the year he stood down. In the intervening years he did quite a bit, perhaps most notably, taking Britain to war with Iraq.

Kevin Keegan: Pictured in 1992, the year he took his first steps into management, and in 2000, the year he resigned as England manager. In the intervening years he did quite a bit, perhaps most notably, ranting about Alex Ferguson live on TV.

Barack Obama: Pictured in 2009, the year he was elected President of the United States, and in 2011. In the intervening years he has been the leader of the most powerful nation on the planet.

Mark Hughes: Pictured in 1999, the year he took charge of Wales and then in 2010, the year he took over at Fulham. In the intervening years he has been the manager of Wales, ranked 113th in the world.

Margaret Thatcher: Pictures in 1979, the year she became the first female Prime Minister, and in 1989, the year before she left office. In the intervening years she had to deal with the Poll Tax and the miners strikes.

Steve Bruce: Pictured in 2000 shortly after moving into management and then again in 2010. In the intervening years had to deal with new owners at Birmingham City and the Twitter rants of Darren Bent.

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• krisbei

  What a pointless article.

• http://twitter.com/simonrice Simon Rice

  Entirely! Thank you