Before we reach the match-fixing trials which ruined his reputation, or remember the 13 major trophies he won as Liverpool’s goalkeeper in 14 staggering years, we start with war in Africa. Bruce Grobbelaar was a teenager when he was conscripted into the Rhodesian army in 1975 and plunged into Zimbabwe’s war of independence. His booming laughter fades and, as haunting memories cloud Grobbelaar’s face, it becomes easier to understand the eccentricities and mistakes which defined him.
He winces as he remembers how one of his fellow white soldiers mutilated the bodies of black freedom fighters. “This guy would cut an ear off every man he killed. He kept the ears in a jar. And he had quite a few jars. His family had been brutalised so he wanted revenge.”
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