TIMOTHY SPALL - CANCER FIGHT COST SPALL HIS LOVE FOR SOCCER

CANCER FIGHT COST SPALL HIS LOVE FOR SOCCER

Actor TIMOTHY SPALL's leukaemia battle in 1996 killed his passion for soccer - because he was forced to spend a summer watching England compete in Euro '96.
The longtime Crystal Palace fan admits he hasn't been able to enjoy the sport ever since he spent months watching every game while he fought cancer of the blood.
Spall, who plays former Nottingham Forest assistant manager Peter Taylor in a new British biopic of late soccer manager Brian Clough, says, "When I got ill, I spent most of the summer at home watching the Euros and though England cheered me up, I got very depressed by all the diving, all the cheating and all the loony thuggery.
"I thought, 'I've got more important things to worry about than this,' and it's not really been the same for me since."