The Joy of Six: sporting reinvention

Ken Dryden

“I wasn’t a hockey player. I was somebody who played hockey,” were the famous words of Ken Dryden when asked about his legacy as an ice hockey player. While most go through life hoping to succeed in just one career, Dryden managed to do it in about five. The former NHL goalkeeper was also a lawyer, politician, author, and university professor.

Dryden first gained fame as the goalkeeper for the Montreal Canadiens in the 1970s, when the team won six Stanley Cups and became one of the great North American sports dynasties. He took a season off due to a contract dispute with the Habs and used the time off to earn a law degree, beginning work for a law firm and intern for the American political activist Ralph Nader. Dryden retired from the sport professionally at only 26 years old and finished his NHL career with a W-L-D record of 258-57-74, with 46 shutouts, and having only lost 14% of his career starts. The goalkeeper was also known for his great stickhandling ability around his net and managed 23 assists during his illustrious career.

Immediately after retiring, he moved into broadcasting, serving as the colour commentator for the iconic Miracle on Ice match during the 1980 Winter Olympics, where the four-time defending gold medallists, the Soviet Union, fell to the United States. Simultaneously, he was taking bar admission courses and writing books. His first, a memoir titled The Game, is considered one of the greatest sports books ever written. He went on to author eight more books on various subjects, including sports, education reform, and Canadian politics.

Dryden also ventured into the business side of the sport, serving as the president of the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1997 to 2004. His political career then began in 2004 when he was elected as a Liberal MP in Canada, a seat he held until 2011. During this time, he served as Minister of Social Development and ran for the leadership of the Liberal party in 2006. He also taught at the University of Toronto and worked in the Ministry of Education. With multiple careers under his belt, Dryden’s relentless pursuit of his passions beyond the initial domain of success is an undeniably unique quality.

Alex Greenwood

International football can be ruthless. Regardless of a player’s club minutes or popularity with a previous coach, the winningest managers will make their own assessments. When Sarina Wiegman took over the England team in 2021, questions arose about her preferred players and their positions after Phil Neville’s unsuccessful tenure. After leading England to their first-ever trophy at the European Championships, many of those questions seemed answered, especially given Wiegman’s consistency in her decisions and formations.

During the Euros, Alex Greenwood was used as a late substitute for left-back Rachel Daly and in the run-up to the World Cup, she was expected to resume her role in that position, particularly after Daly’s prolific season as a forward for Aston Villa. Daly’s shift to striker created an opening at left back, but injuries to the captain, Leah Williamson, created a new opportunity for Greenwood.

Wiegman opted to use Greenwood in a central defensive role, with Jess Carter filling in at full-back, a decision the Manchester City player was unfazed by, telling the Guardian before the World Cup: “Whatever my role is for the team, I’ll do it the best I can … whether it’s left-back or centre-back, I know both roles really well. I’ve played both, obviously more so centre-back as of late, but throughout the majority of my career, I’ve been a left-back. So whatever role I’m asked to play, I’ll make sure I’m fully prepared.”

England finished runners-up at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, with Greenwood widely regarded as one of the tournament’s standout players. And despite playing as a centre-back in a back three – a mostly new position that required a significant change in skill set and a completely new formation for her – she excelled.

Ellyse Perry

Ellyse Perry is widely recognised as a dominating cricketer, boasting two Cricket World Cup victories, six T20 World Cup titles, a Commonwealth Games gold medal, and numerous individual records from a decade of excellence. Yet, her cricketing success only tells half her story as an athlete.

At just 16 years old, she became the youngest person to represent Australia in cricket and concurrently excelled in football, playing in the A-League Women. Perry made 18 appearances for the Australia women’s national side, representing the Matildas at the 2011 World Cup in Germany.

Perry could juggle both sports because neither was fully professional at the time. When her club side, Canberra United, gave her the ultimatum to choose either cricket or football, she signed for a new club.

Eventually, she had to make a full-time commitment, and she gravitated towards cricket, telling CNN: “Naturally, I just fell into playing cricket over soccer, probably without really making a big decision. Probably the professionalisation of cricket happened first, and probably had more opportunity in cricket, too.”

Brazil’s 4-2-4

The idea today that football used to exist without numbered formations seems unimaginable, given that it is constantly a talking point. But it was not until the introduction of the 4-2-4 that numbered formations became the norm. And the formation was perfected at a time when one of the world’s biggest footballing nations needed it most.

The fourth edition of the World Cup took place in Brazil in 1950 and the host nation were confident fresh off a 1949 Copa América victory.

Unlike today, the 1950 format included no knockout stage. Instead, the winners of the four first-round groups would make up a final group. Those four teams, which ended up being Brazil, Uruguay, Sweden and Spain, would play each other, and the cup would go to the team that topped the group. Consequently, Brazil’s match against Uruguay was technically not the World Cup final; it was simply their last game of the final round. But the results of previous matches made it the decisive game of the tournament as the Seleção only needed a draw against Uruguay to secure their first World Cup victory.

The Brazilian press and public began their premature celebrations before the game. National newspapers ran headlines that said: “We will beat Uruguay”, and pictures of the Brazilian players and their manager, Flávio Costa, with the words: “The World Champions”. Rio de Janeiro’s mayor had reportedly told the players: “You players will be hailed as champions by millions of compatriots! You who have no rivals in the entire hemisphere! You who will overcome any other competitor! You, whom I already salute as victors!”

In the final, Brazil’s Friaça scored the opener, but Uruguay came from behind and eventually lifted the coveted trophy. Long considered Brazil’s worst moment in international football (at least until 2014), what followed was a period of national mourning and heavy backlash from the general public and media, much of it towards Costa.

Something needed to change. Costa believed a solid defensive base would allow attacking talent to dominate opponents without worrying about defence. He quickly implemented the 4-2-4 and it was perfected by the 1958 World Cup under head coach Vicente Feola, with a 17-year-old Pelé inspiring Brazil to their first World Cup in Sweden in 1958. They then repeated the trick in 1962 and 1970 and Brazil’s success began the trend of more fluid formations.

Rebecca Romero

Thirteen years ago, the Guardian described Rebecca Romero as “an athlete in search of an outlet” – a fitting portrayal of the first British woman to win Olympic medals in two different sports. Romero’s journey began in rowing, a sport she took up as a teenager after discovering an ad in the Yellow Pages seeking new recruits. Within a year, she had joined the Team GB junior squad. Her breakout came in 2004 when she won two World Cup golds, a silver, and an Olympic silver at the Athens Games alongside Alison Mowbray, Debbie Flood, and Frances Houghton in the quadruple sculls event.

After clinching a world championship gold the next year, Romero sought a new challenge during injury rehab. She contacted British Cycling, and in less than a year, she won her first-ever cycling race, becoming the British champion. By the time of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, she had earned three world championship medals and went on to win gold in the individual pursuit, becoming an Olympic champion for the first time.

Romero aimed to continue her cycling career, setting her sights on London 2012, her home Games. However, after a prolonged period of inconsistency due to changes in several cycling events, she decided to step down from the Olympic team. Unsurprisingly, her competitive drive led her to a new pursuit: Ironman triathlons, which she began competing in by 2012.

Novak Djokovic

Few tennis players can claim one of their best seasons at 36. But Novak Djokovic is no ordinary player and in 2023, the Serbian perfected the art of evolving his game to accommodate his ageing body and the changing play styles.

With modern top players hitting with more power and precision than ever, the strategy of defending all day and taking the initiative to finish points in tennis has become increasingly difficult at the highest level. Djokovic’s serve in 2023 was nearly unrecognisable from his serve in the 2015 season.

His first serve averaged about five mph faster in 2023 than in 2015 and was more precise, landing an average five centimetres closer to the lines in 2023 than in 2015 and eight centimetres closer than the tour average.

He also added more variety to his shots and subtle changes in shot pace, spin, slice, and direction. His ability to adapt, grinding on slow clay and going serve for serve with the best on faster surfaces, makes him a unique and underrated attribute.