From the 1880s a campaign ran in the UK to stop people from spitting, since it was looked on as a major cause of the spread of tuberculosis. This campaign seemed to die away post WWII, though I can still remember signs in the street and on buses that proclaimed ''No Spitting : Penalty 20/- '' (i.e. 20 shillings). Later, spitting seemed to become the in thing amongst adolescents. As to footballers, was it ''Not the Nine O'clock News'' that featured footballers ''Gob of the Day''?!!