International football forward Andre Arshavin was able to score four goals in a recent game versus Liverpool. How did he do it? The feat has led critics to speculate that the athlete could have possibly injected himself with testicles of a monkey, something which is not unprecented in sports history.

In 1946, details regarding the career of Dennis Westcott, the former wings forward of Wolverhampton Wanderers, shocked the entire world. It was reported that Westcott, together with some other members of Wolves were made to undergo a systematic programme of doping by Major Frank Buckley, their manager. What Buckley did back then was that he injected his players with some small slices of monkey testicles. It was reported that Buckley did that because he wants to utilize the latest advancements in sports science.

Before Arshavin, it was Dennis Westcott who has the record of being the last visiting player who was able to score four goals. Westcott is an English football player. He played as a striker for Blackburn Rovers, Chesterfield, New Brighton, , Manchester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers. When competitive football was resumed after being suspended because of the Second World War, Westcott was able to set a club record by scoring 38 goals during the 1946-47 seasons. That feat made him the league’s top scorer.

Buckley, Westcott’s manager, was acquainted in the process of using monkey testicles by a disciple of Serge Voronoff. Voronoff is a Russian surgeon and is the one who pioneered the said doping process. According to Buckley, he tried the treatment first on himself since he was still sceptical about it at first. After three to four months, he was able to feel the benefits of the said treatment. It was then when he asked his players whether they are willing to undergo the same treatment.

It was apparent that Westcott have benefited from the treatment his manager made him undertake. His four goals during their game against Liverpool were followed by four more the week after. In the 35 games he had during the 1946-47 season, he was able to score 38 goals. It was after that feat was made when the monkey gland treatment became popular in the football.

According to Paul Dimeo, a historian, the success of Buckley’s team as well their physical strength is being accorded to the treatment that they undertook. After the season, Jack Tinn, the Portsmouth manager, also made his players undertake the same treatment.

Even if the Wolves succeeded because of the said monkey gland treatment, the said treatment did not became as favored as it could have been. This is primarily attributed to mainstream science’s turning back on the methods popularized by Voronoff. Eventually, the monkey farm of Voronoff was closed down. Football players then returned to methods that are more acknowledged.

And now, after more than sixty years, the whopping performance of Arshavin has once again put back this so-called “monkey business” back in the spotlight again. Did he or did he not? Let history be the judge.

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