Waiting for Goddy

Ours were clean shaven times – remember how hard it was to come up with a team made up entirely of bearded players? Gary Birtles was probably more famous for his beard than his football back then and was always first on the teamsheet, with Cyrille Regis for company up front. Danny McGrain, Steve Foster […]

Fenmen

It’s the Saturday of the Bank Holiday weekend, and it’s roasting hot. Spurning the more traditional activities of DIY and BBQs, I’m heading out into the Fens, to the northernmost tip of Cambridgeshire. It’s the Preliminary Round of the FA Cup, and Ely City have been drawn away to Wisbech Town, the Fenmen. This is […]

Derek Pringle, King of the Slips

There were periods in the eighties when, as a teenager, I would spend most of my evenings kicking a football about the playing field up the back. I’d nip round to my friend’s house and we’d leave by his back gate, through the woods and over a stream, emerging onto the scrubby hillside. We often […]

Heiko Herrlich and The Greatest Game of Them All

A few months back, I was watching Framlingham Town play Swaffham in the Vase. It was awful, so bad that there was an audible groan from fans and players alike when the ref blew the whistle for ninety minutes and announced we would have extra time. But I loved it. Standing there in the September […]

Eric Gates and the Great Escape

My Grandma claimed to know nothing about football. “Oh, I’ll leave you men to talk about the football”, she’d say, but she knew alright. She knew exactly what was going on with the Town. I don’t know if she ever visited Portman Road – she was deeply uncomfortable about going into pubs and the bookies, […]

The Beautiful Game

It has been a day of niggles and frustration, compounded by a persistent heavy drizzle. It is too wet for the allotment and I’m feeling grumpy. I need to get outside but, frankly, I can’t even be bothered with going for a walk, so decide instead to go and watch some sport. I toy […]