Don’t Go to Hull!
That was the big message I got yesterday at Ipswich. They weren’t very good and to pay more to see them at Hull, is definitely not on!
Memories of Some Late Goals
On the coach to Ipswich today, we were thinking that no-one could ever remember Ipswich scoring any late goals. They certainly could have done with a couple today!
In the 1960’s I used to cycle from my home in Sussex Way, Cockfosters to White Hart Lane, parking my bike in a garage near to the ground, that charged a half-crown. My father always said that he went to Spurs before the First World War with his father and they used to give a kid, a shilling to hold the horse’s head for the duration of the match. It seems that nothing has changed except the price and parking costs near Portman Road is now about a fiver.
I think that on the day of my tale, I must have gone to see Spurs entertain Manchester United on the bike as I got back fairly quickly and the alternative of the train from White Hart Lane to Enfield Town and a 107 bus, always got me in quite a bit later.
In this match, which according to this page, most probably was on the 10th September 1966, I was home reasonably early and met my next door neighbour, a Mr. Gibbon, who had been to the same match, but had driven in his car. Note that I never had a lift.
He was a Mancunian, who supported United, although he had season tickets at both Spurs and Arsenal, and went to each when they were at home. They alternated home matches in those days, so you could do this.
He said that it had been a great match especially as United had won by the only goal. I also knew that he always left with about ten minutes to go, so I said that I thought it had been a good game too, especially as Spurs had won 2-1 with two goals by Greaves and Gilzean in the last few minutes. He obviously missed them and as he didn’t have a radio in his car, it was myself, who had given him the news.
Sheffield United 1 Ipswich 2
Yesterday, I went to see Ipswich play at Sheffield United and they duly obligued with a reasonably tidy win, that puts them sixth in the Championship.
It was a good trip as I went up by train from St. Pancras with a friend and his son, who support the Blades. It took just over two hours to get up and we had a sensible lunch in a Greek cafe called Hellas close to the ground.
I had a ra
Hellas Cafe near Bramall Lane, Sheffield
ther nice bean soup with some salami and home-made humous. I wouldn’t recommend the cafe to super-sensitive coeliacs, but I had no reaction at all. The toliets were also very smart and had that important accessory of a coat hook. Why should I try to prop my coat on the door handle or put it on the floor.
I’ve been to Bramall Lane three times now and it seems to get better every time, which is something you can’t say about all stadia in the Championship.
Bramall Lane
As I’ve said in other posts, at some places the security is rather over top, but it is best to say that at Bramall Lane, it was sensible and fair, which can’t be said for every ground.
It was a short walk back to the station from the ground and then another two hour train ride back to London. We were in one of the Meridians and I managed an hour’s sleep or so. i’ll be glad when I finally move to London, as I’ll be able to do more trips like these without the inconvenience of going cross-country from Suffolk.
The Bigger They Are!!!
I’m not a vindictive person, but I do get a certain amont of pleasure, when I see certain rich men’s toys not performing as they could!
So to see Manchester City losing to Poznan in Poland tonight strengthens my belief that money never buys you what you think it should.
Let’s hope the Poles hang on!
They will now as they’ve just scored a third goal!
We all know that it’s the players they’ve bought, but how long before they fire the manager?
I’ve Got a Ticket for Ipswich at Norwich
I go to quite a few Ipswich Town away matches, but I’ve never seen them at Norwich. This year though, I will be there, as they have what is known as an Alternative Priority method, which allocates a ticket to supporters, who have been to a given number of away matches.
What a sensible use of their ticket computer system. I suspect that they are not alone in doing this!
Have Manchester United Done the Right Thing?
Today Manchester United bought Nobby Stiles’ medals from the World and European Cups.
Nothing has been said yet about what they are going to do with them, but I hope that they put them on display in a suitable museum, as they are part of our footballing history!
I would hate to think of them being kept in a safe or a trophy cabinet with no access to the general public.
At Last A Win!
That’s probably the best thing you could say about last night’s football.
Not a Good Match
Ipswich lost two-nil and they really didn’t deserve more than that! They got a few good chances, but somehow they squandered them and they seemed to have the stuffing knocked out of them by Forest’s second goal on the stroke of half-time.
One of the biggest pieces of excitement in the second half, was some idiot who wanted to get on the pitch. He was duly arrested and quite rightly got slung out of the ground.
I have been watching Ipswich away for many years and this season they seem to be attracting a few mindless fans. I don’t know whether this is happening with other clubs, who used to have good records, but I don’t like it!
Mel Hopkins
The Independent also had the obituary of Mel Hopkins. He was not a lucky footballer, as he suffered a broken jaw in a rather freak accident which kept him out of the Spurs double side of 1960-61.
He was incidentally one of my father’s favourite footballers and I can remember seeing him battle with Stanley Matthews, when Stoke were the visitors at White Hart Lane. I think this match must have been between 1962 and 1964, as Stoke weren’t in the First Division until 1962 and Hopkins left Spurs in October 1964.
With Pele turning seventy today, it is interesting to note this from Stanley Matthews entry in Wikipedia.
He played his final competitive match in Brazil in 1985 at the age of 70. He damaged his cartilage during the match. “A promising career cut tragically short,” he wrote in his autobiography. During his career he gained respect not only as a great player but also as a gentleman. This is exemplified by the fact that despite playing in nearly seven hundred league games, he was never booked or sent off.
Is there a player currently playing in the Premiership, who hasn’t been booked? Let alone in say a hundred games!
Happy Seventieth Birthday to Pele
Pele is seventy today. I hope this inspires some of today’s crop of footballers to not only play better, but be better sportsmen and people as well.
I’m sure all of my generation remember the iconic photo of Pele and Bobby Moore
The Anonymous Widower 