Hi Mully,
I can understand your dad's anger. Did he ever speak to his brother again?
Where I grew up, 50,000 could only be dreamed of. My local team were Poole
Town of the Southern League, but I used to go to see the Cherries
(Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic Football Club as they were known then).
They had a great cup run in 56-57, beating Wolves 1-0, Spurs 3-1, and losing
out 2-1 to Man U, an offside goal and a penalty that never was (some things
never change for some teams
).
Bournemouth were famous as the last club ever to change divisions (up or
down), spoilt when they were relegated to the fourth division in 1975. But
Harry Redknapp restored our fortunes (sic!), including as I recall beating a
certain Manchester united in the 3rd round of teh FA Cup on 7th Jan 1984
We also had a big goalscorer that ended up with you, a certain Ted
MacDougall. Didn't Phil Boyer also end up at MU after Norwich and so on, or
was it the other way around.
I feel like Nick Hornsby, revelling in my support of the Gooners all through
the 70s and 80s when I lived in London (it is right, we took a pride in the
hate of the rest of the country), and having a love of my old hometown team.
Personally, I don't watch soccer much these days. I don't have Sky, and I am
not going to matches, so I just read about it. Shame but it isn't the game I
grew up with.
Anyway, it's nice to exchange pleasantries with the enemy
.
Regards
Bob