The following article appeared in the programme for Racing Club Warwick v
This week’s edition provides a third instalment for those of us who remember how things used to be at football matches in the years BP (“Before the Premiership”) and, for any youngsters out there, another opportunity to have a good laugh at the no so golden olden days.
Things you don’t see at football any more #9. Animals on the pitch. Watching Match of the Day in the 1970’s, particularly if they were covering lower league teams in the FA Cup, it wasn’t an unusual sight to see a dog (almost always one of the smaller kind of mutts) running onto the pitch and chasing after the ball. I was always left wondering (a) why did the owner bring the dog to the match in the first place and (b) if he did, why wasn’t it on a lead? But dogs aren’t the only animals you could see. Tottenham’s FA Cup ties even into the 1980’s often involved the fans smuggling a live cockerel into the ground and releasing it onto the pitch. In those days of body searches one wonders how the police and stewards missed this bit of fowl play (groan now please!). Nowadays there’d probably be a mass exodus of punters fearing bird flu! Hereford United club officials were similarly famous for bringing their club mascot to the game – a massive and fearsome-looking Herefordshire Bull if you will! Of course there was no chance of smuggling one of these in under your coat but I would have liked to witness the players and officials attempting to round Bully up if he had broken loose! Another one of nature’s gifts to football that I recall seeing was the Brunton Park fox at Carlisle. This particular fox was of the stuffed variety but could be found lurking on the centre spot before home matches. If he’s still there he’s probably feeling a bit more confident these days given the anti-hunting legislation! So come on Racing Club! Where’s our horse? With wings! Now that would be worth seeing!
Things you don’t see at football any more #10. This next item isn’t even a throwback to the 1950’s or even the 60’s or 70’s. The appearance of dozens of giant inflatable bananas at Maine Road, Manchester heralded at the end of the 1980’s saw the beginnings of a new craze, which lasted no more than about five years. It wasn’t long before other clubs’ supporters caught on and I can vividly recall watching Stoke City with a pack of inflatable Pink Panthers and Grimsby Town from amongst a shoal of inflatable cod. We knew that the fad was on its way out when various enterprising club shops began stocking specially made inflatable souvenirs but, interestingly, these never seemed to catch on in the bizarre way that some of the other items had done. The inflatables bubble had burst (or else it was “Going down, Going down, Going down”)!
Things you don’t see at football any more #11. Here’s another one that could be heard but not seen. This one lasted for about two months if my memory serves me right. Whatever happened to the Police using the tannoy system to catch criminals? A kind of Crimewatch that you couldn’t watch! In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s I used to go and watch Leeds United and it was during this period that the Yorkshire Ripper was bringing terror to the hearts of women of West Yorkshire. Perhaps you remember the message recorded by “Wearside Jack” (coincidentally a man has only recently been charged with being responsible for this massive waste of Police time) taunting George, the Officer leading the investigation? Well that recording was played at half time at several football matches at the time with a request for assistance if you could identify the mystery voice (like a sinister version of the competition run by BBC Radio Coventry & Warwickshire!). Now I come to think about it, wouldn’t it be a good idea to bring this form of community policing back? Racing Club’s own PA announcer “Disco Dave” could have a five minute spot at every home game asking us whether we know the whereabouts of the likes of Shergar, Lord Lucan or the crew of the Marie Celeste! Think what Racing Club could do with the reward from the Community Action Trust! The only downside would be if we lost a few suspicious characters off the attendance!
Finally this week, Things you don’t see at football any more #12. Smartly dressed supporters! Let’s see how many of today’s scruffy clientele I can upset with this one! Football, certainly until the 1980’s, was the province of the working classes. Working Class man would look forward to his Saturday afternoon off work and get dressed up for the occasion. Pre-war football crowds appear to have been populated by thousands of men with moustaches, long coats and cloth caps but by the 1950’s and 60’s, with greater affluence for all, it was common for men to go to matches in a jacket and tie. This was respectable attire don’t forget! Not that all men in ties were respectable. Some of the more notable pitch invaders of the past wore ties including the Everton fan who put in an appearance on the pitch during the 1966 FA Cup Final and the Leeds fan incensed by the offside goal at Elland Road in 1971. This particular fashion declined steadily from the early 1970’s as men began dressing more daringly in jeans (shock!) and platform shoes with the arrival of male fashion, previously something only women were deemed to be interested in. Fashion, they say, goes full circle if you wait long enough. So perhaps in about another 10 years we will see officials and members of the committee turning up at matches in bondage trousers whilst the rest of us sport tuxedos? I can hardly wait to see it!
If you think I’ve missed one of your old favourites that you don’t see any more, drop me a line or buy me a beer in the clubhouse and I’ll think about including it in a future issue.
Keep the faith!
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