I Remember When

I remember football boots with studs mad from little discs of leather nailed together. When they got a bit worn the nails protruded and you could get some nasty cuts.

I remember being forced to play football in school in the middle of winter in a football shirt and shorts and standing on the edge of the field shivering and being told by the games teacher to get back on the field and chase the ball!

I remember playing for my school on some rough pitches. Some didn't have much in the way of grass and were laid on all sorts of ground. Sliding tackles could take acres of skin off your knees.

I  remember  those  awful  "Frido"  lightweight  substitutes  for  real  footballs.  They  were  an  orangey red  I  think,  covered  in  pimples  for  grip  &  stung  like  blazes  if  they  caught  you  on  the  thighs  or,  heaven  forfend,  the  face   OUCH  !!

I remember ice on the inside of our bedroom window

Watching out for Hockey sticks wielded by Amazonians on frozen pitches.

Playing out almost every day

I remember there being three terms in my school year and different sports for each term. Christmas term was football, Easter term was rugby and Summer term was cricket.

Whe the milk used to freeze and push the tops off the bottles

I remember drinking gold top milk from Jersey cows and the extra creaminess. Now even silver top is forbidden! There was no such thing in those days of skimmed and semi-skimmed. How times have changed!