Not meaning to sound rude, but are you actually 83? Fair play to you if you, as you come across as a lot younger.
I think he is late 60's,maybe even 70, he was a mod in the 6o's, had a scooter, new all of the old clubs and venues, I am only guessing mind but I think he was 10 in 1960 and he misprinted the year.
I remember those heavy leather balls RP - I played with them when I was at secondary (Chew Valley) school between 1978 and 1983. They were impossible - especially when wet.
R&W The leather balls you kicked must have been 20years old. The ones I played with at that time were the same balls City played with in the old first division and I promise you they were like beach balls compared with 20years earlier. Thank goodness !
I played football up until I was 13/14 then found cigarettes and was caught in school. As punishment I was chucked out of the school team and made to sit out with the other smokers in school games. It was that sort of school in Gloucester, if you got caught fighting by one teacher you had to go into a boxing ring and fight each other that way. I mainly played out on the wing or up front before the cigarette faze. I did play one season for the Wedlock’s during my late 20’s but I guess I was useless by then and gave up. After that I played now and then for works team and played right back. But they was games arranged by the company v customers. And working for a heavy construction supplier playing against people used to moving 100 - 500 metres of concrete a day was hard work. We played once on Manor farms ground. Yates ground and Devices ground. My company hired AG to play a regional tournament a few times. But I was well into my late 40’s then so never played. But they allowed me to have a go on warm up so I could say I scored on AG.
I played a lot during my Army days, pretty much every Weds. Only at a Regimental standard, so probably 1 or 2 levels up from Sunday league, tbh. I started as a striker, and finished (at 40 years old) as a CB. So many good memories of games on $h1t pitches and in the bar afterwards.... Love the game, and always have.
I was a member of several senior school sides,, played for various local works sides in my teens and twenties, my position was what we called right half in my day, noting special, just enjoyed taking part and the social side, I also remember the leather balls and their laces whacking me in the face on wet muddy, uneven surfaces like the downs 0n a cold, winter wednesday afternoon, designed for shop and retail workers who always had a half day off on a wednesday afternoon in them there way off days and don't mention studs.
T Those balls were brown leather with laces. Rugby balls were made of the same kind of leather too - brown with laces. They must have been built to last (well I suppose they were only being kicked by kids, so didn’t take a lot of punishment!!) I do think that the pigs bladder had been replaced by rubber for the inside though by the time I was at school
My first real football was a Xmas present when I was about 7 or 8 It was leather with an inner rubber bag like a whoopee cushion that you had to tie at the neck inside the ball before lacing the opening shut I was given dubbing to brush into it which was supposed to repel water when it was wet But it didn’t The ball used to suck up water and it was like kicking a medicine ball Heading it when the ball was wet made you see stars !
every boy at school had a special tin in their wooden locker! Usually a vacated Cherry blossom shoe polish tin with the the little key to open it!!! It was refilled periodically from the larger tin at home! the label on which said "dubbin". On wet days you used to give your boots a quick rub over with dubbin, always had to take your boots home to clean them and dubbin them up and take them back to school for cross country runs. A leather, smaller size, usually, football made you at least captain of 1 team! Central heating was virtually unheard of so open fires or Aga type stoves ... error quickly learned dont dry boots or ball in very close proximity to heat source!! a quick wash a partial dry out then scrubbed with dubbin" .............. those were the days. My last school had rugby balls with laces, but I recollect they were "concealed?" At some point the frido appeared not for real games but kick abouts!
