As a little aside - one of the best players I have ever set eyes on was a Jerseyman. I used to share a house with three of them in Queensland, and one of them was in great demand from Brisbane clubs. The trouble was that he simply wasn't interested in playing professionally - training bored him & he didn't like the idea of strict diets & cutting down on alcohol. He played quite happily at a lower level for a couple of decades without ever attending a training session once - even when he was selected for a representative team to play against Charlton.
Oh dear............ Rather bizarrely the Aussies call them Guernseys. Doubtless the youth of some other country dream of wearing the same Sark as their heroes....
When I was a kid, the only boy I knew who was big into his football was a Liverpool fan. He was about 4 years older than me, so I used to get his old cast off Liverpool shirts. I loved those early 90s addidas kits. Around the mid-90s Liverpool were also one of the few sides I could regularly see live on terrestrial TV as it seemed they were always playing in the UEFA Cup on the BBC. I remember being very disappointed watching them lose to Brondby. Weirdly I liked that, to me, they seemed like underdogs as I had never known anything other than Manchester United dominance, and I didn't really know about the Liverpool of the 80s. It was because of becoming a Liverpool fan that I wanted to go watch football in the flesh, and of course that meant going to see Watford play as the local team. I know my first game was a match against Norwich City in (then) Division 1. It was also live on the Big Match on ITV, which made me think it was a big deal. I shouted my little voice horse screaming at the Watford defenders to close down quicker. Over time, I lost my Liverpool affiliation and became a firm Watford supporter, but I have a soft spot for Liverpool for making me a football fan in the first place.
Actually they don't pronounce the capital letter - it's guernseys... And it's really only peculiar to Aussie Rules. In my experience, followers of Football refer to them as shirts, except for jerseys - which are worn by goalkeepers. I've played both codes of Rugby, where they refer to them as jumpers. All very confusing... It all comes down to language differences across the board, not just in sporting terms - sometimes I suspect that visitors or recent arrivals to Australia don't believe that English is the main language. The power of the internet may have eased the confusion a little, but the following are all terms for items of everyday clothing which regularly produce puzzled looks - Daks Strides Blueys Jackie Howes Singlets Windcheaters Gummies Thongs Reggies or Grundies Cossies or Togs Are-Ems And some of those change from State to State...
I started supporting Man U before I got taken to Vicarage Road. What I like is the fact I can pinpoint to the nearest 15 mins the moment I started to support Watford, which was ironically, after we’d just beaten Man U in the FA Cup: 17:30 on 2nd January 1982. I was coming home in the car and decided ‘Watford was for me!’. I haven’t had a second team since but have sometimes looked out for Charlton as my Dad supported them as a boy and I think they’ve been through plenty of rough times.
I have always had an interest in Swansea. My dad was born there and we had many good holidays staying and visiting relatives. I still remember Swansea run in the FA cup where they reached the semi final where they nearly beat Liverpool. I made up a scrap book of their journey, wonder where it is. I am pleased at their recent stay in the EPL and yesterdays win was a great 3 points and I hope they stay up. Whilst at University I sometimes went to the Dell to watch Southampton so have a passing interest in them too and I hope they stay up as well. My Mum hails from the East End and professed to support Leyton Orient, never caught on with me though.
