THERE'S MUCH TO CELEBRATE

SAFETY FIRST WAS NEVER THE POLICY

I REALLY hope all the leagues and cups can be played out this season – what a celebration Non-League Finals Day at Wembley will be.

What strange times we are living in? Longing for my football fix, I’ve been watching old games, from long lost seasons? It took me half an hour to get the DVD player working, and the video even longer. But it has given me a chance to look back on some great matches – ones that I attended and then returned home to watch the highlights on TV.

Obviously, the only games that my club, Farnborough Town, were covered in were in the FA Cup but, sadly, this doesn’t involve the first time they reached the first round proper, away at Yeovil in 1980-81.

I was studying for a Drama and Geography General BA, in Liverpool at the time. I was broke. I hitch hiked down, leaving my flat early on the Saturday morning.

I did a lot of hitch hiking in those days, in fact I’ve written a book about it “A Hitch In Time” (available from all good bookshops, and a great read if you are isolating). I arrived at the ground just as the game kicked off. In those days the away end was uncovered.