[quote][cite]Posted By: ShootersHillGuru[/cite]Roger Kirkpatrick as referee anyone ?[/quote]
Hell yeh, SHG. Rotund and bewhiskered. Do you remember when the ball went out for a goal kick, how he used to crack everyone up by pelting top speed back to the half way line, like an animated humpty dumpty?
I've been trying to work out exactly what made these guys "characters" and why there aren't so many of them these days.
I've come to the conclusion that it comes down to two things - they played with a smile on their face because they didn't have that fear factor modern players seem to have. Sadly expectations from both the fans and the management to perform have largely diluted the fun aspect of the game.
[quote][cite]Posted By: March51[/cite]I know where you are (were) Six, my dad used to catch the train up to town from Abbey Wood station every day 'til we moved to Kent in '56. My mum used to collect for the Pru around that area and there were some cottages right out on the marshes: I can still remember as a nipper looking across the river at the big illuminated Ford sign on the Dagenham factory. Harrow Manor Way , as i remember, started at the level crossing then sort of split up, east to a sewage works and power station and west to Plumstead marshes. It was pretty bleak around there! Also remember the family piling in to my dad's Austin 7 to go and look at the floods of '53 which put everything south of the railway line under water. Did have some pics of the area but they disappeared in the Great Purge of '71 by my mum after i got married (see seperate thread of 4/5 weeks ago on that). Have got videos of transport in the area but thanks for the tip on trams. As for C/F headers I would suggest Andy Hunt and Superclive who could score with just about anything![/quote]
I think I may be a few years your junior, March, being born in '53?
I only remember Harrow Manorway as a made-up road which split at the point at which it reached the sewer bank, with Sewell Road going west on the Abbey Estate boundary and Belvedere Road to the right heading to the Sewage Works. Used to fish for newts and sticklebacks in the streams off Belvedere Road and Harrow Manorway; though I always found the old Gypsy camp a scary place. My dad also commuted from Abbey Wood station to London; and I well remember standing on the old station footbridge to watch the steam trains passing underneath. Happy days!
[cite]Posted By: Addick Addict[/cite]I've been trying to work out exactly what made these guys "characters" and why there aren't so many of them these days.
I've come to the conclusion that it comes down to two things - they played with a smile on their face because they didn't have that fear factor modern players seem to have. Sadly expectations from both the fans and the management to perform have largely diluted the fun aspect of the game.
They were closer to us, earning little more than we did, drinking in the same places as us.
Six, yes got seven years on you mate but my memory has always been dodgy, not just through advancing years, so I'm sure your right on those locations. Have a railway book somewhere which has a photo taken from that bridge, I'll try to dig it out. I haven't a clue how to send it though! I'll ask the Missus, she's clever like that!
[quote][cite]Posted By: Off_it[/cite]I always wondered what had happened to the "Charlton Reminiscense Club", and now I know - they've all gone out and bought themselves laptops!
(Just kidding chaps!)[/quote]
It was a toss-up between the laptop and the incontinence pants.
The passing away of Bob Curtis has brought it home to me just how much the likes of those mentioned above meant. We were playing the same level of football and yet, if you were a kid now, how many of our current squad would you look back in 30 or 40 years and think of with such fondness?
What do you mean not old enough,i saw everyone of the players even Billy Bonds last match for Charlton v Birmingham on a friday night at The Valley back in 1967.Let him go to West Ham 60,000 pounds because we had an up and coming full back called Bob Curtis,now we have lost him ,we are all getting abit older and the characters are no longer about.Maybe back in 1967 after the Birmingham game some of the players could have ended up watching the last two races at Charlton greyhound track that night.
I think most of the characters have gone out of football - we are not alone here. The games is now packaged for money and full of overseas players that come and go. The days of club loyalty are long gone as each player (understandably) chases the next pay rise. Who's our current longest serving five players? And, will they be here in 2 years' time? I doubt it
Comments
Hell yeh, SHG.
Rotund and bewhiskered. Do you remember when the ball went out for a goal kick, how he used to crack everyone up by pelting top speed back to the half way line, like an animated humpty dumpty?
I've come to the conclusion that it comes down to two things - they played with a smile on their face because they didn't have that fear factor modern players seem to have. Sadly expectations from both the fans and the management to perform have largely diluted the fun aspect of the game.
I think I may be a few years your junior, March, being born in '53?
I only remember Harrow Manorway as a made-up road which split at the point at which it reached the sewer bank, with Sewell Road going west on the Abbey Estate boundary and Belvedere Road to the right heading to the Sewage Works.
Used to fish for newts and sticklebacks in the streams off Belvedere Road and Harrow Manorway; though I always found the old Gypsy camp a scary place.
My dad also commuted from Abbey Wood station to London; and I well remember standing on the old station footbridge to watch the steam trains passing underneath.
Happy days!
HaHa! Yes, I'd forgotten that.
They were closer to us, earning little more than we did, drinking in the same places as us.
(Just kidding chaps!)
(Just kidding chaps!)[/quote]
It was a toss-up between the laptop and the incontinence pants.
Oh, bugger! ;-)
Am I wrong and is it rose tinted glasses?