Tuesday, September 2, 2008

I was not alone.


Back in 1969, I saw one of the most exciting games of my life. Bromley were away to Wealdstone, who, at the time, were one of the most powerful sides in the Isthmian League. Bromley, as you will be aware, were not.
We somehow managed to scrape a draw, with the home team getting a last-minute equaliser.
A Wealdstone fan, who was at the game, and was about the same age as me, has got in touch after reading the book. As soon as he'd finished the chapter about that particular match, he decided to look up the details in his own programme collection. "Was I at the match?" he wrote. " Well, yes, it appeared that I was - as I had written in the result and scorers in red ballpoint pen, as was my custom."
"But what's this?" he continues. " In my own12-year-old handwriting I'd listed Wealdstone as winning 6-1, with Dave Swain getting FOUR goals, and Lincoln Peddie and Mickey Doyle the others. But didn't Dave Roberts chronicle the game as finishing 1-1 after "Postman Pat" Brown had put Bromley ahead?
Oh dear. It seems that for some reason I was so disgusted that the mighty Stones had only managed to draw with the rock-bottom Kent side that I got home, opened the programme and scribbled the imaginary scoreline. Did I think that would make it all better?"
It was one of the best emails I've ever had.

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