“Play up and play the game”, the sporting cry from bygone times; but believe me it wasn't always like that!

These notes are the start of my meanderings around the football scene in St.Helens for almost half a century and because my Junior School didn't do sports; it begins with my first appearance in an “organised” team with St.Marks Cubs at the tender age of 8.

No diamond formation or 4-4-2 and if we saw a wing back we would stamp on it with our boots, we hated those creepy crawlies!

My first “position” was left half; being right footed and having an engine like a clapped out Morris Minor; that figured but I was in the team. In reality I had wanted to be the Ray Pointer of the side, although our formation of a straight 11 allowed me plenty of opportunities to forage forward and in time honoured centre forward fashion plenty of time to amble back. Sometimes I just stayed up front, out of breath and reasoning that the ball would come back up there at some stage.

The woddles we wore to matches were not the name of the yet to be Burnley Player/Manager on our shirts, but a little leather device for choking the nerd of a cub stood next to you with! Our hair styles in those days were either short back and sides or the cheaper pudding basin cut.

The size of the pitches in those days were enormous and must have been at least three times bigger than the ones today (or that's how it seemed to us); groups of us from opposing teams would camp down for a rest in respective halves; it was almost like the Christmas Day truce on the frontlines during the Great War. Our little legs could barely get us to half way and close games for us consisted of losing 17-2 and not a try scored in sight!

That leather ball with the lace hanging out and wringing wet was deadly; one of our team Dennis Deluce, was once brave enough to jump and head the ball; he didn't play again for a month!

My first flirtation with proper football had started and plenty more was to come; but that's for another time; so its farewell to “dib, dib dib” from me and I never did get that sports badge!

Take care and watch out for those heavy balls!

Colinwaldron