johnh

Louis I don't do financial transactions over the internet. However, if you can PM me with an address and tell me who to make a cheque out to, I will oblige. Cheers John

I was brought up during the war. There was no organised football during the war as all leagues were suspended for the duration. I was still football daft though, through playing in the street with an old tennis ball and the occasional game at school. We lived on Walton Hall Avenue in a cul-de-sac, almost opposite where Littlewoods Pools were, by the big girder bridge. Our cul-de-sac was our Wembley Stadium and we could always get enough lads to make two teams of five or six a side. One lad, Bernard Hogan, was a bit older than the rest and had seen some league games before the war. He was an Everton supporter and is the reason that my brother and I are Everton supporters to this day. Bernie Hogan had a photographic memory and he used to keep us spellbound with his commentary on the games he had seen. Almost kick for kick. He knew all the Everton greats and my hero became Dixie Dean, even though I had never seen him play, or even seen a photo of him. One day, my dad took me and my brother to see an elderly gentleman. I have no idea to this day who he was. But he told us that he had been to the party which was held to celebrate Everton winning the FA Cup in 1933. He went to a drawer and got out an old stiff collar, the sort that was attached to a shirt with a collar stud. On the stiff collar were the autographs of all the Everton Cup winning team, including Dixie Dean. I remember holding the collar and touching Dixie Dean's autograph and the hairs stood up on the back of my neck. A few years ago, I keyed in 'Dixie Dean' to Wikipedia and the information provided included the fact that when he retired, Dixie Dean worked as a Porter at Littlewoods Pools on Walton Hall Avenue. The hairs stood up on the back of my neck again. Just to think, all the time I was kicking a tennis ball around our cul-de-sac, the great Dixie Dean was no more than a couple of hundred yards away! Finally saw my first live football match, aged 10 in 1946.

Lukaku can trap the ball further than I can kick it.

Old guy went to his first football match for years. At the turnstile he was asked for £30 quid. 'I could get a woman for that' he protested. 'Aye' said the guy on the turnstile, 'but you wouldn't get 45 minutes each way and a pie and a pint in the middle'.

I never have to use Wikipedia as the wife knows it all.

Spurs have had seven managers (not including caretaker managers) since 2000. Len Shackleton summed it up in his autobiography. He had a chapter called 'What the Average Director Knows About Football', it was followed by three blank pages. Levy needs to look in the mirror.

I think one of our main problems is Cook being captain. He is poor, and I don't just mean he can't win a toss. We need a hard nosed cricketer in the mould of Brian Close or Ray Illingworth. Swann threw in the towel. He should have seen the series out. Sounds like he wanted to protect his test averages. If he'd played the last two tests he would probably have gone for 2 for 300. Cook, Pietersen, Prior, Anderson, should all be replaced. Not sure about Carberry, seems more suited to the shorter version of the game.

He might think so.!

Interesting that Zola resigned just after AVB was sacked?

Sir Alex Ferguson, in retirement, has taken up flower arranging. He has designed a display which he calls 'Manchester United' and it goes right in the middle of the table.

I spent two years in Singapore in the 1950's (National Service). My daughter is currently living and working in Singapore and I just might visit in the new year. At least you have Skype and Television for the odd match, in the 1950's we had to wait a week for the results! Welcome back (though I have only been a member for a few weeks.)

The dyslexic Yorkshireman who went round wearing a cat flap. D J Campbell states that he is innocent and is looking forward to playing in the 2 - 2 draw against Millwall on Saturday.

Nikica I am lucky. I have been involved with computers since 1967 (when people thought they were magic!) I also play a bit of golf, though my knees (played football till I was 40) are knackered, so I can only play 9 holes. There is no decent football where I live in Berkshire so I watch Rugby Union where I am a vice president at my local club. I have been retired for 17 years and never been bored once! How lucky is that!

The biggest mistake Moyes made was not to keep Meulensteen. He was Fergies right hand man and would have provided continuity which is key for the players. His second mistake was to buy Fellaini who is not a ManU type player. He was never going to get Fellaini plus Baines and he ended up with the wrong one.

Selecting Monty Panesar for the last test must be the biggest selection howler in history. England's main problem is batting, so they pick a second spinner who can't bat and can't field. To justify his selection he needed to take three or four wickets in each innings for not many runs. In the match, he got 2 wickets for 197 runs.

The 4 points AWAY to ManU and Arsenal are a lot better than the Reds 6 at HOME against lower league opposition. Oh, I forgot, ManU are lower league opposition aren't they.

Rhyl? The most unpopular supporter in the Leagues is the Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic FC supporter who started the chant 'give us a B'.

I spotted a headline which said 'England's No.1 diver 'comes out' as Gay. Was it Ashley Young?

Great photo that. My Grandfather was probably in the crowd. He was 30 in 1911 and played football for Old Xaverians (who are still going). He also played for a team called Valkyrie FC where a team mate was the chief electrician of the Titanic who unfortunately didn't survive.

Many thanks for your kind welcoming posts. Am looking forward to being involved in the site and am still finding my way around.

When you are nearer 80 years old than 70, memories are one of the few pleasures you have left (other than women, drink, sky-diving, tombstoning etc) so I hope you will humour me by reading this true story. In about 1949, I would be 13, I was an avid supporter of Everton. Along with my brother who was a year older we never missed a home game at Goodison. We had an Uncle, our mother's brother, who used to visit us as our Dad worked away a lot. Our Uncle Charlie was very good at giving advice and we used to hang on his every word. One visit he asked us what we wanted to do when we grew up. We immediately said 'play for Everton'. He thought for a few minutes and then said 'if you want anything in this life it wont fall into your lap, you have to go out and grab it'. 'What you need to do' he went on, 'is go to Everton and ask for a trial. If they say NO then tell them you're going to Liverpool, they will then be worried about losing out to Liverpool and offer you a trial'. The following Sunday me and my brother went down to Goodison Park and behind the main stand we found a door open. We went up several flights of stairs and came to a window with 'Enquiries' written on. There was a bell which we pressed and after a few moments a woman opened the window and asked what we wanted. We said we'd come for a trial. She said 'wait here' and went away. A short time later she came back and asked our age. My brother who was 14 said '15' so I added a year to my age and said '14'. She disappeared again and eventually returned and said 'come back when you're 18'. The window closed and disappointed, we trudged down the stairs. Halfway down we remembered Uncle Charlie's advice and shouted 'We're going to Liverpool'. We shouted it about three times but no one responded. We were most disappointed in Uncle Charlie as his advice was usually so good and on his next visit we told him the tale. He had a good laugh (which puzzled me) but he gave us a shilling each which eased the pain. We never did go back for our trial as at eighteen we were both doing our National Service. My brother was in Hong Kong and I was in Malaya.

Some days you're top dog, some days you're the lampost.

Pat and Mick went for an interview at the building site. The foreman asked Pat what his name was, when he said 'Pat' the foreman punched him in the face and said 'you are privileged to have the name of the patron saint of Ireland and you should use the full name of Patrick'. He then asked Mick for his name and Mick replied 'Mickrick'.

A sign of the times is that elderly people have to continue working. This old fella went for an interview. HUMAN RESOURCE PERSON: What do you think is your main weakness? OLD FELLA: Honesty. HR PERSON: Honesty! I don't think that's a weakness. OLD FELLA: I don't give a shit what you think.

Is it true that when big Dunc was in Barlinnie jail he asked for the wall to be moved back 10 yards?