A VIEW FROM THE TERRACE
Wingate & Finchley v Aylesbury
It was Saturday and FA cup day, I had had a mare during the week as my car had broken down and was in the garage for repair.
I had no transport to get to the match.
I could not get the coach as it left at 12 and the misses wouldn’t let me go that early.
Ever since Thursday I had been on at silly Bob to give me a lift and come to the match, I was mot missing an FA cup game.
I bribed him with all sorts and he finally gave in when I promised him he could have my X Box. I didn’t have an X Box but I would tell him that after we got home.
Bob picked me up and we went to the pub before heading off to the game.
Arthur the old boy well into his nineties and as deaf as a post, was sitting at his usual seat at the bar. He was nursing a near empty glass of orange juice, which looked like it had gone off.
“Off the sherbet then Arthur?” I said
“No son it’s my new drink, a Magadriver. I had to start having them because I keep getting a bad tummy. I made the drink up”
“What’s in it then?”
“Well it’s a teaspoon of Grenadine, a shot of Bacardi, a bottle of orange juice and two spoons of Milk of Magnesia.”
“Sounds nice mate, want another one.”
“Can I have one of those” jumped in silly Bob.
“No thanks I’ll have a pint, these things make me sick,” said Arthur.
I got him a pint and just for the hell of it got silly Bob a Magadriver. The barmaid looked at me as though I had just landed from another planet.
“FA cup today Arthur, were going to Wingate and Finchley”
I didn’t know why I let myself open for the bombs and plane sagas.
“Yeah I bet they got bombed didn’t they Arthur” said silly Bob pulling his stool up closer to Arthur.
That was the moment I didn’t have a lift to the match. I was going to kill Bob.
“They did get bombed in the war, all around that area.”
I switched off, I was thinking of horrible ways to kill Bob.
I switched on again with Arthur’s next statement; it had something to do with football.
“Wingate football club was named after General C. Wingate, who despite not being Jewish oversaw the creation of the Israeli Army during the Second World War.”
“Really Arthur” I said,
Bob was nodding. The dick head didn’t know he was a dead man walking.
“Ken Aston was the president of the club,” said Arthur.
“Really” I said.
Who the bloody hell was Ken Aston. Maybe he made Aston Martin cars or he could have started Aston Villa.
I suppose I had to ask, he was waiting for it.
“Who’s Ken Aston then Arthur?”
“He was the man who started the system of red and yellow cards used by referees. They were to help with the language barriers and to let players and spectators know that they had been sent off or cautioned.”
On his return from military service in 1946, he became the first League referee to wear the black uniform with white trim which became the standard for referees. The following year he introduced bright yellow linesmens’ flags in place of the pennants in the colours of the home team which had been used before.”
Blimey Arthur knew about football as well as war.
“He was best known for the Battle of Santiago”
I just knew it was to good to last. We were back to the war.
“He refereed the match between Chile and Italy in the 1962 World Cup. It was called the Battle of Santiago
The atmosphere of this match had been inflamed by Italian journalists derogatory descriptions of the beauty and morals of Chilean woman, something about fat pigs and they had a go about the condition of the Chilean capital. The Chileans had a dislike of the Italian practice of using South American players with Italian passports.”
“Wow, go on Arthur”
Silly Bob had lost interest as it didn’t have bombs in it, I’d give him a bomb when we got outside.
The match got off to a great start, They were fighting in the first few seconds, kicking punching, spitting and that was just the crowd. The first player got booked within 12 seconds of the game starting. After 12 minutes Italy's Giorgio Ferrini had to be escorted off the field by Aston and a load of armed police, he was refusing to leave the field and they had to stop 10 thousand people trying to kill him. They were required five more times in the match and to escort players off the field, once when the Chilean centre-forward Landa was hacked down and later when Aston sent off David for a retaliatory kick at the head of the Chilean, Sanchez. Sánchez was allowed to stay on the pitch despite breaking the nose of the Argentine-born Italian Maschio, with a stright right and then a left hook.
The match was uncontrollable all the players were punching and kicking each other. The armed police and army had to come on again to escort the teams off the field safely.”
This was really good stuff, I didn’t know Arthur knew this. I should have known, as it had to do with violence.
Bob had got another Magadriver and was trying to pacify the barmaid who wanted to punch his lights out.
I was interested in all this and wanted to hear more but we had to make a move as it was getting late.
It still took ten minutes to get going, as I had to wait for silly Bob to finish being sick in the bog.
On the way to the ground we passed a big sign, For Wembley take the A41, I wondered if it was an omen.
We arrived and went into the ground. The sun had got hot and it was going to be hard to play in this heat.
The stand was miles away from the pitch. I looked around to see where they were selling binoculars; these lads wont miss a trick I thought.
The pitch itself was in lovely condition and would be a pleasure to play on.
I spotted what’s his name with the big pockets talking with one of their officials; I bet he was at it.
I shot into the club for a beer and all they were selling were cans, warm as well, Oh well it was wet. I only got one, as Bob was still a bit green.
The teams came out, Wingate in blue and us in our famous red and black.
Wingate won the toss and turned round so we were facing the sun.
We kicked off and after three passes lost the ball. It was passed down the right and a lovely pass across the goal saw Wingate’s forward rise in the air unmarked and head it into the net. 47 bloody seconds that is all it had taken, half our lot were still asleep and the other half sunbathing. I did a quick calculation, if they kept this up at this rate, it could end up 147 – 0
Aylesbury settled down and started to play football, they started to press the Wingate defence. 4 minutes later a nice run by Price down the right produced a corner that was taken by Mead. He struck the ball to the near post where Brennan was lurking to rise above all and head into the net. 1 – 1.
The game was well balanced now and both teams were producing good football. The ball was going from end to end and this was going to be a hard fought contest.
Barry one of our supporters was telling the Ref how to run the game, but for some unknown reason the Ref was taking no notice of him. He also kept on about the Grand Prix. I know they had a practice session today but he kept shouting out for Damien Hill, I thought he had retired. It wasn’t until later I realised he was shouting down the hill, I thought the pitch was flat. I must admit the Ref did seem to let a lot of pushing from Wingate go unpunished.
A young lad came along selling raffle tickets and I saw what’s his name with the big pockets buying one. He was at it again.
The rest of the half saw a few chances fall to both sides. With fifteen minutes to go in the half, Wingate whose forwards were very fast and giving our defence a hard time broke through the middle. Their forward broke into the box and had only Smith to beat in goal. Ben Stevens came from nowhere and dispossessed him; it was a world-class tackle that bought a loud applause even from the Wingate fans.
A few minutes later there was an appeal for a penalty on Price but the referee waved it away.
Wingate were starting to dominate now and were the better team until the half time whistle
They announced the raffle winner, 123 and all the old codgers were laughing with what’s his name, the old sod had fixed it again.
We went into the club for a beer, well a warm can, it had been very hot in the sun and I bet the players were feeling it.
The second half saw Aylesbury slightly the better side and were the team attacking most of the time. On 58 minutes slightly against the run of play, the ball was sent over to Wingate’s left wing, the player unmarked had time to pick his spot. He found a forward on the right hand side of the box, who smashed the ball against the left hand post and it went across the goal and into the net. 2 – 1.
The game was good to watch now with the ball going from end to end and the crowd were getting louder and louder. The Wingate forwards were always a threat to Aylesbury as were the Aylesbury forwards to Wingate, but both defences held firm.
Meade made a tackle on a Wingate forward and if he had gone down it might have been a close call for a penalty.
Mark the Aylesbury manager changed the formation with substitutes and it put more pressure on Wingate.
With 7 min to go Price made a run down the right and his cross found Henney in the area. It took forever for him to strike the ball, but when it did it found the back of the net.
The place went wild, I looked round to see Barry cuddling the chairman, I didn’t know if something was going on there.
The game was heading for a draw, but Wingate had other ideas. They put on attack after attack and once again Ben had to do one of his world-class tackles, only if it was possible this one was even better.
Smith had to make two first class saves one of them from the six-yard box.
Aylesbury broke and Henney receiving the ball inside the Wingate Area was clearly pushed off the ball, the claims for the penalty were waved away by the ref.
The final whistle went and with it a massive cheer, everyone had seen a very good cup-tie.
Wingate had had the best of the last five minutes but a draw was a fair result for two very good teams.
We had a beer before we left, well I had a warm can and Bob had a bottle of water, his green was starting to fade.
Danny was walking around shouting if anyone wanted to see a photo of his new pussy; I didn’t want to get into this in case the police arrived, so we left.
Wingate & Finchley v Aylesbury
It was Saturday and FA cup day, I had had a mare during the week as my car had broken down and was in the garage for repair.
I had no transport to get to the match.
I could not get the coach as it left at 12 and the misses wouldn’t let me go that early.
Ever since Thursday I had been on at silly Bob to give me a lift and come to the match, I was mot missing an FA cup game.
I bribed him with all sorts and he finally gave in when I promised him he could have my X Box. I didn’t have an X Box but I would tell him that after we got home.
Bob picked me up and we went to the pub before heading off to the game.
Arthur the old boy well into his nineties and as deaf as a post, was sitting at his usual seat at the bar. He was nursing a near empty glass of orange juice, which looked like it had gone off.
“Off the sherbet then Arthur?” I said
“No son it’s my new drink, a Magadriver. I had to start having them because I keep getting a bad tummy. I made the drink up”
“What’s in it then?”
“Well it’s a teaspoon of Grenadine, a shot of Bacardi, a bottle of orange juice and two spoons of Milk of Magnesia.”
“Sounds nice mate, want another one.”
“Can I have one of those” jumped in silly Bob.
“No thanks I’ll have a pint, these things make me sick,” said Arthur.
I got him a pint and just for the hell of it got silly Bob a Magadriver. The barmaid looked at me as though I had just landed from another planet.
“FA cup today Arthur, were going to Wingate and Finchley”
I didn’t know why I let myself open for the bombs and plane sagas.
“Yeah I bet they got bombed didn’t they Arthur” said silly Bob pulling his stool up closer to Arthur.
That was the moment I didn’t have a lift to the match. I was going to kill Bob.
“They did get bombed in the war, all around that area.”
I switched off, I was thinking of horrible ways to kill Bob.
I switched on again with Arthur’s next statement; it had something to do with football.
“Wingate football club was named after General C. Wingate, who despite not being Jewish oversaw the creation of the Israeli Army during the Second World War.”
“Really Arthur” I said,
Bob was nodding. The dick head didn’t know he was a dead man walking.
“Ken Aston was the president of the club,” said Arthur.
“Really” I said.
Who the bloody hell was Ken Aston. Maybe he made Aston Martin cars or he could have started Aston Villa.
I suppose I had to ask, he was waiting for it.
“Who’s Ken Aston then Arthur?”
“He was the man who started the system of red and yellow cards used by referees. They were to help with the language barriers and to let players and spectators know that they had been sent off or cautioned.”
On his return from military service in 1946, he became the first League referee to wear the black uniform with white trim which became the standard for referees. The following year he introduced bright yellow linesmens’ flags in place of the pennants in the colours of the home team which had been used before.”
Blimey Arthur knew about football as well as war.
“He was best known for the Battle of Santiago”
I just knew it was to good to last. We were back to the war.
“He refereed the match between Chile and Italy in the 1962 World Cup. It was called the Battle of Santiago
The atmosphere of this match had been inflamed by Italian journalists derogatory descriptions of the beauty and morals of Chilean woman, something about fat pigs and they had a go about the condition of the Chilean capital. The Chileans had a dislike of the Italian practice of using South American players with Italian passports.”
“Wow, go on Arthur”
Silly Bob had lost interest as it didn’t have bombs in it, I’d give him a bomb when we got outside.
The match got off to a great start, They were fighting in the first few seconds, kicking punching, spitting and that was just the crowd. The first player got booked within 12 seconds of the game starting. After 12 minutes Italy's Giorgio Ferrini had to be escorted off the field by Aston and a load of armed police, he was refusing to leave the field and they had to stop 10 thousand people trying to kill him. They were required five more times in the match and to escort players off the field, once when the Chilean centre-forward Landa was hacked down and later when Aston sent off David for a retaliatory kick at the head of the Chilean, Sanchez. Sánchez was allowed to stay on the pitch despite breaking the nose of the Argentine-born Italian Maschio, with a stright right and then a left hook.
The match was uncontrollable all the players were punching and kicking each other. The armed police and army had to come on again to escort the teams off the field safely.”
This was really good stuff, I didn’t know Arthur knew this. I should have known, as it had to do with violence.
Bob had got another Magadriver and was trying to pacify the barmaid who wanted to punch his lights out.
I was interested in all this and wanted to hear more but we had to make a move as it was getting late.
It still took ten minutes to get going, as I had to wait for silly Bob to finish being sick in the bog.
On the way to the ground we passed a big sign, For Wembley take the A41, I wondered if it was an omen.
We arrived and went into the ground. The sun had got hot and it was going to be hard to play in this heat.
The stand was miles away from the pitch. I looked around to see where they were selling binoculars; these lads wont miss a trick I thought.
The pitch itself was in lovely condition and would be a pleasure to play on.
I spotted what’s his name with the big pockets talking with one of their officials; I bet he was at it.
I shot into the club for a beer and all they were selling were cans, warm as well, Oh well it was wet. I only got one, as Bob was still a bit green.
The teams came out, Wingate in blue and us in our famous red and black.
Wingate won the toss and turned round so we were facing the sun.
We kicked off and after three passes lost the ball. It was passed down the right and a lovely pass across the goal saw Wingate’s forward rise in the air unmarked and head it into the net. 47 bloody seconds that is all it had taken, half our lot were still asleep and the other half sunbathing. I did a quick calculation, if they kept this up at this rate, it could end up 147 – 0
Aylesbury settled down and started to play football, they started to press the Wingate defence. 4 minutes later a nice run by Price down the right produced a corner that was taken by Mead. He struck the ball to the near post where Brennan was lurking to rise above all and head into the net. 1 – 1.
The game was well balanced now and both teams were producing good football. The ball was going from end to end and this was going to be a hard fought contest.
Barry one of our supporters was telling the Ref how to run the game, but for some unknown reason the Ref was taking no notice of him. He also kept on about the Grand Prix. I know they had a practice session today but he kept shouting out for Damien Hill, I thought he had retired. It wasn’t until later I realised he was shouting down the hill, I thought the pitch was flat. I must admit the Ref did seem to let a lot of pushing from Wingate go unpunished.
A young lad came along selling raffle tickets and I saw what’s his name with the big pockets buying one. He was at it again.
The rest of the half saw a few chances fall to both sides. With fifteen minutes to go in the half, Wingate whose forwards were very fast and giving our defence a hard time broke through the middle. Their forward broke into the box and had only Smith to beat in goal. Ben Stevens came from nowhere and dispossessed him; it was a world-class tackle that bought a loud applause even from the Wingate fans.
A few minutes later there was an appeal for a penalty on Price but the referee waved it away.
Wingate were starting to dominate now and were the better team until the half time whistle
They announced the raffle winner, 123 and all the old codgers were laughing with what’s his name, the old sod had fixed it again.
We went into the club for a beer, well a warm can, it had been very hot in the sun and I bet the players were feeling it.
The second half saw Aylesbury slightly the better side and were the team attacking most of the time. On 58 minutes slightly against the run of play, the ball was sent over to Wingate’s left wing, the player unmarked had time to pick his spot. He found a forward on the right hand side of the box, who smashed the ball against the left hand post and it went across the goal and into the net. 2 – 1.
The game was good to watch now with the ball going from end to end and the crowd were getting louder and louder. The Wingate forwards were always a threat to Aylesbury as were the Aylesbury forwards to Wingate, but both defences held firm.
Meade made a tackle on a Wingate forward and if he had gone down it might have been a close call for a penalty.
Mark the Aylesbury manager changed the formation with substitutes and it put more pressure on Wingate.
With 7 min to go Price made a run down the right and his cross found Henney in the area. It took forever for him to strike the ball, but when it did it found the back of the net.
The place went wild, I looked round to see Barry cuddling the chairman, I didn’t know if something was going on there.
The game was heading for a draw, but Wingate had other ideas. They put on attack after attack and once again Ben had to do one of his world-class tackles, only if it was possible this one was even better.
Smith had to make two first class saves one of them from the six-yard box.
Aylesbury broke and Henney receiving the ball inside the Wingate Area was clearly pushed off the ball, the claims for the penalty were waved away by the ref.
The final whistle went and with it a massive cheer, everyone had seen a very good cup-tie.
Wingate had had the best of the last five minutes but a draw was a fair result for two very good teams.
We had a beer before we left, well I had a warm can and Bob had a bottle of water, his green was starting to fade.
Danny was walking around shouting if anyone wanted to see a photo of his new pussy; I didn’t want to get into this in case the police arrived, so we left.
