Jump to content

SEAO

Member
  • Posts

    40
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Reputation Activity

  1. Like
    SEAO reacted to Normanton Lad in Great games   
    Derby 3 Chelsea 1 1968 
    Derby 3 Leeds 2 1975 
    Derby 4 Real Madrid 1 1975
  2. Like
    SEAO reacted to Geriatram in The big reset.   
    For me as a 13 year old the Div 3 north seasons were some of the best times as a Rams fan, Ray Straw a 36 goal scoring Centre forward, Martin Mcdonnell still one of my all time favourite players, he was an ex paratrooper and if he fell to the ground he would do a parachute roll. I remember that team with a fondness matched only by the championship winning teams. I am looking forward to Saturday after noon football again this season, my interest was beginning to wain with all the midweek games I didn't attend. I have a feeling we will have a very good League 1 season, Champions maybe. But no 36 goal scorer. UPTR.  
  3. Like
    SEAO reacted to The Scarlet Pimpernel in Jason Knight   
    Thought Knight was very good at fullback on Saturday. I would keep him in that position as I think he could be very effective. Might have stumbled into his best position.
  4. Like
    SEAO reacted to Anag Ram in Matchday Thread - Derby County v Oxford United (30/07 15:00)   
    Thoughts from yesterday.
    Felt incredibly tense before the game and that took away a little from the delight at being back.
    I thought the team played with a similar spirit to last year, even though the personnel was hugely different. It was obvious that we were a bit clunky as players get used to each other and playing in different positions but I could see what they were trying to do and there wasn’t anyone yesterday that I thought played poorly or that wouldn’t contribute to the cause this season.
    Knight and NML terrorised Oxford in the first half but were largely blunted as a pair in the second. Mendez Laing was my MOM.
    Knight played well but is wasted at FB. We need him in midfield where we were overpowered. We put in very few telling tackles and we can’t afford to do that this year. I can see why we’re looking at another CM and would love Dale Stephens here. We will struggle away from home unless we have more defensive CM options.
     I thought Collins battled well and ran his socks off but he badly needs a goal and a bit more central support. When Sibley came on he got that. Thought LS played okay (not so keen on the shenanigans after the final whistle) and he showed the importance of a central player who runs at the opposition. This is another area where we need strengthening. A quicker forward.
     I can see why we play the sideways, backwards Chuckle Brothers routine to draw the opposition but this looks too robotic and overdone. We have two exciting wide players and poor Barkhuisen had little to work with in the first half. In the second he showed how valuable he can be.
    Looking at the squad, I’m still struggling to see where a lot of goals are coming from but I can also see a strong squad emerging and there’s a lot of quality.
    And finally, when the ball came to Hourihane on that left foot I just knew where it would end up. That was glorious!

     
  5. Clap
    SEAO reacted to Anag Ram in Chants   
    My view?
    World events of the past few years have demonstrated how much hatred and disrespect for others there is.
    Football events from the past couple of years has shown how devastating it can be when the club you love is in danger.
    Now that things have settled a little at least on the footballing front, it’s time to reflect on what’s really important.
    Surely that’s enjoying our team not hating teams that play against us?
    I don’t mind ‘Is this a library?’ and similar taunts to prompt a response but sheer hatred has no place in a football ground or anywhere else.
    Football is entertainment. Be entertained, not hateful.
  6. Like
    SEAO reacted to Crewton in Who could we start next season with, player wise (as it stands)?   
    I think Knight is capable of playing RB. He's a good tackler for one.
  7. Like
    SEAO reacted to Crewton in Craig Forsyth - Signed one year contract   
    I wouldn't go that far ? but I've always rated him and defended him against his critics who crop up every time he makes a mistake. I'd love to have him here for another season.
  8. Like
  9. Like
    SEAO reacted to Ram@Lincoln in Steve Nicholson leaving the Derby Telegraph   
    After 37 years service, Steve Nicholson finishes his reporting of Derby. No matter what you think of his articles now during the click bait world of the Derby Live website, he's been an absolutely outstanding linchpin to Derby media over the years. Before the social media world he, along with RD, were the number one source for all things Derby. I wish Steve all the best with whatever he does now, wherever it's retirement or somewhere new without the pressures of clickbait and online adverts. Thank you for all your hard work over 37 years Steve!
    https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/steve-nicholson-derby-county-telegraph-7075231?1=
  10. Like
    SEAO reacted to IslandExile in 1971-72 season scrapbook   
    Thank you @LeedsCityRam and @Brailsford Ram for these fantastic memories and such an uplifting thread.
    Here's the BBC's take on it...
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/61272553
  11. Like
    SEAO reacted to Brentfordjack in Good luck from a Bee   
    All the very best for the coming season and beyond.I hope Rooney sticks by you with a decent owner on board he has a good a chance as anybody to get you back up.Your fans have been superb through this crap period.Things can change very quick in football and sometimes for the better, look at us in the so called best league in the world the Premier league for another season.Although my opinion of  the PL ( I’ve missed 2 games this season )is it’s the fatal attraction of clubs who risk everything to get to the tv cash when for us fans it’s a bland predictable bore fest unless you are a top 4 club the rest just make up the numbers.I won’t shed a tear when we eventually get back to the championship a far better and more competitive league to play in.Hope to be playing you at Pride Park again soon.
  12. Like
    SEAO reacted to gfs1ram in To those of you under 50, some good news   
    Do you remember the Liverpool 2-0 game in the early 60's with Bill Curry and Mick Hopkinson scoring from what seemed about 50 yards and Curry's battle with Ron Yeats!.  Can still see those goals now, incredible atmosphere at the BBG. 
     
  13. Like
    SEAO reacted to Bob The Badger in To those of you under 50, some good news   
    You’re going to be gutted this morning, and rightly so.
    But it ain’t all bad.
    When we dropped out of the old 2nd division into the 3rd in 1984 things were in many ways, worse.
    We didn’t (quite) have the financial issues, but we had a horrible team and the entire season was utterly depressing and devoid of hope in a way this season hasn’t been.
    My personal highlight of an utterly depressing season was meeting Dave Watson in a Little Chef on the A1 after we spanked Cambridge away 3-0 in the FA Cup. That was pretty much it for ducks sake.
    AND we had not just relegation, but the ignominy of losing to Plymouth in the FA Cup quarter-final to contend with after we had dragged them back to the BBG.
    We all thought that we’d bounce right back when we did get relegated and the arrival of Arthur Cox just emboldened that belief.
    An opening day away loss to Bournemouth, when Bournemouth then were more like the equivalent of Exeter now, didn’t dissuade us.
    Of course, we didn’t bounce back and ended up outside the top 6.
    But we had some BRILLIANT away days that season, Hull, Lincoln, and the last game of the season at Newport spring to mind.
    It was a whole lot more fun than the previous season because we were, for the most part, competing and you could see what Arthur was trying to do.
    There’s something fun about going to smaller clubs and taking the place over. Those of you who travel to away games know that the camaraderie is special.
    In fact, the adversity that we have faced this season has developed that camaraderie, only it’s done it at home.
    I work online and use social media a lot and the admiration for Derby’s support, especially those of you who travel away is a delight to read. I’ve even read genuine Forest and Leeds fans say they’re impressed.
    And what’s not to be impressed about?
    Forget the trolls who are loving this, the REAL football supporters appreciate and understand what Rooney has dragged the club through and the guy is universally respected, exponentially more so than when he was merely an excellent player.
    He’s now an excellent ex-player and an excellent human being. Time will tell if he can become an excellent manager, but the signs are promising.
    The second year under Arthur we did come up and that season was even better for road trips..
    I’ve seen Derby beat Benfica, Real Madrid, every top English club multiple times and Forest many times. But if I were to list the best 5 games I’ve ever attended, Derby at home to Rotherham in the old 3rd Division on a Friday night would be up there.
    That game with that penalty that took us back up to what would now be the Championship was a raucous, intense and then delirious atmosphere ending in an effing celebration comparable with any I have witnessed - although to be fair, my memory is a tad blurry because we did hit the pub hard.
    I doubt there was a Liverpool fan that got anything like the joy from beating Man City in the cup semi or will get more if they win the thing, than we Derby fans got from squeaking past Rotherham that night.
    The fact is, winning is just fun, no matter what division you are in. And beating adversity is fun too. So much more satisfying and enjoyable than just delivering on what’s expected.
    Somebody posted that they hope we're not that team that thinks they will bounce back up.
    I don't really care if fans think that. It's totally irrelevant.
    What is relevant is what WR thinks and what he allows his staff and players to think.
    And I have no doubt whatsoever that he'll not allow that entitled type of mindset to creep in.
    The good news is we have renewed hope for a stable club, a very promising manager in place, an Academy that is flourishing even if it is being pillaged and some wins to look forward to.
    We are where we are, so we may as well embrace it and have fun. And you will have some fun, I promise.
  14. COYR
    SEAO got a reaction from Shipley Ram in RamsTV Streaming | How to Watch   
    I've sorted it thanks - had to go on the buy now option and I'm now all paid up and ready 
     
     
  15. Like
    SEAO reacted to CBRammette in Sheffield United (H) Matchday Thread Saturday 15th January 3pm   
    Sat here in bits again. My dad is really really ill and his bad days seem to coincide with bad news Derby days. He is Derby through and through and I'm not sure he understands or is aware of the off the field stuff now but I know later watching those goals on Quest with him how he will light up as little else makes him do now. That is why we have to save our club. It is not about amortisation, stadium sales, law suits, points deductions, etc. it is about watching those goals with my dementia-ridden dad and seeing his happiness for a few minutes later knowing we're off the bottom. The wonder of dementia is he will have forgotten tomorrow so we can do it all again several times. So duck the EFL, Morris, Gibson and the nobody chancer from Wycombe. We are better people than all of you and how dare you threaten the existence of our Derby family. 
  16. Clap
    SEAO reacted to jono in West Bromwich Albion (H) Matchday Thread   
    Anyway, rant at ref excluded .. what a horrid game of football and what a magnificent display of guts and commitment from our makeshift team of brave hearts. Talk about stretching muscle and sinew. 
     
    Long ball didn’t work with no one to hold the ball and a young midfield that initially got over run .. but Wayne tweaked it and restored par to even stevens. Front 2 didn’t work. Baldock and Plange only had scraps so can’t be blamed. Knight covered so much ground, immense performance. Bird slow off the mark but improved as the game went on, Tommo is going to be some player as is Festy. Deserved his ovation for a fine performance. Everyone played a part. The crowd were fierce, loud and drove us on. Loved it when CKR came on. Like the bit in Lord of the rings when reinforcements arrive at the death. What’s that coming over the hill .. it’s a Colin  .. they stepped back .. be afraid, be very afraid! We have some heavy artillery ! And a word for spider man Allsop .. what a save .. it seemed like a slow motion twisted  star jump. Stearman stepped up, Curtis was Curtis. I can’t do a MOTM but employee of the month goes to Fozzy for the towel, well done that man
    que sera sera .. we are fighting to the end. Wonderful day out, can’t think of a better way to lose my voice 
  17. Like
    SEAO reacted to Ram-Alf in What is your earliest link to the past rams?   
    Brian Clough was a little like Marmite, He had a love/hate relationship with some people.
    Towards the end of my playing days on Sundays, I played for a team of has-beens and never Will Bs, We played A C Hunters, Nigel and Simon Clough played for them as younger players, Brian would always be there watching even tho he was Forests Manager.
    I played in goal, We got thumped 6-0, But I was born with a big mouth always had sosmething to say, Never shut up on the pitch, At the end of the game Brian came over to me and said "young man you're a credit to the game" walking into the dressing room all our players bowed to me...with lots of laughter.
    A C Hunters always played in a Forest kit, Away games all yellow, There rivals were Coronation81...a boozer in Alvaston 1-2 DLF lads, Anyway, A Coronation player had a nasty knee injury when playing against Hunters, Ambulance was called and carted off to the Derby Infirmary, The Coronation 81 secretary got a call from Someone at the City ground asking about the injured player that week, Then recieved a letter asking once the player is in recovery mode to get himself down the City ground for Physio...which the player did...from then on there was never any grief when A C Hunters came to town...clever man was our Brian ?
  18. Like
    SEAO got a reaction from Bill Curry in What is your earliest link to the past rams?   
    An old post I've repeated but I hope fits the topic and may give some new members a little taste of how it was.
    November 1955 at the age of seven is my first memory. Remember in those days there was no such thing as football on the television. We had BBC in black and white and that was it. I was aware My Dad went to watch Derby County play. Who they were, what division they played in , why he went was all a mystery. Dad always worked on Saturday mornings and then went to the pub after finishing. Usually he would roll in about 3.00p.m and go to sleep . Occasionally though he went to a football match, and this particular day he came in about six o’ clock and put his bag on the handle inside the door as usual. Mam asked him how they had gone on and I distinctly remember him saying lost 6-1 to Boston ,
                    I must have shown some interest because that Christmas I got my very first Charles Buchan annual from my Dad. This was to become his present for me for at least the next six years. It cost 10 shillings and sixpence ( 53p) in today’s money and was always a  prized possession as it was full of stories and  glossy pictures of footballers.
                    January 22cnd 1956 I got my first taste of what it was all about. Dad took me to the Baseball Ground to watch Derby play a team called Bradford City. We went by train from Burton Station , catching the 1.18p.m to Derby accompanied by two of Dad’s brothers Stan and Ken. On arrival at Derby I was led up Midland Rd. only for Dad and Stan to go into the Midland Hotel for a pint while uncle Ken took me for a walk somewhere. Sometime later having met up again we went along  London Rd. turning right up Bateman St. on to Osmaston Rd.
    For the first time I saw a green trolley bus and was in complete awe as to how those poles coming out the roof of the bus managed to stay on the wires which hung over the road .It was here I first became aware that we were approaching our destination . People wearing black and white scarves and waving noisy rattles , a man shouting all the latest team news as he sold his newspapers and another man selling a little grey booklet called a programme. Dad bought one for 3d ( 1.5p) and gave it to me- my first of many (whatever happened to all them?).
                    The noise and babble would have grown as we turned right into Shaftesbury St. up the slight incline and then gently down to the place where there were lots of people milling about which Dad said was the Baseball Ground. there was alweays smoke in the air from the nmerous chimneys and cigarettes. We turned left and queued to go into the Osmaston Upper stand which cost the princely sum of 4/6d (22.5p) to sit down. Through the click of the turnstile,into the building, up three flights of stairs wide enough to take six people and then at the top up a further couple of steps back into the cold January daylight. Wow ! so this is the Baseball Ground football pitch - with a diamond of rolled brown mud and four green corners all marked out with white lines the purpose of which I didn't yet understand .
    Looking down and around I could see the crowds coming in at the far end of what was the Popular side and making their way to their favourite standing spot under the roof which was painted with the sign OFFILERS ALES in large white letters. At the opposite end, stood a three tiered stand called the Normanton end with a small area called the boys pen under the scoreboard ,and on our right was the single tier main stand  stretching the length of the pitch where the directors and rich people sat with a  small terrace area in front.
    In the middle of that was an opening which led under the stand . This Dad said was where the players came out just before kick off at 3.00p.m. A man dressed in black and white top hat and tails walked around path on the perimeter of the pitch with his rattle . encouraging the crowd to use  theirs and boys with baskets over their shoulders moved slowly along the path around the pitch selling peanuts and sweets .
                    Of the game I can remember absolutely nothing. I know that Derby won 4-1 and 15285 people  were there but that’s it. The important thing was that from that day on I was hooked and my love affair with the game of football and Derby County had begun. That programme was read from back to front over and over taking in the names of players – fixtures and results so far. I learned Derby were in the Third Division North and the league table showed me they were currently lying second. I looked  on a map to see where Bradford was and also some of the other teams Derby had played. Workington, Barrow and Carlisle it all sounded very romantic. I never went to another game that season , but  Derby stayed second scoring over 100 goals but just missed out on promotion (no play offs in those days) but I now had my heroes and I started to read reports of the games in the papers and cut out the pictures of the players as they appeared in print.        
    I watched my first Cup Final in 1956 a match played between Manchester City and Birmingham City. It was i think, the only game televised that season and was memorable in that Manchester City who won 3-1 had a German ex prisoner of war called Bert Trautmann in goal. He had the misfortune to get hurt in a collision and played on holding his neck for the rest of the game (there were no substitutions in those days). Later X-rays showed that he had broken his neck.
     The FA Cup was the competition all footballers most wanted to win and all boys dreamed one day of playing on the hallowed turf at Wembley. The final in front of 100,000 spectators was always a tremendous occasion on the first Saturday in May at 3.00p.m. It was  showed on BBC television and watched by millions. There were no prying cameras on coaches or in dressing rooms, no pundits offering inane pearls of wisdom for hours on end, no adverts to distract the viewer. The brass band played and the crowd, with supporters of both teams standing side by side with no segregation, sang Abide with Me before the teams came out to a mighty roar. The long walk from the tunnel to the half way line on a pristine pitch mowed in contrasting stripes before presentation to a Royal dignitary increased the anticipation of the fantastic game to come. And the final whistle then usually signalled the end of the football season and kids started to play cricket. That was the way it always was   
    The following season 1956-57 I went to Derby more often, watching nine games in all. Each time Dad paid for me to sit in the Osmaston end at 4/6d per time. I would have gone to more but I think he found the extra expense a bit draining. I have very good memories of this season as Derby was  now my favourite team and I started to hang on every spoken and written word about them. I had my favourite players – Jack Parry ,Tommy Powell and Geoff Barrowcliffe- when the latter did something good I can still here Dad saying Good old Barrer! I picked up the magic of the FA Cup as Derby beat Bradford City in the first round and I was able to see the goals replayed on television for the very first time but what the programme was I don’t remember at all.  In the second round I saw them knocked out by New Brighton (non league) and the dreams were over for another year. Dad didn’t miss a home game that season and went to several away as well. My programme collection grew, supplemented by ones from places like Hull, Bradford and Doncaster and all read from cover to cover.
    Derby won the Third Division North at a canter that year setting up records that still hold today. Most team goals in a season and most goals in a season by one player (Ray Straw). One game that really sticks in the mind was against Barrow- Derby were 0-2 down at half time and for the first time I became aware of the amount of noise that could be generated by the Baseball Ground crowd as the Rams fought back to draw 3-3. It was an eye opener but fell way short of the cacophony of sound that would be created ten to fifteen years later.
     
  19. Like
    SEAO got a reaction from The Scarlet Pimpernel in What is your earliest link to the past rams?   
    An old post I've repeated but I hope fits the topic and may give some new members a little taste of how it was.
    November 1955 at the age of seven is my first memory. Remember in those days there was no such thing as football on the television. We had BBC in black and white and that was it. I was aware My Dad went to watch Derby County play. Who they were, what division they played in , why he went was all a mystery. Dad always worked on Saturday mornings and then went to the pub after finishing. Usually he would roll in about 3.00p.m and go to sleep . Occasionally though he went to a football match, and this particular day he came in about six o’ clock and put his bag on the handle inside the door as usual. Mam asked him how they had gone on and I distinctly remember him saying lost 6-1 to Boston ,
                    I must have shown some interest because that Christmas I got my very first Charles Buchan annual from my Dad. This was to become his present for me for at least the next six years. It cost 10 shillings and sixpence ( 53p) in today’s money and was always a  prized possession as it was full of stories and  glossy pictures of footballers.
                    January 22cnd 1956 I got my first taste of what it was all about. Dad took me to the Baseball Ground to watch Derby play a team called Bradford City. We went by train from Burton Station , catching the 1.18p.m to Derby accompanied by two of Dad’s brothers Stan and Ken. On arrival at Derby I was led up Midland Rd. only for Dad and Stan to go into the Midland Hotel for a pint while uncle Ken took me for a walk somewhere. Sometime later having met up again we went along  London Rd. turning right up Bateman St. on to Osmaston Rd.
    For the first time I saw a green trolley bus and was in complete awe as to how those poles coming out the roof of the bus managed to stay on the wires which hung over the road .It was here I first became aware that we were approaching our destination . People wearing black and white scarves and waving noisy rattles , a man shouting all the latest team news as he sold his newspapers and another man selling a little grey booklet called a programme. Dad bought one for 3d ( 1.5p) and gave it to me- my first of many (whatever happened to all them?).
                    The noise and babble would have grown as we turned right into Shaftesbury St. up the slight incline and then gently down to the place where there were lots of people milling about which Dad said was the Baseball Ground. there was alweays smoke in the air from the nmerous chimneys and cigarettes. We turned left and queued to go into the Osmaston Upper stand which cost the princely sum of 4/6d (22.5p) to sit down. Through the click of the turnstile,into the building, up three flights of stairs wide enough to take six people and then at the top up a further couple of steps back into the cold January daylight. Wow ! so this is the Baseball Ground football pitch - with a diamond of rolled brown mud and four green corners all marked out with white lines the purpose of which I didn't yet understand .
    Looking down and around I could see the crowds coming in at the far end of what was the Popular side and making their way to their favourite standing spot under the roof which was painted with the sign OFFILERS ALES in large white letters. At the opposite end, stood a three tiered stand called the Normanton end with a small area called the boys pen under the scoreboard ,and on our right was the single tier main stand  stretching the length of the pitch where the directors and rich people sat with a  small terrace area in front.
    In the middle of that was an opening which led under the stand . This Dad said was where the players came out just before kick off at 3.00p.m. A man dressed in black and white top hat and tails walked around path on the perimeter of the pitch with his rattle . encouraging the crowd to use  theirs and boys with baskets over their shoulders moved slowly along the path around the pitch selling peanuts and sweets .
                    Of the game I can remember absolutely nothing. I know that Derby won 4-1 and 15285 people  were there but that’s it. The important thing was that from that day on I was hooked and my love affair with the game of football and Derby County had begun. That programme was read from back to front over and over taking in the names of players – fixtures and results so far. I learned Derby were in the Third Division North and the league table showed me they were currently lying second. I looked  on a map to see where Bradford was and also some of the other teams Derby had played. Workington, Barrow and Carlisle it all sounded very romantic. I never went to another game that season , but  Derby stayed second scoring over 100 goals but just missed out on promotion (no play offs in those days) but I now had my heroes and I started to read reports of the games in the papers and cut out the pictures of the players as they appeared in print.        
    I watched my first Cup Final in 1956 a match played between Manchester City and Birmingham City. It was i think, the only game televised that season and was memorable in that Manchester City who won 3-1 had a German ex prisoner of war called Bert Trautmann in goal. He had the misfortune to get hurt in a collision and played on holding his neck for the rest of the game (there were no substitutions in those days). Later X-rays showed that he had broken his neck.
     The FA Cup was the competition all footballers most wanted to win and all boys dreamed one day of playing on the hallowed turf at Wembley. The final in front of 100,000 spectators was always a tremendous occasion on the first Saturday in May at 3.00p.m. It was  showed on BBC television and watched by millions. There were no prying cameras on coaches or in dressing rooms, no pundits offering inane pearls of wisdom for hours on end, no adverts to distract the viewer. The brass band played and the crowd, with supporters of both teams standing side by side with no segregation, sang Abide with Me before the teams came out to a mighty roar. The long walk from the tunnel to the half way line on a pristine pitch mowed in contrasting stripes before presentation to a Royal dignitary increased the anticipation of the fantastic game to come. And the final whistle then usually signalled the end of the football season and kids started to play cricket. That was the way it always was   
    The following season 1956-57 I went to Derby more often, watching nine games in all. Each time Dad paid for me to sit in the Osmaston end at 4/6d per time. I would have gone to more but I think he found the extra expense a bit draining. I have very good memories of this season as Derby was  now my favourite team and I started to hang on every spoken and written word about them. I had my favourite players – Jack Parry ,Tommy Powell and Geoff Barrowcliffe- when the latter did something good I can still here Dad saying Good old Barrer! I picked up the magic of the FA Cup as Derby beat Bradford City in the first round and I was able to see the goals replayed on television for the very first time but what the programme was I don’t remember at all.  In the second round I saw them knocked out by New Brighton (non league) and the dreams were over for another year. Dad didn’t miss a home game that season and went to several away as well. My programme collection grew, supplemented by ones from places like Hull, Bradford and Doncaster and all read from cover to cover.
    Derby won the Third Division North at a canter that year setting up records that still hold today. Most team goals in a season and most goals in a season by one player (Ray Straw). One game that really sticks in the mind was against Barrow- Derby were 0-2 down at half time and for the first time I became aware of the amount of noise that could be generated by the Baseball Ground crowd as the Rams fought back to draw 3-3. It was an eye opener but fell way short of the cacophony of sound that would be created ten to fifteen years later.
     
  20. COYR
    SEAO got a reaction from Mucker1884 in What is your earliest link to the past rams?   
    An old post I've repeated but I hope fits the topic and may give some new members a little taste of how it was.
    November 1955 at the age of seven is my first memory. Remember in those days there was no such thing as football on the television. We had BBC in black and white and that was it. I was aware My Dad went to watch Derby County play. Who they were, what division they played in , why he went was all a mystery. Dad always worked on Saturday mornings and then went to the pub after finishing. Usually he would roll in about 3.00p.m and go to sleep . Occasionally though he went to a football match, and this particular day he came in about six o’ clock and put his bag on the handle inside the door as usual. Mam asked him how they had gone on and I distinctly remember him saying lost 6-1 to Boston ,
                    I must have shown some interest because that Christmas I got my very first Charles Buchan annual from my Dad. This was to become his present for me for at least the next six years. It cost 10 shillings and sixpence ( 53p) in today’s money and was always a  prized possession as it was full of stories and  glossy pictures of footballers.
                    January 22cnd 1956 I got my first taste of what it was all about. Dad took me to the Baseball Ground to watch Derby play a team called Bradford City. We went by train from Burton Station , catching the 1.18p.m to Derby accompanied by two of Dad’s brothers Stan and Ken. On arrival at Derby I was led up Midland Rd. only for Dad and Stan to go into the Midland Hotel for a pint while uncle Ken took me for a walk somewhere. Sometime later having met up again we went along  London Rd. turning right up Bateman St. on to Osmaston Rd.
    For the first time I saw a green trolley bus and was in complete awe as to how those poles coming out the roof of the bus managed to stay on the wires which hung over the road .It was here I first became aware that we were approaching our destination . People wearing black and white scarves and waving noisy rattles , a man shouting all the latest team news as he sold his newspapers and another man selling a little grey booklet called a programme. Dad bought one for 3d ( 1.5p) and gave it to me- my first of many (whatever happened to all them?).
                    The noise and babble would have grown as we turned right into Shaftesbury St. up the slight incline and then gently down to the place where there were lots of people milling about which Dad said was the Baseball Ground. there was alweays smoke in the air from the nmerous chimneys and cigarettes. We turned left and queued to go into the Osmaston Upper stand which cost the princely sum of 4/6d (22.5p) to sit down. Through the click of the turnstile,into the building, up three flights of stairs wide enough to take six people and then at the top up a further couple of steps back into the cold January daylight. Wow ! so this is the Baseball Ground football pitch - with a diamond of rolled brown mud and four green corners all marked out with white lines the purpose of which I didn't yet understand .
    Looking down and around I could see the crowds coming in at the far end of what was the Popular side and making their way to their favourite standing spot under the roof which was painted with the sign OFFILERS ALES in large white letters. At the opposite end, stood a three tiered stand called the Normanton end with a small area called the boys pen under the scoreboard ,and on our right was the single tier main stand  stretching the length of the pitch where the directors and rich people sat with a  small terrace area in front.
    In the middle of that was an opening which led under the stand . This Dad said was where the players came out just before kick off at 3.00p.m. A man dressed in black and white top hat and tails walked around path on the perimeter of the pitch with his rattle . encouraging the crowd to use  theirs and boys with baskets over their shoulders moved slowly along the path around the pitch selling peanuts and sweets .
                    Of the game I can remember absolutely nothing. I know that Derby won 4-1 and 15285 people  were there but that’s it. The important thing was that from that day on I was hooked and my love affair with the game of football and Derby County had begun. That programme was read from back to front over and over taking in the names of players – fixtures and results so far. I learned Derby were in the Third Division North and the league table showed me they were currently lying second. I looked  on a map to see where Bradford was and also some of the other teams Derby had played. Workington, Barrow and Carlisle it all sounded very romantic. I never went to another game that season , but  Derby stayed second scoring over 100 goals but just missed out on promotion (no play offs in those days) but I now had my heroes and I started to read reports of the games in the papers and cut out the pictures of the players as they appeared in print.        
    I watched my first Cup Final in 1956 a match played between Manchester City and Birmingham City. It was i think, the only game televised that season and was memorable in that Manchester City who won 3-1 had a German ex prisoner of war called Bert Trautmann in goal. He had the misfortune to get hurt in a collision and played on holding his neck for the rest of the game (there were no substitutions in those days). Later X-rays showed that he had broken his neck.
     The FA Cup was the competition all footballers most wanted to win and all boys dreamed one day of playing on the hallowed turf at Wembley. The final in front of 100,000 spectators was always a tremendous occasion on the first Saturday in May at 3.00p.m. It was  showed on BBC television and watched by millions. There were no prying cameras on coaches or in dressing rooms, no pundits offering inane pearls of wisdom for hours on end, no adverts to distract the viewer. The brass band played and the crowd, with supporters of both teams standing side by side with no segregation, sang Abide with Me before the teams came out to a mighty roar. The long walk from the tunnel to the half way line on a pristine pitch mowed in contrasting stripes before presentation to a Royal dignitary increased the anticipation of the fantastic game to come. And the final whistle then usually signalled the end of the football season and kids started to play cricket. That was the way it always was   
    The following season 1956-57 I went to Derby more often, watching nine games in all. Each time Dad paid for me to sit in the Osmaston end at 4/6d per time. I would have gone to more but I think he found the extra expense a bit draining. I have very good memories of this season as Derby was  now my favourite team and I started to hang on every spoken and written word about them. I had my favourite players – Jack Parry ,Tommy Powell and Geoff Barrowcliffe- when the latter did something good I can still here Dad saying Good old Barrer! I picked up the magic of the FA Cup as Derby beat Bradford City in the first round and I was able to see the goals replayed on television for the very first time but what the programme was I don’t remember at all.  In the second round I saw them knocked out by New Brighton (non league) and the dreams were over for another year. Dad didn’t miss a home game that season and went to several away as well. My programme collection grew, supplemented by ones from places like Hull, Bradford and Doncaster and all read from cover to cover.
    Derby won the Third Division North at a canter that year setting up records that still hold today. Most team goals in a season and most goals in a season by one player (Ray Straw). One game that really sticks in the mind was against Barrow- Derby were 0-2 down at half time and for the first time I became aware of the amount of noise that could be generated by the Baseball Ground crowd as the Rams fought back to draw 3-3. It was an eye opener but fell way short of the cacophony of sound that would be created ten to fifteen years later.
     
  21. Like
    SEAO got a reaction from LeedsCityRam in What is your earliest link to the past rams?   
    An old post I've repeated but I hope fits the topic and may give some new members a little taste of how it was.
    November 1955 at the age of seven is my first memory. Remember in those days there was no such thing as football on the television. We had BBC in black and white and that was it. I was aware My Dad went to watch Derby County play. Who they were, what division they played in , why he went was all a mystery. Dad always worked on Saturday mornings and then went to the pub after finishing. Usually he would roll in about 3.00p.m and go to sleep . Occasionally though he went to a football match, and this particular day he came in about six o’ clock and put his bag on the handle inside the door as usual. Mam asked him how they had gone on and I distinctly remember him saying lost 6-1 to Boston ,
                    I must have shown some interest because that Christmas I got my very first Charles Buchan annual from my Dad. This was to become his present for me for at least the next six years. It cost 10 shillings and sixpence ( 53p) in today’s money and was always a  prized possession as it was full of stories and  glossy pictures of footballers.
                    January 22cnd 1956 I got my first taste of what it was all about. Dad took me to the Baseball Ground to watch Derby play a team called Bradford City. We went by train from Burton Station , catching the 1.18p.m to Derby accompanied by two of Dad’s brothers Stan and Ken. On arrival at Derby I was led up Midland Rd. only for Dad and Stan to go into the Midland Hotel for a pint while uncle Ken took me for a walk somewhere. Sometime later having met up again we went along  London Rd. turning right up Bateman St. on to Osmaston Rd.
    For the first time I saw a green trolley bus and was in complete awe as to how those poles coming out the roof of the bus managed to stay on the wires which hung over the road .It was here I first became aware that we were approaching our destination . People wearing black and white scarves and waving noisy rattles , a man shouting all the latest team news as he sold his newspapers and another man selling a little grey booklet called a programme. Dad bought one for 3d ( 1.5p) and gave it to me- my first of many (whatever happened to all them?).
                    The noise and babble would have grown as we turned right into Shaftesbury St. up the slight incline and then gently down to the place where there were lots of people milling about which Dad said was the Baseball Ground. there was alweays smoke in the air from the nmerous chimneys and cigarettes. We turned left and queued to go into the Osmaston Upper stand which cost the princely sum of 4/6d (22.5p) to sit down. Through the click of the turnstile,into the building, up three flights of stairs wide enough to take six people and then at the top up a further couple of steps back into the cold January daylight. Wow ! so this is the Baseball Ground football pitch - with a diamond of rolled brown mud and four green corners all marked out with white lines the purpose of which I didn't yet understand .
    Looking down and around I could see the crowds coming in at the far end of what was the Popular side and making their way to their favourite standing spot under the roof which was painted with the sign OFFILERS ALES in large white letters. At the opposite end, stood a three tiered stand called the Normanton end with a small area called the boys pen under the scoreboard ,and on our right was the single tier main stand  stretching the length of the pitch where the directors and rich people sat with a  small terrace area in front.
    In the middle of that was an opening which led under the stand . This Dad said was where the players came out just before kick off at 3.00p.m. A man dressed in black and white top hat and tails walked around path on the perimeter of the pitch with his rattle . encouraging the crowd to use  theirs and boys with baskets over their shoulders moved slowly along the path around the pitch selling peanuts and sweets .
                    Of the game I can remember absolutely nothing. I know that Derby won 4-1 and 15285 people  were there but that’s it. The important thing was that from that day on I was hooked and my love affair with the game of football and Derby County had begun. That programme was read from back to front over and over taking in the names of players – fixtures and results so far. I learned Derby were in the Third Division North and the league table showed me they were currently lying second. I looked  on a map to see where Bradford was and also some of the other teams Derby had played. Workington, Barrow and Carlisle it all sounded very romantic. I never went to another game that season , but  Derby stayed second scoring over 100 goals but just missed out on promotion (no play offs in those days) but I now had my heroes and I started to read reports of the games in the papers and cut out the pictures of the players as they appeared in print.        
    I watched my first Cup Final in 1956 a match played between Manchester City and Birmingham City. It was i think, the only game televised that season and was memorable in that Manchester City who won 3-1 had a German ex prisoner of war called Bert Trautmann in goal. He had the misfortune to get hurt in a collision and played on holding his neck for the rest of the game (there were no substitutions in those days). Later X-rays showed that he had broken his neck.
     The FA Cup was the competition all footballers most wanted to win and all boys dreamed one day of playing on the hallowed turf at Wembley. The final in front of 100,000 spectators was always a tremendous occasion on the first Saturday in May at 3.00p.m. It was  showed on BBC television and watched by millions. There were no prying cameras on coaches or in dressing rooms, no pundits offering inane pearls of wisdom for hours on end, no adverts to distract the viewer. The brass band played and the crowd, with supporters of both teams standing side by side with no segregation, sang Abide with Me before the teams came out to a mighty roar. The long walk from the tunnel to the half way line on a pristine pitch mowed in contrasting stripes before presentation to a Royal dignitary increased the anticipation of the fantastic game to come. And the final whistle then usually signalled the end of the football season and kids started to play cricket. That was the way it always was   
    The following season 1956-57 I went to Derby more often, watching nine games in all. Each time Dad paid for me to sit in the Osmaston end at 4/6d per time. I would have gone to more but I think he found the extra expense a bit draining. I have very good memories of this season as Derby was  now my favourite team and I started to hang on every spoken and written word about them. I had my favourite players – Jack Parry ,Tommy Powell and Geoff Barrowcliffe- when the latter did something good I can still here Dad saying Good old Barrer! I picked up the magic of the FA Cup as Derby beat Bradford City in the first round and I was able to see the goals replayed on television for the very first time but what the programme was I don’t remember at all.  In the second round I saw them knocked out by New Brighton (non league) and the dreams were over for another year. Dad didn’t miss a home game that season and went to several away as well. My programme collection grew, supplemented by ones from places like Hull, Bradford and Doncaster and all read from cover to cover.
    Derby won the Third Division North at a canter that year setting up records that still hold today. Most team goals in a season and most goals in a season by one player (Ray Straw). One game that really sticks in the mind was against Barrow- Derby were 0-2 down at half time and for the first time I became aware of the amount of noise that could be generated by the Baseball Ground crowd as the Rams fought back to draw 3-3. It was an eye opener but fell way short of the cacophony of sound that would be created ten to fifteen years later.
     
  22. COYR
    SEAO got a reaction from uttoxram75 in What is your earliest link to the past rams?   
    An old post I've repeated but I hope fits the topic and may give some new members a little taste of how it was.
    November 1955 at the age of seven is my first memory. Remember in those days there was no such thing as football on the television. We had BBC in black and white and that was it. I was aware My Dad went to watch Derby County play. Who they were, what division they played in , why he went was all a mystery. Dad always worked on Saturday mornings and then went to the pub after finishing. Usually he would roll in about 3.00p.m and go to sleep . Occasionally though he went to a football match, and this particular day he came in about six o’ clock and put his bag on the handle inside the door as usual. Mam asked him how they had gone on and I distinctly remember him saying lost 6-1 to Boston ,
                    I must have shown some interest because that Christmas I got my very first Charles Buchan annual from my Dad. This was to become his present for me for at least the next six years. It cost 10 shillings and sixpence ( 53p) in today’s money and was always a  prized possession as it was full of stories and  glossy pictures of footballers.
                    January 22cnd 1956 I got my first taste of what it was all about. Dad took me to the Baseball Ground to watch Derby play a team called Bradford City. We went by train from Burton Station , catching the 1.18p.m to Derby accompanied by two of Dad’s brothers Stan and Ken. On arrival at Derby I was led up Midland Rd. only for Dad and Stan to go into the Midland Hotel for a pint while uncle Ken took me for a walk somewhere. Sometime later having met up again we went along  London Rd. turning right up Bateman St. on to Osmaston Rd.
    For the first time I saw a green trolley bus and was in complete awe as to how those poles coming out the roof of the bus managed to stay on the wires which hung over the road .It was here I first became aware that we were approaching our destination . People wearing black and white scarves and waving noisy rattles , a man shouting all the latest team news as he sold his newspapers and another man selling a little grey booklet called a programme. Dad bought one for 3d ( 1.5p) and gave it to me- my first of many (whatever happened to all them?).
                    The noise and babble would have grown as we turned right into Shaftesbury St. up the slight incline and then gently down to the place where there were lots of people milling about which Dad said was the Baseball Ground. there was alweays smoke in the air from the nmerous chimneys and cigarettes. We turned left and queued to go into the Osmaston Upper stand which cost the princely sum of 4/6d (22.5p) to sit down. Through the click of the turnstile,into the building, up three flights of stairs wide enough to take six people and then at the top up a further couple of steps back into the cold January daylight. Wow ! so this is the Baseball Ground football pitch - with a diamond of rolled brown mud and four green corners all marked out with white lines the purpose of which I didn't yet understand .
    Looking down and around I could see the crowds coming in at the far end of what was the Popular side and making their way to their favourite standing spot under the roof which was painted with the sign OFFILERS ALES in large white letters. At the opposite end, stood a three tiered stand called the Normanton end with a small area called the boys pen under the scoreboard ,and on our right was the single tier main stand  stretching the length of the pitch where the directors and rich people sat with a  small terrace area in front.
    In the middle of that was an opening which led under the stand . This Dad said was where the players came out just before kick off at 3.00p.m. A man dressed in black and white top hat and tails walked around path on the perimeter of the pitch with his rattle . encouraging the crowd to use  theirs and boys with baskets over their shoulders moved slowly along the path around the pitch selling peanuts and sweets .
                    Of the game I can remember absolutely nothing. I know that Derby won 4-1 and 15285 people  were there but that’s it. The important thing was that from that day on I was hooked and my love affair with the game of football and Derby County had begun. That programme was read from back to front over and over taking in the names of players – fixtures and results so far. I learned Derby were in the Third Division North and the league table showed me they were currently lying second. I looked  on a map to see where Bradford was and also some of the other teams Derby had played. Workington, Barrow and Carlisle it all sounded very romantic. I never went to another game that season , but  Derby stayed second scoring over 100 goals but just missed out on promotion (no play offs in those days) but I now had my heroes and I started to read reports of the games in the papers and cut out the pictures of the players as they appeared in print.        
    I watched my first Cup Final in 1956 a match played between Manchester City and Birmingham City. It was i think, the only game televised that season and was memorable in that Manchester City who won 3-1 had a German ex prisoner of war called Bert Trautmann in goal. He had the misfortune to get hurt in a collision and played on holding his neck for the rest of the game (there were no substitutions in those days). Later X-rays showed that he had broken his neck.
     The FA Cup was the competition all footballers most wanted to win and all boys dreamed one day of playing on the hallowed turf at Wembley. The final in front of 100,000 spectators was always a tremendous occasion on the first Saturday in May at 3.00p.m. It was  showed on BBC television and watched by millions. There were no prying cameras on coaches or in dressing rooms, no pundits offering inane pearls of wisdom for hours on end, no adverts to distract the viewer. The brass band played and the crowd, with supporters of both teams standing side by side with no segregation, sang Abide with Me before the teams came out to a mighty roar. The long walk from the tunnel to the half way line on a pristine pitch mowed in contrasting stripes before presentation to a Royal dignitary increased the anticipation of the fantastic game to come. And the final whistle then usually signalled the end of the football season and kids started to play cricket. That was the way it always was   
    The following season 1956-57 I went to Derby more often, watching nine games in all. Each time Dad paid for me to sit in the Osmaston end at 4/6d per time. I would have gone to more but I think he found the extra expense a bit draining. I have very good memories of this season as Derby was  now my favourite team and I started to hang on every spoken and written word about them. I had my favourite players – Jack Parry ,Tommy Powell and Geoff Barrowcliffe- when the latter did something good I can still here Dad saying Good old Barrer! I picked up the magic of the FA Cup as Derby beat Bradford City in the first round and I was able to see the goals replayed on television for the very first time but what the programme was I don’t remember at all.  In the second round I saw them knocked out by New Brighton (non league) and the dreams were over for another year. Dad didn’t miss a home game that season and went to several away as well. My programme collection grew, supplemented by ones from places like Hull, Bradford and Doncaster and all read from cover to cover.
    Derby won the Third Division North at a canter that year setting up records that still hold today. Most team goals in a season and most goals in a season by one player (Ray Straw). One game that really sticks in the mind was against Barrow- Derby were 0-2 down at half time and for the first time I became aware of the amount of noise that could be generated by the Baseball Ground crowd as the Rams fought back to draw 3-3. It was an eye opener but fell way short of the cacophony of sound that would be created ten to fifteen years later.
     
  23. Like
    SEAO got a reaction from IslandExile in What is your earliest link to the past rams?   
    An old post I've repeated but I hope fits the topic and may give some new members a little taste of how it was.
    November 1955 at the age of seven is my first memory. Remember in those days there was no such thing as football on the television. We had BBC in black and white and that was it. I was aware My Dad went to watch Derby County play. Who they were, what division they played in , why he went was all a mystery. Dad always worked on Saturday mornings and then went to the pub after finishing. Usually he would roll in about 3.00p.m and go to sleep . Occasionally though he went to a football match, and this particular day he came in about six o’ clock and put his bag on the handle inside the door as usual. Mam asked him how they had gone on and I distinctly remember him saying lost 6-1 to Boston ,
                    I must have shown some interest because that Christmas I got my very first Charles Buchan annual from my Dad. This was to become his present for me for at least the next six years. It cost 10 shillings and sixpence ( 53p) in today’s money and was always a  prized possession as it was full of stories and  glossy pictures of footballers.
                    January 22cnd 1956 I got my first taste of what it was all about. Dad took me to the Baseball Ground to watch Derby play a team called Bradford City. We went by train from Burton Station , catching the 1.18p.m to Derby accompanied by two of Dad’s brothers Stan and Ken. On arrival at Derby I was led up Midland Rd. only for Dad and Stan to go into the Midland Hotel for a pint while uncle Ken took me for a walk somewhere. Sometime later having met up again we went along  London Rd. turning right up Bateman St. on to Osmaston Rd.
    For the first time I saw a green trolley bus and was in complete awe as to how those poles coming out the roof of the bus managed to stay on the wires which hung over the road .It was here I first became aware that we were approaching our destination . People wearing black and white scarves and waving noisy rattles , a man shouting all the latest team news as he sold his newspapers and another man selling a little grey booklet called a programme. Dad bought one for 3d ( 1.5p) and gave it to me- my first of many (whatever happened to all them?).
                    The noise and babble would have grown as we turned right into Shaftesbury St. up the slight incline and then gently down to the place where there were lots of people milling about which Dad said was the Baseball Ground. there was alweays smoke in the air from the nmerous chimneys and cigarettes. We turned left and queued to go into the Osmaston Upper stand which cost the princely sum of 4/6d (22.5p) to sit down. Through the click of the turnstile,into the building, up three flights of stairs wide enough to take six people and then at the top up a further couple of steps back into the cold January daylight. Wow ! so this is the Baseball Ground football pitch - with a diamond of rolled brown mud and four green corners all marked out with white lines the purpose of which I didn't yet understand .
    Looking down and around I could see the crowds coming in at the far end of what was the Popular side and making their way to their favourite standing spot under the roof which was painted with the sign OFFILERS ALES in large white letters. At the opposite end, stood a three tiered stand called the Normanton end with a small area called the boys pen under the scoreboard ,and on our right was the single tier main stand  stretching the length of the pitch where the directors and rich people sat with a  small terrace area in front.
    In the middle of that was an opening which led under the stand . This Dad said was where the players came out just before kick off at 3.00p.m. A man dressed in black and white top hat and tails walked around path on the perimeter of the pitch with his rattle . encouraging the crowd to use  theirs and boys with baskets over their shoulders moved slowly along the path around the pitch selling peanuts and sweets .
                    Of the game I can remember absolutely nothing. I know that Derby won 4-1 and 15285 people  were there but that’s it. The important thing was that from that day on I was hooked and my love affair with the game of football and Derby County had begun. That programme was read from back to front over and over taking in the names of players – fixtures and results so far. I learned Derby were in the Third Division North and the league table showed me they were currently lying second. I looked  on a map to see where Bradford was and also some of the other teams Derby had played. Workington, Barrow and Carlisle it all sounded very romantic. I never went to another game that season , but  Derby stayed second scoring over 100 goals but just missed out on promotion (no play offs in those days) but I now had my heroes and I started to read reports of the games in the papers and cut out the pictures of the players as they appeared in print.        
    I watched my first Cup Final in 1956 a match played between Manchester City and Birmingham City. It was i think, the only game televised that season and was memorable in that Manchester City who won 3-1 had a German ex prisoner of war called Bert Trautmann in goal. He had the misfortune to get hurt in a collision and played on holding his neck for the rest of the game (there were no substitutions in those days). Later X-rays showed that he had broken his neck.
     The FA Cup was the competition all footballers most wanted to win and all boys dreamed one day of playing on the hallowed turf at Wembley. The final in front of 100,000 spectators was always a tremendous occasion on the first Saturday in May at 3.00p.m. It was  showed on BBC television and watched by millions. There were no prying cameras on coaches or in dressing rooms, no pundits offering inane pearls of wisdom for hours on end, no adverts to distract the viewer. The brass band played and the crowd, with supporters of both teams standing side by side with no segregation, sang Abide with Me before the teams came out to a mighty roar. The long walk from the tunnel to the half way line on a pristine pitch mowed in contrasting stripes before presentation to a Royal dignitary increased the anticipation of the fantastic game to come. And the final whistle then usually signalled the end of the football season and kids started to play cricket. That was the way it always was   
    The following season 1956-57 I went to Derby more often, watching nine games in all. Each time Dad paid for me to sit in the Osmaston end at 4/6d per time. I would have gone to more but I think he found the extra expense a bit draining. I have very good memories of this season as Derby was  now my favourite team and I started to hang on every spoken and written word about them. I had my favourite players – Jack Parry ,Tommy Powell and Geoff Barrowcliffe- when the latter did something good I can still here Dad saying Good old Barrer! I picked up the magic of the FA Cup as Derby beat Bradford City in the first round and I was able to see the goals replayed on television for the very first time but what the programme was I don’t remember at all.  In the second round I saw them knocked out by New Brighton (non league) and the dreams were over for another year. Dad didn’t miss a home game that season and went to several away as well. My programme collection grew, supplemented by ones from places like Hull, Bradford and Doncaster and all read from cover to cover.
    Derby won the Third Division North at a canter that year setting up records that still hold today. Most team goals in a season and most goals in a season by one player (Ray Straw). One game that really sticks in the mind was against Barrow- Derby were 0-2 down at half time and for the first time I became aware of the amount of noise that could be generated by the Baseball Ground crowd as the Rams fought back to draw 3-3. It was an eye opener but fell way short of the cacophony of sound that would be created ten to fifteen years later.
     
  24. Like
    SEAO got a reaction from Wistaston Ram in What is your earliest link to the past rams?   
    An old post I've repeated but I hope fits the topic and may give some new members a little taste of how it was.
    November 1955 at the age of seven is my first memory. Remember in those days there was no such thing as football on the television. We had BBC in black and white and that was it. I was aware My Dad went to watch Derby County play. Who they were, what division they played in , why he went was all a mystery. Dad always worked on Saturday mornings and then went to the pub after finishing. Usually he would roll in about 3.00p.m and go to sleep . Occasionally though he went to a football match, and this particular day he came in about six o’ clock and put his bag on the handle inside the door as usual. Mam asked him how they had gone on and I distinctly remember him saying lost 6-1 to Boston ,
                    I must have shown some interest because that Christmas I got my very first Charles Buchan annual from my Dad. This was to become his present for me for at least the next six years. It cost 10 shillings and sixpence ( 53p) in today’s money and was always a  prized possession as it was full of stories and  glossy pictures of footballers.
                    January 22cnd 1956 I got my first taste of what it was all about. Dad took me to the Baseball Ground to watch Derby play a team called Bradford City. We went by train from Burton Station , catching the 1.18p.m to Derby accompanied by two of Dad’s brothers Stan and Ken. On arrival at Derby I was led up Midland Rd. only for Dad and Stan to go into the Midland Hotel for a pint while uncle Ken took me for a walk somewhere. Sometime later having met up again we went along  London Rd. turning right up Bateman St. on to Osmaston Rd.
    For the first time I saw a green trolley bus and was in complete awe as to how those poles coming out the roof of the bus managed to stay on the wires which hung over the road .It was here I first became aware that we were approaching our destination . People wearing black and white scarves and waving noisy rattles , a man shouting all the latest team news as he sold his newspapers and another man selling a little grey booklet called a programme. Dad bought one for 3d ( 1.5p) and gave it to me- my first of many (whatever happened to all them?).
                    The noise and babble would have grown as we turned right into Shaftesbury St. up the slight incline and then gently down to the place where there were lots of people milling about which Dad said was the Baseball Ground. there was alweays smoke in the air from the nmerous chimneys and cigarettes. We turned left and queued to go into the Osmaston Upper stand which cost the princely sum of 4/6d (22.5p) to sit down. Through the click of the turnstile,into the building, up three flights of stairs wide enough to take six people and then at the top up a further couple of steps back into the cold January daylight. Wow ! so this is the Baseball Ground football pitch - with a diamond of rolled brown mud and four green corners all marked out with white lines the purpose of which I didn't yet understand .
    Looking down and around I could see the crowds coming in at the far end of what was the Popular side and making their way to their favourite standing spot under the roof which was painted with the sign OFFILERS ALES in large white letters. At the opposite end, stood a three tiered stand called the Normanton end with a small area called the boys pen under the scoreboard ,and on our right was the single tier main stand  stretching the length of the pitch where the directors and rich people sat with a  small terrace area in front.
    In the middle of that was an opening which led under the stand . This Dad said was where the players came out just before kick off at 3.00p.m. A man dressed in black and white top hat and tails walked around path on the perimeter of the pitch with his rattle . encouraging the crowd to use  theirs and boys with baskets over their shoulders moved slowly along the path around the pitch selling peanuts and sweets .
                    Of the game I can remember absolutely nothing. I know that Derby won 4-1 and 15285 people  were there but that’s it. The important thing was that from that day on I was hooked and my love affair with the game of football and Derby County had begun. That programme was read from back to front over and over taking in the names of players – fixtures and results so far. I learned Derby were in the Third Division North and the league table showed me they were currently lying second. I looked  on a map to see where Bradford was and also some of the other teams Derby had played. Workington, Barrow and Carlisle it all sounded very romantic. I never went to another game that season , but  Derby stayed second scoring over 100 goals but just missed out on promotion (no play offs in those days) but I now had my heroes and I started to read reports of the games in the papers and cut out the pictures of the players as they appeared in print.        
    I watched my first Cup Final in 1956 a match played between Manchester City and Birmingham City. It was i think, the only game televised that season and was memorable in that Manchester City who won 3-1 had a German ex prisoner of war called Bert Trautmann in goal. He had the misfortune to get hurt in a collision and played on holding his neck for the rest of the game (there were no substitutions in those days). Later X-rays showed that he had broken his neck.
     The FA Cup was the competition all footballers most wanted to win and all boys dreamed one day of playing on the hallowed turf at Wembley. The final in front of 100,000 spectators was always a tremendous occasion on the first Saturday in May at 3.00p.m. It was  showed on BBC television and watched by millions. There were no prying cameras on coaches or in dressing rooms, no pundits offering inane pearls of wisdom for hours on end, no adverts to distract the viewer. The brass band played and the crowd, with supporters of both teams standing side by side with no segregation, sang Abide with Me before the teams came out to a mighty roar. The long walk from the tunnel to the half way line on a pristine pitch mowed in contrasting stripes before presentation to a Royal dignitary increased the anticipation of the fantastic game to come. And the final whistle then usually signalled the end of the football season and kids started to play cricket. That was the way it always was   
    The following season 1956-57 I went to Derby more often, watching nine games in all. Each time Dad paid for me to sit in the Osmaston end at 4/6d per time. I would have gone to more but I think he found the extra expense a bit draining. I have very good memories of this season as Derby was  now my favourite team and I started to hang on every spoken and written word about them. I had my favourite players – Jack Parry ,Tommy Powell and Geoff Barrowcliffe- when the latter did something good I can still here Dad saying Good old Barrer! I picked up the magic of the FA Cup as Derby beat Bradford City in the first round and I was able to see the goals replayed on television for the very first time but what the programme was I don’t remember at all.  In the second round I saw them knocked out by New Brighton (non league) and the dreams were over for another year. Dad didn’t miss a home game that season and went to several away as well. My programme collection grew, supplemented by ones from places like Hull, Bradford and Doncaster and all read from cover to cover.
    Derby won the Third Division North at a canter that year setting up records that still hold today. Most team goals in a season and most goals in a season by one player (Ray Straw). One game that really sticks in the mind was against Barrow- Derby were 0-2 down at half time and for the first time I became aware of the amount of noise that could be generated by the Baseball Ground crowd as the Rams fought back to draw 3-3. It was an eye opener but fell way short of the cacophony of sound that would be created ten to fifteen years later.
     
  25. Like
    SEAO got a reaction from Sufferingfool in What is your earliest link to the past rams?   
    An old post I've repeated but I hope fits the topic and may give some new members a little taste of how it was.
    November 1955 at the age of seven is my first memory. Remember in those days there was no such thing as football on the television. We had BBC in black and white and that was it. I was aware My Dad went to watch Derby County play. Who they were, what division they played in , why he went was all a mystery. Dad always worked on Saturday mornings and then went to the pub after finishing. Usually he would roll in about 3.00p.m and go to sleep . Occasionally though he went to a football match, and this particular day he came in about six o’ clock and put his bag on the handle inside the door as usual. Mam asked him how they had gone on and I distinctly remember him saying lost 6-1 to Boston ,
                    I must have shown some interest because that Christmas I got my very first Charles Buchan annual from my Dad. This was to become his present for me for at least the next six years. It cost 10 shillings and sixpence ( 53p) in today’s money and was always a  prized possession as it was full of stories and  glossy pictures of footballers.
                    January 22cnd 1956 I got my first taste of what it was all about. Dad took me to the Baseball Ground to watch Derby play a team called Bradford City. We went by train from Burton Station , catching the 1.18p.m to Derby accompanied by two of Dad’s brothers Stan and Ken. On arrival at Derby I was led up Midland Rd. only for Dad and Stan to go into the Midland Hotel for a pint while uncle Ken took me for a walk somewhere. Sometime later having met up again we went along  London Rd. turning right up Bateman St. on to Osmaston Rd.
    For the first time I saw a green trolley bus and was in complete awe as to how those poles coming out the roof of the bus managed to stay on the wires which hung over the road .It was here I first became aware that we were approaching our destination . People wearing black and white scarves and waving noisy rattles , a man shouting all the latest team news as he sold his newspapers and another man selling a little grey booklet called a programme. Dad bought one for 3d ( 1.5p) and gave it to me- my first of many (whatever happened to all them?).
                    The noise and babble would have grown as we turned right into Shaftesbury St. up the slight incline and then gently down to the place where there were lots of people milling about which Dad said was the Baseball Ground. there was alweays smoke in the air from the nmerous chimneys and cigarettes. We turned left and queued to go into the Osmaston Upper stand which cost the princely sum of 4/6d (22.5p) to sit down. Through the click of the turnstile,into the building, up three flights of stairs wide enough to take six people and then at the top up a further couple of steps back into the cold January daylight. Wow ! so this is the Baseball Ground football pitch - with a diamond of rolled brown mud and four green corners all marked out with white lines the purpose of which I didn't yet understand .
    Looking down and around I could see the crowds coming in at the far end of what was the Popular side and making their way to their favourite standing spot under the roof which was painted with the sign OFFILERS ALES in large white letters. At the opposite end, stood a three tiered stand called the Normanton end with a small area called the boys pen under the scoreboard ,and on our right was the single tier main stand  stretching the length of the pitch where the directors and rich people sat with a  small terrace area in front.
    In the middle of that was an opening which led under the stand . This Dad said was where the players came out just before kick off at 3.00p.m. A man dressed in black and white top hat and tails walked around path on the perimeter of the pitch with his rattle . encouraging the crowd to use  theirs and boys with baskets over their shoulders moved slowly along the path around the pitch selling peanuts and sweets .
                    Of the game I can remember absolutely nothing. I know that Derby won 4-1 and 15285 people  were there but that’s it. The important thing was that from that day on I was hooked and my love affair with the game of football and Derby County had begun. That programme was read from back to front over and over taking in the names of players – fixtures and results so far. I learned Derby were in the Third Division North and the league table showed me they were currently lying second. I looked  on a map to see where Bradford was and also some of the other teams Derby had played. Workington, Barrow and Carlisle it all sounded very romantic. I never went to another game that season , but  Derby stayed second scoring over 100 goals but just missed out on promotion (no play offs in those days) but I now had my heroes and I started to read reports of the games in the papers and cut out the pictures of the players as they appeared in print.        
    I watched my first Cup Final in 1956 a match played between Manchester City and Birmingham City. It was i think, the only game televised that season and was memorable in that Manchester City who won 3-1 had a German ex prisoner of war called Bert Trautmann in goal. He had the misfortune to get hurt in a collision and played on holding his neck for the rest of the game (there were no substitutions in those days). Later X-rays showed that he had broken his neck.
     The FA Cup was the competition all footballers most wanted to win and all boys dreamed one day of playing on the hallowed turf at Wembley. The final in front of 100,000 spectators was always a tremendous occasion on the first Saturday in May at 3.00p.m. It was  showed on BBC television and watched by millions. There were no prying cameras on coaches or in dressing rooms, no pundits offering inane pearls of wisdom for hours on end, no adverts to distract the viewer. The brass band played and the crowd, with supporters of both teams standing side by side with no segregation, sang Abide with Me before the teams came out to a mighty roar. The long walk from the tunnel to the half way line on a pristine pitch mowed in contrasting stripes before presentation to a Royal dignitary increased the anticipation of the fantastic game to come. And the final whistle then usually signalled the end of the football season and kids started to play cricket. That was the way it always was   
    The following season 1956-57 I went to Derby more often, watching nine games in all. Each time Dad paid for me to sit in the Osmaston end at 4/6d per time. I would have gone to more but I think he found the extra expense a bit draining. I have very good memories of this season as Derby was  now my favourite team and I started to hang on every spoken and written word about them. I had my favourite players – Jack Parry ,Tommy Powell and Geoff Barrowcliffe- when the latter did something good I can still here Dad saying Good old Barrer! I picked up the magic of the FA Cup as Derby beat Bradford City in the first round and I was able to see the goals replayed on television for the very first time but what the programme was I don’t remember at all.  In the second round I saw them knocked out by New Brighton (non league) and the dreams were over for another year. Dad didn’t miss a home game that season and went to several away as well. My programme collection grew, supplemented by ones from places like Hull, Bradford and Doncaster and all read from cover to cover.
    Derby won the Third Division North at a canter that year setting up records that still hold today. Most team goals in a season and most goals in a season by one player (Ray Straw). One game that really sticks in the mind was against Barrow- Derby were 0-2 down at half time and for the first time I became aware of the amount of noise that could be generated by the Baseball Ground crowd as the Rams fought back to draw 3-3. It was an eye opener but fell way short of the cacophony of sound that would be created ten to fifteen years later.
     
×
×
  • Create New...