It's a funny old game!

Frank Rjikaard - my hero

So said Jimmy Greaves. Only he didn't. It was Harry Enfield on Spitting Image that first coined the phrase, but has been attached to Jimmy ever since. 

There was a time when football existed before Sky. Before the Premier League. Before all seater stadia, cheerleaders, face painting and jesters hats. Some say these were simpler times. I am not sure if it was any better in "the old days". 

The racism and homophobia has all but disappeared. Facilities are better. You can now turn up 5 minutes before kick off, take your seat, and munch happily on your prawn sandwich. Watch the "pre-match" entertainment. When I first started attending football, this was the fights on the terracing, now it is scantily clad ladies with pom poms. 

A prawn sandwich

So is it better? I remember the away terrace at Reading's Elm Park ground. The toilet facility was basically a brick wall. No roof! No washing facitlites. Just a brick wall you weed against. So toilet wise, yes!

Following Leyton Orient up and down the country was a really thankless, stupid thing to do. We once went nearly 2 years without winning an away game. TWO YEARS. Think about that. Every week we would turn out, in the vain hope, "This is the one, this is it lads". It never was. But spirit in the face of adversity and all that, we were a rag tag bunch of old sweats, alhohlics, indie kids and general buffoons. It bonded us togther. So much so that on the coach to one away game, The Hood Squad was formed.

More to come when I can get some photos!