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Sixty years an Owl.

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It was Saturday, the 7st. April 1958 that i first went to a football match. I do remember it very well, we played Burnley at home and lost 2-1. It had not been a good season, so i had been told, and three games later we were relegated with Sunderand too Division Two as it was then. We were to return the following season along with Fulham and so was the ending of our yo-yo years. My favourite all time player was to join the club, Ron Springett and from then on things started to look a lot brighter. Eric Taylor the manager was asked to step down and Harry Catterick was brought in from Rochdale to replace him, before moving on to Everton in 1961. My first F.a cup game i saw we lost to WBA 2-0, but the following season we made it to the semi- final where we lost to Blackburn Rovers 2-1 at Maine Rd. Having said that we beat the Blades 2-0 along the way.

I remember us playing teams from abroad in the Inter Cities Fairs Cup, a competition where you were invited to compete, if my memory serves me correctly. Lyon Olympique, Roma, Barcelona, Werder Bremen, Cologne all came to Hillsborough at some time, obviously the highlight being beating Barca 3-2 , Fantham 2 and Finney getting the goals, but going down 4-3 on aggregate.

Then there was our greatest away performance of my lifetime a 7-2 win at Old Trafford against Man. Utd, what a night that was, but i did suffer the disappointment of the 66 final going down to Everton after taking a two goal lead.We were first team to do a lap of honour as losing finalist and also the first team to get to Wembley having not played in their traditional colours of blue and white stripes. Towards the end of 67 season the stripped kit went altogether and we were left with a blue Arsenal style kit , which proved to be not very lucky would be a understatement.

It all seemed to be downhill for years until Big Jack took over and although we had now dropped into the third division things started to look brighter , starting with the Boxing Day massacre, taking a good Arsenal side to four replays, another semi final loss to Brighton, then promotion. By this time we had won our stripes back you could say.

Along came Howard Wilkinson and we started to play with wingers, some called it hoofball, not me i enjoyed every minute , we were winning games , and that is what it,s all about. Then along came Big Ron and Tricky Trev. Who between them won us our first piece of silverware since beating WBA in the 1935 cup final. A great it was for Sheffield to show we could put on a football display and a great day to be an Owl. Even though we lost to Arsenal twice at Wembley.

Then along came David Pleat followed by Danny and the misfortune of losing Paulo Di Canio, i,ve always said if Sir Alex had been our manager he would have turned that decision around, ( with a smile on my face) but it did cost us dearly. Another fifteen years on the downhill slope before we start to climb again with the help of Milan Mandaric. who brought in Gary Megson who got us to the brink of promotion and Dave Jones finished it off. Results or the style of play were DJ undoing in came Stuart Gray for a short spell before our first venture into the foreign manager market. Along came Carlos, in the beginning i was never going to take to him his c.v came nowhere near what i would have been expecting for someone to get that position with the Owls, but in the two years he was hear he achieved more than anyone since Big Ron, so i got behind him as i would anyone who takes the job, even though GM would have been my choice for a return, a manager who knows what it takes to get out of this league, ( ask the baggies fans)

MM said he would leave us in good hands and he kept his word, in steps DC, although not having a football background he at this present time has put us on a sound footing with finance. We now are coming to the end of this campaign and it certainly has not been one that we had all hoped for, in fact i personally would say it,s been a disaster. CC was playing a brand of football that was not taking us knowhere and he moved on , is all i will say on the subject. In steps Jos Luhukay,( who is he i ask myself) what a mess he has been left with on the injury side of things, i can only hope that things get better for next season and lets get in a man in who knows this league and can return this club to where it belongs. Sixty years a proud OWL.

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It was Saturday, the 7st. April 1958 that i first went to a football match. I do remember it very well, we played Burnley at home and lost 2-1. It had not been a good season, so i had been told, and three games later we were relegated with Sunderand too Division Two as it was then. We were to return the following season along with Fulham and so was the ending of our yo-yo years. My favourite all time player was to join the club, Ron Springett and from then on things started to look a lot brighter. Eric Taylor the manager was asked to step down and Harry Catterick was brought in from Rochdale to replace him, before moving on to Everton in 1961. My first F.a cup game i saw we lost to WBA 2-0, but the following season we made it to the semi- final where we lost to Blackburn Rovers 2-1 at Maine Rd. Having said that we beat the Blades 2-0 along the way.

I remember us playing teams from abroad in the Inter Cities Fairs Cup, a competition where you were invited to compete, if my memory serves me correctly. Lyon Olympique, Roma, Barcelona, Werder Bremen, Cologne all came to Hillsborough at some time, obviously the highlight being beating Barca 3-2 , Fantham 2 and Finney getting the goals, but going down 4-3 on aggregate.

Then there was our greatest away performance of my lifetime a 7-2 win at Old Trafford against Man. Utd, what a night that was, but i did suffer the disappointment of the 66 final going down to Everton after taking a two goal lead.We were first team to do a lap of honour as losing finalist and also the first team to get to Wembley having not played in their traditional colours of blue and white stripes. Towards the end of 67 season the stripped kit went altogether and we were left with a blue Arsenal style kit , which proved to be not very lucky would be a understatement.

It all seemed to be downhill for years until Big Jack took over and although we had now dropped into the third division things started to look brighter , starting with the Boxing Day massacre, taking a good Arsenal side to four replays, another semi final loss to Brighton, then promotion. By this time we had won our stripes back you could say.

Along came Howard Wilkinson and we started to play with wingers, some called it hoofball, not me i enjoyed every minute , we were winning games , and that is what it,s all about. Then along came Big Ron and Tricky Trev. Who between them won us our first piece of silverware since beating WBA in the 1935 cup final. A great it was for Sheffield to show we could put on a football display and a great day to be an Owl. Even though we lost to Arsenal twice at Wembley.

Then along came David Pleat followed by Danny and the misfortune of losing Paulo Di Canio, i,ve always said if Sir Alex had been our manager he would have turned that decision around, ( with a smile on my face) but it did cost us dearly. Another fifteen years on the downhill slope before we start to climb again with the help of Milan Mandaric. who brought in Gary Megson who got us to the brink of promotion and Dave Jones finished it off. Results or the style of play were DJ undoing in came Stuart Gray for a short spell before our first venture into the foreign manager market. Along came Carlos, in the beginning i was never going to take to him his c.v came nowhere near what i would have been expecting for someone to get that position with the Owls, but in the two years he was hear he achieved more than anyone since Big Ron, so i got behind him as i would anyone who takes the job, even though GM would have been my choice for a return, a manager who knows what it takes to get out of this league, ( ask the baggies fans)

MM said he would leave us in good hands and he kept his word, in steps DC, although not having a football background he at this present time has put us on a sound footing with finance. We now are coming to the end of this campaign and it certainly has not been one that we had all hoped for, in fact i personally would say it,s been a disaster. CC was playing a brand of football that was not taking us knowhere and he moved on , is all i will say on the subject. In steps Jos Luhukay,( who is he i ask myself) what a mess he has been left with on the injury side of things, i can only hope that things get better for next season and lets get in a man in who knows this league and can return this club to where it belongs. Sixty years a proud OWL.

 

A good read Alan, and well done on your 60yrs, been plenty of ups and more downs but thats what being a fan is all about.

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60yrs a blade, but always supported Wednesday, just somebody get us in the prem, I yearn for premiership football.

Sheff utd v port vale. 1957. I think blades won 5-2, could be wrong. I"ll have to dig out the old programmes. got a couple of suitcases jammed with 50-60yrs of programmes

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It was Saturday, the 7st. April 1958 that i first went to a football match. I do remember it very well, we played Burnley at home and lost 2-1. It had not been a good season, so i had been told, and three games later we were relegated with Sunderand too Division Two as it was then. We were to return the following season along with Fulham and so was the ending of our yo-yo years. My favourite all time player was to join the club, Ron Springett and from then on things started to look a lot brighter. Eric Taylor the manager was asked to step down and Harry Catterick was brought in from Rochdale to replace him, before moving on to Everton in 1961. My first F.a cup game i saw we lost to WBA 2-0, but the following season we made it to the semi- final where we lost to Blackburn Rovers 2-1 at Maine Rd. Having said that we beat the Blades 2-0 along the way.

I remember us playing teams from abroad in the Inter Cities Fairs Cup, a competition where you were invited to compete, if my memory serves me correctly. Lyon Olympique, Roma, Barcelona, Werder Bremen, Cologne all came to Hillsborough at some time, obviously the highlight being beating Barca 3-2 , Fantham 2 and Finney getting the goals, but going down 4-3 on aggregate.

Then there was our greatest away performance of my lifetime a 7-2 win at Old Trafford against Man. Utd, what a night that was, but i did suffer the disappointment of the 66 final going down to Everton after taking a two goal lead.We were first team to do a lap of honour as losing finalist and also the first team to get to Wembley having not played in their traditional colours of blue and white stripes. Towards the end of 67 season the stripped kit went altogether and we were left with a blue Arsenal style kit , which proved to be not very lucky would be a understatement.

It all seemed to be downhill for years until Big Jack took over and although we had now dropped into the third division things started to look brighter , starting with the Boxing Day massacre, taking a good Arsenal side to four replays, another semi final loss to Brighton, then promotion. By this time we had won our stripes back you could say.

Along came Howard Wilkinson and we started to play with wingers, some called it hoofball, not me i enjoyed every minute , we were winning games , and that is what it,s all about. Then along came Big Ron and Tricky Trev. Who between them won us our first piece of silverware since beating WBA in the 1935 cup final. A great it was for Sheffield to show we could put on a football display and a great day to be an Owl. Even though we lost to Arsenal twice at Wembley.

Then along came David Pleat followed by Danny and the misfortune of losing Paulo Di Canio, i,ve always said if Sir Alex had been our manager he would have turned that decision around, ( with a smile on my face) but it did cost us dearly. Another fifteen years on the downhill slope before we start to climb again with the help of Milan Mandaric. who brought in Gary Megson who got us to the brink of promotion and Dave Jones finished it off. Results or the style of play were DJ undoing in came Stuart Gray for a short spell before our first venture into the foreign manager market. Along came Carlos, in the beginning i was never going to take to him his c.v came nowhere near what i would have been expecting for someone to get that position with the Owls, but in the two years he was hear he achieved more than anyone since Big Ron, so i got behind him as i would anyone who takes the job, even though GM would have been my choice for a return, a manager who knows what it takes to get out of this league, ( ask the baggies fans)

MM said he would leave us in good hands and he kept his word, in steps DC, although not having a football background he at this present time has put us on a sound footing with finance. We now are coming to the end of this campaign and it certainly has not been one that we had all hoped for, in fact i personally would say it,s been a disaster. CC was playing a brand of football that was not taking us knowhere and he moved on , is all i will say on the subject. In steps Jos Luhukay,( who is he i ask myself) what a mess he has been left with on the injury side of things, i can only hope that things get better for next season and lets get in a man in who knows this league and can return this club to where it belongs. Sixty years a proud OWL.

 

Great write up and that's the season (1958) I started watching the Owls. As for the 'Arsenal style' shirts, they started wearing them in the 1965-66 season (except FA Cup) until 1972-73 season when the stripes returned. The first game of that season was at home to Fulham with Peter Swan returning from exile.

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It was Saturday, the 7st. April 1958 that i first went to a football match. I do remember it very well, we played Burnley at home and lost 2-1. It had not been a good season, so i had been told, and three games later we were relegated with Sunderand too Division Two as it was then. We were to return the following season along with Fulham and so was the ending of our yo-yo years. My favourite all time player was to join the club, Ron Springett and from then on things started to look a lot brighter. Eric Taylor the manager was asked to step down and Harry Catterick was brought in from Rochdale to replace him, before moving on to Everton in 1961. My first F.a cup game i saw we lost to WBA 2-0, but the following season we made it to the semi- final where we lost to Blackburn Rovers 2-1 at Maine Rd. Having said that we beat the Blades 2-0 along the way.

I remember us playing teams from abroad in the Inter Cities Fairs Cup, a competition where you were invited to compete, if my memory serves me correctly. Lyon Olympique, Roma, Barcelona, Werder Bremen, Cologne all came to Hillsborough at some time, obviously the highlight being beating Barca 3-2 , Fantham 2 and Finney getting the goals, but going down 4-3 on aggregate.

Then there was our greatest away performance of my lifetime a 7-2 win at Old Trafford against Man. Utd, what a night that was, but i did suffer the disappointment of the 66 final going down to Everton after taking a two goal lead.We were first team to do a lap of honour as losing finalist and also the first team to get to Wembley having not played in their traditional colours of blue and white stripes. Towards the end of 67 season the stripped kit went altogether and we were left with a blue Arsenal style kit , which proved to be not very lucky would be a understatement.

It all seemed to be downhill for years until Big Jack took over and although we had now dropped into the third division things started to look brighter , starting with the Boxing Day massacre, taking a good Arsenal side to four replays, another semi final loss to Brighton, then promotion. By this time we had won our stripes back you could say.

Along came Howard Wilkinson and we started to play with wingers, some called it hoofball, not me i enjoyed every minute , we were winning games , and that is what it,s all about. Then along came Big Ron and Tricky Trev. Who between them won us our first piece of silverware since beating WBA in the 1935 cup final. A great it was for Sheffield to show we could put on a football display and a great day to be an Owl. Even though we lost to Arsenal twice at Wembley.

Then along came David Pleat followed by Danny and the misfortune of losing Paulo Di Canio, i,ve always said if Sir Alex had been our manager he would have turned that decision around, ( with a smile on my face) but it did cost us dearly. Another fifteen years on the downhill slope before we start to climb again with the help of Milan Mandaric. who brought in Gary Megson who got us to the brink of promotion and Dave Jones finished it off. Results or the style of play were DJ undoing in came Stuart Gray for a short spell before our first venture into the foreign manager market. Along came Carlos, in the beginning i was never going to take to him his c.v came nowhere near what i would have been expecting for someone to get that position with the Owls, but in the two years he was hear he achieved more than anyone since Big Ron, so i got behind him as i would anyone who takes the job, even though GM would have been my choice for a return, a manager who knows what it takes to get out of this league, ( ask the baggies fans)

MM said he would leave us in good hands and he kept his word, in steps DC, although not having a football background he at this present time has put us on a sound footing with finance. We now are coming to the end of this campaign and it certainly has not been one that we had all hoped for, in fact i personally would say it,s been a disaster. CC was playing a brand of football that was not taking us knowhere and he moved on , is all i will say on the subject. In steps Jos Luhukay,( who is he i ask myself) what a mess he has been left with on the injury side of things, i can only hope that things get better for next season and lets get in a man in who knows this league and can return this club to where it belongs. Sixty years a proud OWL.

Well done, you deserve a medal!

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It was Saturday, the 7st. April 1958 that i first went to a football match. I do remember it very well, we played Burnley at home and lost 2-1. It had not been a good season, so i had been told, and three games later we were relegated with Sunderand too Division Two as it was then. We were to return the following season along with Fulham and so was the ending of our yo-yo years. My favourite all time player was to join the club, Ron Springett and from then on things started to look a lot brighter. Eric Taylor the manager was asked to step down and Harry Catterick was brought in from Rochdale to replace him, before moving on to Everton in 1961. My first F.a cup game i saw we lost to WBA 2-0, but the following season we made it to the semi- final where we lost to Blackburn Rovers 2-1 at Maine Rd. Having said that we beat the Blades 2-0 along the way.

I remember us playing teams from abroad in the Inter Cities Fairs Cup, a competition where you were invited to compete, if my memory serves me correctly. Lyon Olympique, Roma, Barcelona, Werder Bremen, Cologne all came to Hillsborough at some time, obviously the highlight being beating Barca 3-2 , Fantham 2 and Finney getting the goals, but going down 4-3 on aggregate.

Then there was our greatest away performance of my lifetime a 7-2 win at Old Trafford against Man. Utd, what a night that was, but i did suffer the disappointment of the 66 final going down to Everton after taking a two goal lead.We were first team to do a lap of honour as losing finalist and also the first team to get to Wembley having not played in their traditional colours of blue and white stripes. Towards the end of 67 season the stripped kit went altogether and we were left with a blue Arsenal style kit , which proved to be not very lucky would be a understatement.

It all seemed to be downhill for years until Big Jack took over and although we had now dropped into the third division things started to look brighter , starting with the Boxing Day massacre, taking a good Arsenal side to four replays, another semi final loss to Brighton, then promotion. By this time we had won our stripes back you could say.

Along came Howard Wilkinson and we started to play with wingers, some called it hoofball, not me i enjoyed every minute , we were winning games , and that is what it,s all about. Then along came Big Ron and Tricky Trev. Who between them won us our first piece of silverware since beating WBA in the 1935 cup final. A great it was for Sheffield to show we could put on a football display and a great day to be an Owl. Even though we lost to Arsenal twice at Wembley.

Then along came David Pleat followed by Danny and the misfortune of losing Paulo Di Canio, i,ve always said if Sir Alex had been our manager he would have turned that decision around, ( with a smile on my face) but it did cost us dearly. Another fifteen years on the downhill slope before we start to climb again with the help of Milan Mandaric. who brought in Gary Megson who got us to the brink of promotion and Dave Jones finished it off. Results or the style of play were DJ undoing in came Stuart Gray for a short spell before our first venture into the foreign manager market. Along came Carlos, in the beginning i was never going to take to him his c.v came nowhere near what i would have been expecting for someone to get that position with the Owls, but in the two years he was hear he achieved more than anyone since Big Ron, so i got behind him as i would anyone who takes the job, even though GM would have been my choice for a return, a manager who knows what it takes to get out of this league, ( ask the baggies fans)

MM said he would leave us in good hands and he kept his word, in steps DC, although not having a football background he at this present time has put us on a sound footing with finance. We now are coming to the end of this campaign and it certainly has not been one that we had all hoped for, in fact i personally would say it,s been a disaster. CC was playing a brand of football that was not taking us knowhere and he moved on , is all i will say on the subject. In steps Jos Luhukay,( who is he i ask myself) what a mess he has been left with on the injury side of things, i can only hope that things get better for next season and lets get in a man in who knows this league and can return this club to where it belongs. Sixty years a proud OWL.

 

Just to add: between the tenures of Harry Catterick and his successor Vic Buckingham, the Owls didn't finish lower than 6th in the old First Division (now Premier). Imagine that now ?

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Just to add: between the tenures of Harry Catterick and his successor Vic Buckingham, the Owls didn't finish lower than 6th in the old First Division (now Premier). Imagine that now ?

 

Very true SP, i could have written a book given time.

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It was Saturday, the 7st. April 1958 that i first went to a football match. I do remember it very well, we played Burnley at home and lost 2-1. It had not been a good season, so i had been told, and three games later we were relegated with Sunderand too Division Two as it was then. We were to return the following season along with Fulham and so was the ending of our yo-yo years. My favourite all time player was to join the club, Ron Springett and from then on things started to look a lot brighter. Eric Taylor the manager was asked to step down and Harry Catterick was brought in from Rochdale to replace him, before moving on to Everton in 1961. My first F.a cup game i saw we lost to WBA 2-0, but the following season we made it to the semi- final where we lost to Blackburn Rovers 2-1 at Maine Rd. Having said that we beat the Blades 2-0 along the way.

I remember us playing teams from abroad in the Inter Cities Fairs Cup, a competition where you were invited to compete, if my memory serves me correctly. Lyon Olympique, Roma, Barcelona, Werder Bremen, Cologne all came to Hillsborough at some time, obviously the highlight being beating Barca 3-2 , Fantham 2 and Finney getting the goals, but going down 4-3 on aggregate.

Then there was our greatest away performance of my lifetime a 7-2 win at Old Trafford against Man. Utd, what a night that was, but i did suffer the disappointment of the 66 final going down to Everton after taking a two goal lead.We were first team to do a lap of honour as losing finalist and also the first team to get to Wembley having not played in their traditional colours of blue and white stripes. Towards the end of 67 season the stripped kit went altogether and we were left with a blue Arsenal style kit , which proved to be not very lucky would be a understatement.

It all seemed to be downhill for years until Big Jack took over and although we had now dropped into the third division things started to look brighter , starting with the Boxing Day massacre, taking a good Arsenal side to four replays, another semi final loss to Brighton, then promotion. By this time we had won our stripes back you could say.

Along came Howard Wilkinson and we started to play with wingers, some called it hoofball, not me i enjoyed every minute , we were winning games , and that is what it,s all about. Then along came Big Ron and Tricky Trev. Who between them won us our first piece of silverware since beating WBA in the 1935 cup final. A great it was for Sheffield to show we could put on a football display and a great day to be an Owl. Even though we lost to Arsenal twice at Wembley.

Then along came David Pleat followed by Danny and the misfortune of losing Paulo Di Canio, i,ve always said if Sir Alex had been our manager he would have turned that decision around, ( with a smile on my face) but it did cost us dearly. Another fifteen years on the downhill slope before we start to climb again with the help of Milan Mandaric. who brought in Gary Megson who got us to the brink of promotion and Dave Jones finished it off. Results or the style of play were DJ undoing in came Stuart Gray for a short spell before our first venture into the foreign manager market. Along came Carlos, in the beginning i was never going to take to him his c.v came nowhere near what i would have been expecting for someone to get that position with the Owls, but in the two years he was hear he achieved more than anyone since Big Ron, so i got behind him as i would anyone who takes the job, even though GM would have been my choice for a return, a manager who knows what it takes to get out of this league, ( ask the baggies fans)

MM said he would leave us in good hands and he kept his word, in steps DC, although not having a football background he at this present time has put us on a sound footing with finance. We now are coming to the end of this campaign and it certainly has not been one that we had all hoped for, in fact i personally would say it,s been a disaster. CC was playing a brand of football that was not taking us knowhere and he moved on , is all i will say on the subject. In steps Jos Luhukay,( who is he i ask myself) what a mess he has been left with on the injury side of things, i can only hope that things get better for next season and lets get in a man in who knows this league and can return this club to where it belongs. Sixty years a proud OWL.

 

Excellent read ALAN, it's like being sat down and listening to my old man (god bless his sole) I started following the Owls in 1978 so didn't really see the dark days (pre Charlton)

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Excellent read ALAN, it's like being sat down and listening to my old man (god bless his sole) I started following the Owls in 1978 so didn't really see the dark days (pre Charlton)

 

Believe me the seventies were our darkest days. Under the management of Burtenshaw and Ashurst we were dire, and i,ve experienced twenty nine managers.

Edited by ALAN 58

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Believe me the seventies were our darkest days. Under the management of Burtenshaw and Ashurst we were dire, and i,ve experienced twenty nine managers.

 

Thankfully I missed the grim 70’s as well, started following in ‘78 and attending in ‘80, wouldn’t change thing had some great times.

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Excellent read ALAN, it's like being sat down and listening to my old man (god bless his sole) I started following the Owls in 1978 so didn't really see the dark days (pre Charlton)

 

Not all the pre Charlton days were all that dark, as in; Eric Taylor, Harry Catterick, Vic Buckingham and Alan Brown were not bad. However,under 'Jolly' Jack Marshall and Danny Williams,things did turn gloomy.

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I also love a bit of football nostalgia.

 

Sheffield libraries have various sporting nostalgia discussion groups at about 5 or 6 venues, including Firth Park, Stocksbrdge, Crystal Peaks, Parsons Cross. The timetable says they usually meet on Mondays and Thursdays. It’s a good idea for us older heads, I think it’s over 55s.

I keep meaning to attend a session but never get round to it.

 

Incidentally there are Sheffield Football History Walking groups planned for Saturday and Sunday 21st and 22nd April, also organised by Sheffield Libraries, they’re free and start at a venue in Heeley, early afternoon, I’ve booked on the Sunday walk.

 

I started attending Bramall Lane in 1966 but have been going to matches since 1958 with my father. Made my own decision to become a Blade in 1966. My father supported another club.

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