Feeling Blue , livre ebook

Pitch Publishing Ltd - Richard Denton

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179 pages

English

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Feeling Blue is a football fan's memoir like no other. Spanning more than 35 years and set across three continents, it is a true story that encompasses love, race and identity - all interweaved with the chaotic fall and rise of Manchester City. Dickie Denton was born into a 1960s Manchester home with many siblings, one of whom was adopted and of Asian parentage. As he grew up, Dickie faced the twin challenges of racist bullying and academic underachievement. Football was his refuge and Manchester City became his obsession - through boyhood, coming of age and adulthood. By middle age he had the trappings of a successful international business career but still craved the thing that he most desired and continued to elude him: success for Manchester City. His story dramatically climaxes in 2012, on a sultry May night in Singapore. Feeling Blue is not just for Man City fans, or even just football fans. It is a deeply personal story told with humour and honesty that will appeal to all and bring forth tears and laughter in equal measure.

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Publié par	Pitch Publishing Ltd
Date de parution	28 mars 2022
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781801502429
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0500€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

First published by Pitch Publishing, 2022
Pitch Publishing
A2 Yeoman Gate
Yeoman Way
Durrington
BN13 3QZ
www.pitchpublishing.co.uk
Richard Denton, 2022
Every effort has been made to trace the copyright.
Any oversight will be rectified in future editions at the earliest opportunity by the publisher.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the Publisher.
A CIP catalogue record is available for this book from the British Library
Print ISBN 9781801500760
eBook ISBN 9781801502429
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Contents
Foreword
Introduction
Prologue: Sunday, 13 May 2012
1. Baptism
2. Different Colours
3. The Well-Rounded Person
4. Against the World
5. Final Score
6. Rebuilding
7. Away Games
8. Trading Places
9. Loss, Love, and Lager
10. Rolling with It
11. Upwardly Mobile
12. Home Truths
13. The Noisy Neighbour
14. Fantasia
15. Staggering
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Photos
Everything I know about morality and the obligations of men, I owe it to football.
Albert Camus
Foreword
by Peter Drury
IT FEELS ridiculous to admit this now, but the funny thing, in hindsight, about the morning of Sunday, 13 May 2012 was that it felt so calm. To the dispassionate (neither blue nor red), it seemed so obvious. Clearly, Manchester City would beat QPR. The stakes were unquestionably high; the jeopardy less so. City were simply a much, much better team. (Nobody told Jamie Mackie!)
With a naivety bordering on dereliction of duty, I assumed (in fact, I knew ), on the northbound train that morning, that City would become champions. This would be a routine coronation.
Of course, the briefest reflection on City s fabled (sometimes comedic) historical narrative should have shaken me from that misguided mindset. Had this book been my companion between London and Manchester Piccadilly that Sunday, I would have remembered to panic. City s story is NEVER routine.
Being present to witness those crazy events counts as one of the greatest blessings of my professional life. To an extent, I feel guilty about it. I had no entitlement to that blessing. I hadn t earned the right, suffered for the cause or endured decades of sniggering disdain. Your author had and he was thousands of miles away on another continent. He deserved to be there, not me!
There are relatively few moments in a commentator s career when he is utterly set free. The Aguero moment was one of those rare and precious instances. No amount of preparation, no statistical data, no biographical or historical recall could enhance that raw event. It just happened; and all of us who were fortunate enough to be holding a microphone at the time were carried along for the ride.
Only the foolishly vain amongst the broadcasting fraternity would ever claim a goal for themselves. No commentator ever scored; he was just lucky to be there when someone else did. Nevertheless, these moments can attach themselves.
Some years after the event, I happened to be on a packed train home from a City game with Martin Tyler whose articulation of that title-winning moment (for Sky Sports in the UK) was utterly brilliant. We both had to get off at the same stop and - as we picked our way between weary, beer-soaked fans - one of them spotted him. Hey, Martin, he slurred, Thanks so much for that Aguero goal!
Once on the platform and away from the crowd, I exclaimed to Martin that they have reached the point of believing you were actually responsible for that goal! The Premier League should take the assist away from Balotelli!
From somewhere, on that frenzied evening, my subconscious lexicon came up with the word Staggering . I guess it was as apt a word as any but - in the immediate aftermath - I thought little of it. In the decade since, that unremarkable adjective has followed me all over the world. And now it s the heading for a chapter. Thanks Kun!
It s a massive privilege to have been a tiny, tangential part of that day, particularly in the context of the very personal story you are preparing to read here.
Aguero day was defining in so many personal histories. Thousands (millions even) intertwine their real lives and relationships with the complex, irrational, inexplicable bond they feel with a football club. Not much of it makes any sense. It doesn t have to.
Football (and sport in general) is about human beings. This is a beautifully told human story, wrapped in a social history of the late twentieth century and beyond. Manchester City - a larger-than-life club (even when times were bleak) which has always been a glorious caricature of itself - provides the ideal backdrop and, of course, the unimaginably happy ending. Enjoy!
Introduction
I SET out to tell a football story. Somewhere along the way it became a story of identity and belonging (and some football). But it was football that first gave me my voice and that is why I will always love the game.
There is an acknowledged truth that we all have, within ourselves, a book; a story to tell. I believe it is just a matter of finding the right one. Consequently, I have searched among the hobbits, heroes, boardrooms, and bedrooms of life and literature but found nothing that gave me the inspiration to create a story. Maybe I just lack imagination in that respect. I am therefore taking the easy way out. I am not going to invent a story. Why would I when I have my own to tell? Like many tales that have gone before, it is one of hope overcoming despair. It is about faith, family, and football, but most of all, it is a story of love. Its themes and challenges are not unique to me; how could they be, when they are so universal?
At approximately 5.44pm on 13 May 2012 an Argentine footballer named Sergio Ag ero scored the most celebrated goal in Premier League history. With due deference to Geoff Hurst and Michael Thomas, it is possibly the most famous goal in English football s glorious past. Worldwide media and the global phenomenon of the Premier League have certainly made it the most viewed.
On that sunny Manchester afternoon, as Ag ero wheeled away in triumph, football watchers across the globe let out a collective gasp. Thousands of Manchester City supporters in locations all over the world celebrated like never before. For many it felt like the end of a journey. For some it had lasted for ten years, for others 20. My journey lasted for nearly 40 years. For many more it was even longer. There is only one version of this journey s joyful end; television has recorded it, and the Ag ero moment will forever unite the weary travellers. However, the winding paths that took so many people to that happy place are diverse and varied. This is my version, my journey, my life, and my faith.
It is a story told from memory, each event and occurrence an indelible impression in my mind. The only research has been to verify dates here and there. Some names have been changed out of respect, but otherwise each word of it is my true and honest recollection. I did wonder if I would ever finish it as, like Manchester City, I often start off with bright ambition only to disappoint. Remarkably, I did, and I can only hope that you enjoy it.
Prologue
Sunday, 13 May 2012 1 Newton Road, Singapore - 8pm
DESPERATE TO kill time, I picked up my phone and sent a text message to my friend Nick in the UK, No more sleeps. Like a five-year-old waiting for Christmas, I had been counting down the days and nights of the preceding week.
The previous Sunday s win at Newcastle had left City with just one game left to play and one tentative hand on the Premier League trophy. Upon hearing the final whistle, the commentator had lyrically proclaimed, Start preparing the ribbons and those ribbons are sky blue. Nick, a Newcastle fan, had been at St James Park. He had reported back that City were deserved winners and would be worthy champions. Only Queens Park Rangers now stood between City and the title.
Until the last plane for Manchester had departed Singapore s Changi airport, I was still desperately trying to get a ticket for the game. During the last week frantic emails had been sent to my usual contacts, and then anyone and everyone who came to mind. But this was something incredibly special and each avenue I went down was a dead end. With a heavy heart, the flight reservations, made in hope rather than expectation, had been cancelled.
Singapore was starting to feel like home anyway. Work had taken me there and in the past three years I had developed a great attachment to the city, its culture, and the people. The only question that therefore remained was where to watch the match. At home or in public? The sanctity and security of my Newton Road apartment was the safe option. Not safety from any physical danger, as that simply does not exist in Singapore, but refuge from ridicule. After 37 years of loyal support, ridicule was nothing new, especially from Manchester United fans. United were the pride of Singapore and if we were to fail, I would be surrounded.
Just thinking about it made me feel nauseous. Wherever we went in Singapore we would be outnumbered. Only United could win the title if City stumbled, and if that were to happen, I did not want to drown in a sea of red celebration. On the other hand, should we win then where better to be than out and among them all? Proud, sky blue champions. The big fat silver Premier League trophy, the one that defines United, would be ours for all to see. Choosing w