From Father to Son , livre ebook

Pitch Publishing Ltd - Paul Bishop

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109 pages

English

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From Father to Son is Paul Bishop's semi-autobiographical account of his love of football, and most of all his local team Watford. It touches on the innocence of childhood and the influence of parents, family, friends, and in Paul's case Jimmy Hill, Johnny Haynes and many others. Part history, part travelogue, the book takes the reader on a nostalgic trip from the early 1960s, when football was a game and not a business. It explains why a five-minute segment in Kes makes it a better football film than Escape to Victory. It was an era when all English grounds were dominated by terraces, you could meet your mates and have a chat on the 'cinder curve' at Vicarage Road, as you marvelled at the skill of Ray Lugg and the heading ability of Barry Endean. The author also acknowledges the original 'boss' in his young eyes... Watford's legendary manager Ken Furphy, who went from Workington to New York Cosmos, via Watford, and ended up coaching both Pele and Johan Cruyff.

Sujets

England

Memoir

Inglaterra

Philosophie et théologie

Informations

Publié par	Pitch Publishing Ltd
Date de parution	01 mars 2021
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781785319051
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

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, 2021
Pitch Publishing
A2 Yeoman Gate
Yeoman Way
Durrington
BN13 3QZ
www.pitchpublishing.co.uk
Paul Bishop, 2021
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 9781785317606
eBook ISBN 9781785319051
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Contents
Acknowledgements
Foreword by Luther Blissett
Introduction
1. Jimmy, Johnny and George
2. Johnny Haynes
3. The Early Days
4. Cuffley Camp, 1966 and All That
5. Big School and Mr College
6. Football on Film and TV
7. Back Playing Again
8. Into Europe
9. Sounds Like Elton
10. Behind the Scenes
11. On the Road
12. Six Players
13. Six Games
14. Harry s Turn
Acknowledgements
I WOULD like to dedicate this book to my father, Geoff Bishop, who introduced me to the fun and thrills of watching football, and my mother, Joyce, for achieving a one hundred per cent record - one Watford match attended, one win. And what a win!
Eric Idle sang about always looking on the bright side of life, and I know what he means. Putting a book together is a serious business, but I ve had such fun writing and researching this book whilst the rest of the country has been in meltdown coping with Covid-19. Big thanks to all my friends, family and fellow fans for helping me put this book together and guiding me on my trip down memory lane. People like Luther Blissett, and Oliver Phillip, who responded rapidly and courteously to my queries and questions, even when he was holidaying in France! Thanks also to Jon Berry, Geoff Watts and Peter Lingham for their written contributions on those marvellous footballing days with St Albans Wanderers, and also Matthew Smith, Jim Campbell and Paul and Roger Baker for reading the proofs. Alun Lewis deserves a mention for giving me the Historic Newspapers - Watford scrapbook as a birthday present a few years back. And not forgetting my brother, Laurie, an early companion, home and away.
The Old Watford website proved to be quite a find; so useful for facts, figures and features. The BBC Archive and At Home with Colin Murray were amusing and informative sources in helping me piece together the profiles of Luther Blissett and John Barnes. Similarly, Kevin Affleck s interview with Tom Walley on Watford Legends was a fascinating insight on how Tom managed and nurtured young players so successfully.
Enjoy the Game, Lionel Birnie s excellent account of the Graham Taylor/Elton John era, and Matt Rowson s Watford FC On This Day were both helpful books, as were Billy Wright: A Hero for All Seasons, Puskas on Puskas, Arthur Hopcraft s The Football Man, Jack Rosenthal s By Jack Rosenthal - An Autobiography in Six Acts and A Man For All Seasons: Brian Owen s Six-Decade Football Odyssey. David McVay s Steak Diana Ross is a witty account of his time playing for Notts County during the 1970s. His brief but memorable descriptions of a chain-smoking Ian Bolton walking around under a perpetual cloud of cigarette smoke have stayed with me since reading the book several years ago.
I must give heartfelt thanks to my lovely (and patient) wife, Bego a, and also Elia and Harry for allowing me to use the kitchen table as a work base over the spring and summer months of 2020.
Finally, not forgetting the friendly and helpful people at Pitch - another great team!
Paul Bishop SEPTEMBER 2020
Foreword by Luther Blissett
GET YOURSELF a proper trade and work hard words my father said when I told him that I had been offered a contract to become a professional footballer. He was a carpenter by trade so had been creating things his whole life and that s the kind of future he saw for his son, having come to England from Jamaica to build a solid life for us. He knew hard work was the way to have a decent life.
I had already received confirmation of an apprenticeship to train as a motor technician at a local garage and he simply could not see there was a choice to be made. I had a passion for cars, loved the technology behind them and the challenge of getting a machine to work. But then I had started to play football and discover the thrill of scoring goals, albeit in the streets and the local park. Creating those winning scores even with my friends had a magic all of its own and a possibility for a life a boy could only dream of.
My mother s words when I told her what dad thought were more or less the same, but she added something. Follow your dream, Luther. Work hard, listen and try to do the things asked of you to the very best of your ability, then you will achieve whatever you want.
Those words were then repeated by the man who throughout my career as a footballer at Watford FC became very much my second father, Graham Taylor OBE. Football brought us together and forged that special bond, as only football can through many generations of fathers to sons.
Introduction

What is a club in any case? Not the buildings or directors or the people who are paid to represent it. It s not the television contracts, get-out clauses, marketing departments or executive boxes.
It s the noise, the passion, the feeling of belonging, the pride in your city. It s a small boy clambering up stadium steps for the first time, gripping his father s hand, gawping at that hallowed stretch of turf beneath him and, without being able to do a thing about it, falling in love - Sir Bobby Robson
PEOPLE OF a certain age remember Friday, 22 November 1963 as the day when President John Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas and Aldous Huxley died in Los Angeles. But for Watford fans, that date will always be known as the day Duncan Welbourne signed professional forms for the club.
However, Friday, 23 March 1962 was the day that changed my life and it was all Jimmy Hill s fault. Hill was the manager of Coventry City, the visitors at Vicarage Road on that fateful day. My dad wanted to pay tribute to the former chairman of the Professional Footballers Association. A year earlier Hill had been instrumental in ending the Football League s maximum wage of 20 a week. Almost immediately, Hill s former Fulham team-mate Johnny Haynes became the game s first 100-a-week player. Dad didn t want to visit the game alone so he took his youngest son - me. Although I was too small to see any of the game, I was hooked.
And so began a lifetime of devotion, and also a little misery mixed with fear. And it wasn t just fear of defeat. Watching football in the late 1960s and early 1970s was often a risky and violent business, both on and off the pitch. Most sides had at least one hardman in defence; Chelsea had Ron Chopper Harris, Manchester United had Nobby Stiles, Liverpool Tommy Smith and Leeds had an assortment of assassins including Billy Bremner, Norman Hunter and Johnny Giles. It might have been the beautiful game in Pel s eyes, but for a young English fan you had to watch out for fists, coins and bovver boots. Yes, this is the story of trips to Walsall, Exeter, Mansfield, Shrewsbury, Swansea, Luton, Gillingham and Bury in those early Graham Taylor family club days. It takes a look back at some of the memorable games and some of the lesser-known players who were to become folk heroes on the terraces of Vicarage Road. Players like Tom Walley, Terry Garbett and Dennis Booth, as well as more recognised stars like John Barnes, Luther Blissett, Ross Jenkins and Tony Coton.
August 2020
Since I began writing this book, a number of the players mentioned within its pages have sadly passed away. These include Jack Charlton and Alan Garner. By all accounts, Jack Charlton was as genuine a person as you could wish to meet. He seemed to truly enjoy the good and simple things in life, whether that was trout fishing in Ireland or a few quiet drinks after the game. Writer and broadcaster Danny Baker has a particular tale to tell: Possibly my favourite football story of all is how the morning after the World Cup Final, Jack Charlton woke up on the living room floor of a couple from Dagenham he had no recollection of meeting. His winner s medal was still in his pocket.
Whereas Jack s eyes always twinkled, younger brother Bobby had a sadder countenance, possibly caused by the trauma he experienced during and immediately after the Munich air crash in 1958. Jack tells the tale of when he learnt of his first England cap after the FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United in 1965: We won 1-0 and went back to the dressing room where we found lots of booze - whisky and beer and everything. I had a bottle of beer and sat down when Don Revie came in and said he wanted a word with me now as he didn t want to tell me before because he might have put me off my game. He said I d been selected to play against Scotland at Wembley in May and I said Me? He said yes and that all the lads knew and they all congratulated me. So I thought I ve got to tell our kid. So I went into their dressing room and went across to him and said: Hey kidda, you ll never believe this but I ve been selected to play for England with you against the Scots. And he sat there looking a bit depressed and said: I m pleased for you. I was completely out of order. I mean, you don t go into the dressing room of the team you ve just beaten in a cup semi-final. Even Denis