I no longer watch Crufts. I wonder if I ought to do the same with the Olympics?

They knocked down and rebuilt one stand in 1992 and now have plans to expand the capacity to 55000, the main thing though is that they’ll be staying put.

I trust they will have an astro-turf pitch again!

I went to Kenilworth Road a couple of times in 1985 - I watched Liverpool play and got to meet the Liverpool players at the side of the pitch before the game as we turned up early.

You would have met some top players then ?

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Absolutely Kenny, Jan Molby and Bruce Groblaar and provably others!

Yes, IMO it’s corrupt from stem to stern. Here’s one of the IOC worthies that got caught.

His best pal was the CEO of the Irish FA equivalent, he got caught too.

Horse racing is no better.

And that’s before I even start on about Hancock and Dido Harding.

I can claim my football spectator equivalent of the VC - standing in The Shed, Stamford Bridge, Chelsea v Spurs +/- 1970. I lived within ‘audible obsenities distance’ of Stamford Bridge twice [one place appropriately named Rickett St.]

Highbury for Arsenal v Chelsea. It was when walking past a mounted policeman that I learned that their horses are taught to head humans. The horse reckoned I was going to pass by too close, so it lowered its head as I came level and ‘headed’ me off a yard or so!

A college pal from Chile went off up the Seven Sisters Rd from our H o Res at Holloway to see Spurs v Arsenal at W.H.L. reappeared in the bar an hour later.

“Eh? Eduardo - what you doing back here? Must be about 1/2 time?”
“I am to frightened. The atmosphere - very dangerous. I must leave.”

As we have drifted into football stadiums, as a little lad with my friend, we were passed over the heads of the crowd to watch Tommy Lawton score for Notts County against Bury from the touchline at Meadow Lane.

Never watched another match again apart from, as Merchant seamen, my Taffy and Jock mates and I watched Wales play Greece in Athens. Once more from the touchline eventually because in the first half Taffy became a one man drunken football hooligan and invaded the pitch to attack an, allegedly, ‘crocking’ Greek player. We were all ejected to the road outside but found our way at half time into the Welsh dressing room, where, after meeting Garry Sprake, Terry Yorath and Peter Wheeler (reporter?) the team conspired to allow us to trot down the tunnel with them to regain the touchline. Thus the entire travelling Welsh fan contingent saw the game out without further incident. :rofl:

But there is something wrong with this, true, honestly, account. How did Taffy invade the pitch in the first place as, well before similar constraints in England, the crowd was contained behind high fencing? :astonished:

Saw my first live game in 1968 and over 50 years later have clocked up 1500+, at one point I was doing 80 a season.

Back to the Olympics, it is on the telly with the sound down at the moment while I do other things, this for one, and I caught a glimpse of the Japanese bloke winning gold on the high bars. What a display of bravery and skill. Then back to what I was doing. :wink: :slightly_smiling_face:

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My first professional game was Norwich City v Plymouth Argyll in 1965 if I recall correctly. It was unusual because I believe they were the only two teams to play in green at that level at that time. The second game was Norwich v Swindon just after. The star of the game was Don Rogers who bamboozled and terrorized the City defence.

He used to live quite close to me when he played for Palace. I remember him bamboozling the Man Utd defence in a 5 - 0 thrashing once.

I also saw him playing for Palace. Couldn’t categorically state I was at this match but he was quite a player,