written and posted by members of Lancashire Dead Good Poets' Society

Tuesday 5 March 2019

Colours - The Future's Bright


The future is looking bright, tangerine and white.

I’m looking forward to Saturday’s football match. I’m looking forward to a fantastic cheerful atmosphere from a capacity crowd. The chanting, the singing, the drum roll, all will be there, at last.

Bloomfield Road football ground is clean and tidy with colourful, tangerine seating. It’s a far cry from 1970 when my friends and I stood on the terrace to watch Blackpool, trying to avoid whatever skirmishes were happening around us. It was a male-dominated place in those days. I don’t think there were any facilities for ladies, but a few of us die-hards were not put off.  Blackpool F.C. were in the First Division at the time and I couldn’t wait to see George Best play when Manchester United came. Sadly, it was not meant to be. I was many miles away on a fortnight’s holiday in Majorca with my family when that match was taking place.

One of my close school friends was one of Bill Perry’s daughters. I knew he was a former player for Blackpool but I didn’t appreciate the significance at the time. He scored the winning goal for Blackpool in the 1953 FA Cup Final, but to me he was my friend’s dad and the man who fixed our vacuum cleaner in his electrical shop.

 In the early ‘70s I stopped going to matches. Time had moved on and my weekends were taken up with other things. I followed the fortunes of the team from a distance and that’s how it stayed for a long time.

A new era is about to commence. Colour the town tangerine and white.
 
My poem from 2010,
 
 
Sea Sea Seasiders  2010
 
Everything tangerine and white,
Fans all meet in great assembly.
Blackpool FC in the top flight,
They’ve beaten Cardiff at Wembley.
 
Open top bus in ’53,
Everything tangerine and white,
The FA cup for all to see,
Bill Perry’s goal, the town's delight.
 
It really was an awesome sight                                                            
With deafening applause and cheer;
Everything tangerine and white
With plenty of champagne and beer.
 
Open top bus like ’53,
Everything tangerine and white.
The play-off cup for all to see,
Ormerod’s goal, the town's delight.
 
Ollie’s team have got the power,
Premier League, a dizzy height.
Blackpool flag atop the tower,
Everything tangerine and white!
 
 
PMW
 
 
Thanks for reading, Pam x
 

1 comments:

Steve Rowland said...

What was it they used to say about Bill Perry? He had the grace of a gazelle and the kick of a wildebeest...or something along those lines. Did you stay in touch with his daughter? I wonder if she'll be at Bloomfield Road tomorrow.

You're right, Pam. A new era is about to commence. Having not set foot inside the stadium for 4 years, I've been there every day for the last week just helping to get it fit for our glorious homecoming.

One interesting irony of the Oystons' tenure is that fans feel more of an affinity with each other than they ever did. It's going to be quite an emotional return and as you say, a fantastic atmosphere from a capacity crowd, everything tangerine and white.