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:
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.
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