The internet can’t even tell me who scored – perhaps Laurie Ryan got a couple. I do recall walking past some Hartlepool fans on Coldham’s Common who were peering into a brook. There was polite laughter at least.
I also remember it was my friend Clive’s first game. How can you possibly start with a 6-0? It will never be that good again.
My debut was coming back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Exeter three or four years earlier. Here’s your team, as Gennaro Gattuso would say, sometimes maybe good, sometimes maybe bad. We sat in the Junior U’s enclosure (not enclosed) in block A and probably talked about Panini stickers and which division we’d end up playing in when we were older.
We weren’t shooting for the stars – a solid Division Three career beckoned. On Tuesday night, almost 37 years after the Hartlepool demotion, Clive and I are in the main stand watching the U’s take on Millwall in the Carabao Cup second round – zero professional appearances between us. When you’re 10, a lot of the game passes you by.
The game is happening, but there’s cigarettes and swearing and big men shouting. I don’t really remember going to the Abbey being a choice. This was just what I did every other week for the best part of a decade.
I’m not sure I ever questioned it. On Tuesday, again a lot of the game passed us by, it wasn’t a classic. Millwall legend, and enormous man, Jake Cooper scored early and despite some decent football we never really got close to breaking them down.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
