Turn Right At Mottram Roundabout - Week 14
Tue 8th November 2016 | General | By Stewart Taylor
The club we were visiting last week was AFC Blackpool.
The photo showed the executive reserved seating in the stand at the far end of the ground. I don’t know if that comes complete with waiter service but perhaps it should.
The quick link was about a connection between Mike Rutherford, a founder member of the rock band Genesis, and this club.
In 1985 Mike Rutherford formed his own band, Mike and the Mechanics and Blackpool Mechanics is the original name of AFC Blackpool.
On to this week. Regular readers will know that there are a few words in the English language which I consider to be particular favourites. One of these is serendipity.
There are a number of definitions of the word but the one I like brings together the ideas of good fortune in discovery and an association of ideas to arrive at a thought process which is, in some way, pleasing. Let’s try an example.
A few weeks ago a conversation with a colleague brought to mind some of the great English plays of the late 1950s and through the 1960s. A few days later a film was advertised as about to be shown on Channel 4. The film was Saturday Night and Sunday Morning made in 1960 based on the novel of the same name by Alan Sillitoe.
Memories of seeing this film years ago suggest that it is full of unremitting gloom concerning the exploits of a machine operator from Nottingham.
Thinking further about the writings of this time then a good few stand out in the memory, many of them grouped together under the name of “Kitchen Sink Dramas”. Perhaps the first of these was Look Back in Anger by John Osborne (1959) and then we had Room at the Top by John Braine (1959) followed by many more through into much more recent times.
As with Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, the lasting memory of these books, plays, films etc. was the downtrodden role of the working class and their struggles against a society heavily weighted against them. At no time did I recall any shafts of humour to lighten the mood until I thought a little further.
If we think about later works in the same genre then we can cite Educating Rita by Willy Russell (1983), Boys from the Blackstuff by Alan Bleasdale (1980) and even The Dressmaker by Beryl Bainbridge (1973). Whilst dealing with serious issues all three of these exhibit just that little bit of humour which elevates them to a slightly higher level than some of the others. There is a commonality between the writers of these three works and the spirit of the place we are visiting today which, for many, almost defines the people.
Our destination today takes us to a “World of Firsts” which gives some idea of the vibrant and innovative place this is. Railway innovation led the way with the first railway tunnels constructed just before the accession of Queen Victoria. The first elevated electric railway was built here as well as the world’s first deep level underground stations.
Massive developments in health provision had their origins here including orthopaedic surgery and modern anaesthetics, not forgetting the world’s first integrated sewer system pre-dating the famous system installed by Joseph Bazelgette in London.
There are many other worlds firsts associated with this place but one that stands out for the football supporter is the invention of the goal net by John Alexander Brodie. This invention solved a huge problem and, therefore, a source of controversy, in that, prior to the invention of the goal net, there were circumstances in which no one was sure if a goal had been scored or not – the goal at that time being simply the frame of goalposts and crossbar we know today.
Some sources suggest that the first footballer ever to 'put the ball in back of the net' was Geary of Everton, in a trial game in Nottingham in January 1891. The referee that day, ironically, was Sam Widdowson, the man who invented shinpads.
Football in the area today is very strong with representative teams competing at the highest level of the game alongside clubs who ply their trade at most levels of the National League System. Our final destination today takes us to one of our more recently established clubs but with strong and abiding links to one of the oldest.
This club was established in 2008 and was granted entry into the league in time for the start of the 2008-09 season. There have been a number of successes in the short history of the club and a highest finishing position of 7th in the Premier Division in season 2013 – 14 represents some good progress but ambitions are high here.
Quick link - What links this club with the giant statue the “Angel of the North” which is located near Gateshead?
Turn Right At Mottram Roundabout - Week 14
Tue 8th November 2016 | General
By Stewart Taylor
The club we were visiting last week was AFC Blackpool.
The photo showed the executive reserved seating in the stand at the far end of the ground. I don’t know if that comes complete with waiter service but perhaps it should.
The quick link was about a connection between Mike Rutherford, a founder member of the rock band Genesis, and this club.
In 1985 Mike Rutherford formed his own band, Mike and the Mechanics and Blackpool Mechanics is the original name of AFC Blackpool.
On to this week. Regular readers will know that there are a few words in the English language which I consider to be particular favourites. One of these is serendipity.
There are a number of definitions of the word but the one I like brings together the ideas of good fortune in discovery and an association of ideas to arrive at a thought process which is, in some way, pleasing. Let’s try an example.
A few weeks ago a conversation with a colleague brought to mind some of the great English plays of the late 1950s and through the 1960s. A few days later a film was advertised as about to be shown on Channel 4. The film was Saturday Night and Sunday Morning made in 1960 based on the novel of the same name by Alan Sillitoe.
Memories of seeing this film years ago suggest that it is full of unremitting gloom concerning the exploits of a machine operator from Nottingham.
Thinking further about the writings of this time then a good few stand out in the memory, many of them grouped together under the name of “Kitchen Sink Dramas”. Perhaps the first of these was Look Back in Anger by John Osborne (1959) and then we had Room at the Top by John Braine (1959) followed by many more through into much more recent times.
As with Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, the lasting memory of these books, plays, films etc. was the downtrodden role of the working class and their struggles against a society heavily weighted against them. At no time did I recall any shafts of humour to lighten the mood until I thought a little further.
If we think about later works in the same genre then we can cite Educating Rita by Willy Russell (1983), Boys from the Blackstuff by Alan Bleasdale (1980) and even The Dressmaker by Beryl Bainbridge (1973). Whilst dealing with serious issues all three of these exhibit just that little bit of humour which elevates them to a slightly higher level than some of the others. There is a commonality between the writers of these three works and the spirit of the place we are visiting today which, for many, almost defines the people.
Our destination today takes us to a “World of Firsts” which gives some idea of the vibrant and innovative place this is. Railway innovation led the way with the first railway tunnels constructed just before the accession of Queen Victoria. The first elevated electric railway was built here as well as the world’s first deep level underground stations.
Massive developments in health provision had their origins here including orthopaedic surgery and modern anaesthetics, not forgetting the world’s first integrated sewer system pre-dating the famous system installed by Joseph Bazelgette in London.
There are many other worlds firsts associated with this place but one that stands out for the football supporter is the invention of the goal net by John Alexander Brodie. This invention solved a huge problem and, therefore, a source of controversy, in that, prior to the invention of the goal net, there were circumstances in which no one was sure if a goal had been scored or not – the goal at that time being simply the frame of goalposts and crossbar we know today.
Some sources suggest that the first footballer ever to 'put the ball in back of the net' was Geary of Everton, in a trial game in Nottingham in January 1891. The referee that day, ironically, was Sam Widdowson, the man who invented shinpads.
Football in the area today is very strong with representative teams competing at the highest level of the game alongside clubs who ply their trade at most levels of the National League System. Our final destination today takes us to one of our more recently established clubs but with strong and abiding links to one of the oldest.
This club was established in 2008 and was granted entry into the league in time for the start of the 2008-09 season. There have been a number of successes in the short history of the club and a highest finishing position of 7th in the Premier Division in season 2013 – 14 represents some good progress but ambitions are high here.
Quick link - What links this club with the giant statue the “Angel of the North” which is located near Gateshead?
