RADIO TIMES
How a radio opened up the world
ON HEARING of the recent passing of the 1970 World Cup-winning Brazilian captain Carlos Alberto, it got me thinking how I developed my passion for the beautiful game.
I was born in June 1961 and sometime in early 1970 my Dad entered a competition with a local crisp company - he had to make up some ditty about the crisps. Anyway, he won and got a transistor radio as a result.
My Dad gave me the radio and it opened up a whole new world for me as regards sport and, especially, football. Saturdays were brilliant listening to BBC Radio 2 with the live matches and reports.
I also remember the 1970 World Cup, which was my first taste of live football on TV.
The semi-finals (Uruguay 1 Brazil 3 and Italy 4 West Germany 3 aet) were amazing and the final, too, with the great Brazilian team overcoming Italy 4-1 with players like Pele, Jairzinho, Rivelino and the aforementioned Carlos Alberto – and THAT goal he scored.
I recall the sunshine in Mexico while we were up in the small hours at home in Ireland.
The 1971 FA Cup final – Arsenal v Liverpool – is a great memory. The magic of Steve Heighway, who put Liverpool ahead in extratime, before Eddie Kelly levelled and then Charlie George struck the winner for the Gunners.
I can still recall George flat out on the Wembley turf in celebration. From that day on, despite the defeat, I developed my love for Liverpool. Listening to all those great European nights on the radio on Liverpool’s run to winning the UEFA Cups of 1973 and 1976.
Ray Clemence, Kevin Keegan, Chris Lawler and Tommy Smith, and many more, were putting the Reds on the map and you also had the great Leeds vs Liverpool clashes.
Leeds had an amazing team – Billy Bremner, David Harvey and Johnny Giles to name a few.
Also, the Derby County team and Sunderland's FA Cup success in 1973 over Leeds with a worldclass save from Jim Montgomery.
The Charity Shield of 1974 between Liverpool and Leeds, which will be remembered for the Kevin Keegan and Billy Bremner tussle, which saw both men sent off as Liverpool went on to win on penalties. A friend of mine, Gerry, got me interested in supporting our local club Drogheda United. We would go to all the home matches in the Lourdes Stadium in Drogheda. Drogheda played in the League of Ireland. I saw Bobby Charlton, George Best and Bobby Tambling play there for visiting teams. A great memory of the Lourdes Stadium was the smell of Bovril, which was on sale at half-time. Drogheda got to the final of the FAI Cup in 1976. In an earlier round, they had a replay which was played in Tolka Park in Dublin under floodlights. It was the first time I saw a game under floodlights and I was amazed at the sight. Drogheda had some great players, Cathal Muckian springs to mind – a great header of the ball. Another memory was of getting Scorcher, which changed to Scorcher and Score, and later Tiger and Scorcher. It was a weekly football comic featuring football articles of the day, posters etc. And the adventures of Nipper Lawrence, Billy's Boots, Roy of the Rovers and Hot-shot