WINTER WONDERLAND

The fun of football in the cold

AS WINTER takes its grip and many animals would rather hibernate than venture outdoors, us hardy football fans ignore the cold chills and head off to watch our teams play.

Yet winters today seem mild in comparison to those we encountered in the 60s and 70s - you’d often see piles and piles of snow alongside the side of the pitch, and many surfaces would be frozen solid.

But games would still go ahead even in Arctic conditions and, after a final referee inspection, off we’d trudge to the match.

Grounds back then had terracing for standing which, on cold days when packed with fans, meant you’d soon get warm as you’d be crammed in like sardines.

After a few minutes of feet-stamping and hand-clapping, you’d forget about the icy wind blowing in from Siberia and soon be feeling toasty.

I feel supporters were more of a hardy breed in those decades, as were the footballers - you wouldn’t see an outfield player wearing gloves like they do now.

In fact, whoever started the craze needs to be shot at dawn.You see players donning them now even on mild days!

In the old days, players would run around in short-sleeved shirts, or with sleeves rolled up, and you’d see bone-crunching tackles going in on rock-hard surfaces which no doubt soon warmed up the player on the end of one.

But, even now, who doesn’t look forward to a home fixture on a Boxing Day? For me, it’s the highlight of the season as you go to the pub before the game, have a few beers with fellow fans, then head off full of festive cheer - or lager in my case - to hopefully see your team win.

The best game I’ve ever seen, or most exciting, was on December 27, 1977.

It was at Highfield Road and my team, Coventry City, were playing Norwich City in a First Division fixture.

The pitch had a blanket of snow on it and you stood watching on the terraces with an icicle hanging from your bright red nose, and with a wind blowing in trying hard to whip your ears off.

But what a game this was. It had goals, penalties, action at both ends of the pitch and in the last minute our keeper Jim Blyth saved a penalty which meant we won 5-4.

What a late Christmas present that was and this great game will stay long in my memory, even though it took 24 hours to thaw out!

A familiar sight at our ground at Highfield Road was ‘Soupy Sam’, who walked around the side of the pitch selling hot soup, and on a cold wintry day did a roaring trade, but older fans still liked to warm themselves up with swigs from their hip flasks containing whisky or brandy.

It also wasn’t uncommon to see the floodlights on at 3 o’clock on a Saturday afternoon and a bright orange ball being used instead of the usual white. In fact, during the winter months it could be the norm.

An orange leather ball on a white pitch still has a magical feel to it as it conjures up images in my mind of the beautiful game being played in the raw.

So no matter how cold and chilly it is, don’t wimp out this winter and decide to stay indoors in the warm.

Get yourself wrapped up and go and cheer your team on. Just don’t forget your hip flask as us football fans like a nice nip during a match!