Memories of my Dad
Championship Derby County
by vidalslastapostle (U9499391) 07 June 2010
Two weeks ago I made a long trip with my sister to North Devon to scatter my Dad’s ashes on a path overlooking the sea, in the same spot where we had done the same for my Mum. They had chosen the spot themselves as this was where we had spent our summer holidays virtually every year when we were growing up, the happiest times of their lives.
It was the most beautiful day and as I stood looking out to sea, summoning up memories of my Dad, I found that the ones which had stuck most were those relating to watching football. The first, on black and white TV, the 1970 World Cup quarter-final, two-nil up against West Germany, before Alf's substitutions, Gerd Muller and disaster. I was 6 and inconsolable, crying in my bed when Dad issued the immortal words: “Don’t be upset, it’s just a game". I remember thinking then what a stupid thing that was for a father to say!
He supported Derby for over 60 years, and when he started taking me with him at the age of four it was the beginning of the glory years. We used to get into the Baseball Ground at one o’clock so that I could put down my stool at the front of The Paddock, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to see anything. He had to somehow keep me entertained for the interminable two hours before kick-off. It was a season and a half before I saw us lose.
When my Mum died he seemed to visibly shrink. He still came to the games, but for a long while he seemed almost disinterested in the outcome, and I realised the main reason he came was to spend time with me and my own two lads. Eventually, though, he recovered, and my last strong footballing memory of him is in the immediate aftermath of the play-off final, a look of utter jubilation on his face.
Most precious of all for me is thinking about May 8th 1972. It being a school night, I had been sent to bed while Wolves played Leeds and Arsenal played Liverpool, but with twenty minutes to go he woke me up and I was allowed to come halfway (only halfway, mind you!) downstairs while we listened to the radio and prayed that Leeds would not score. At about a quarter past nine, father and son went bonkers as The Rams claimed the title and I have always blessed him for making sure that I witnessed our greatest triumph.
With his death I have come to realise that in waking me up on that night, he also had a selfish motive. As a fan who had supported Derby through some very dark days, this was for him the moment of supreme triumph, and to make his joy complete, he needed his lad to be with him. As well as giving me the ultimate memory, he was doing the same for himself: the joy of sharing the greatest moment of his life with his son.
My reasons for laying this on you are also pretty selfish: it's therapeutic just to write these things down. I don't care if you comment or not. I also feel there's no harm in occasionally putting forward the belief that football should be about the simple emotions of joy and sadness rather than bitterness, rage and hatred.
My kids are now about the same age as I was on that wonderful night. If England win the World Cup next month I know where I want to be: jumping up and down on the stairs with my boys, not legless in a pub somewhere. If and when we get knocked out, we'll share the pain, and maybe in forty years' time they'll remember how it felt to do this with their Dad.
A Decade On
posted on 14/6/20
32½ stone, wow!
posted on 14/6/20
No one bothered asking who ate all the pies then. You really have to work at it to get that big.
posted on 14/6/20
Work, but a labour of love.
posted on 15/6/20
I observed two very large people in Keynsham Tesco's yesterday.
I'm a quite short 6' unless I've shrunk.
I used to spend some time in the gym before ill health overtook me so would be outside the BMI guidelines anyway.
I used to belong to the 'body is a temple' sect.
After two deep vein thrombosis + OSA [Sleep Apnea] and umpteen episodes of cellulitis, I'm no longer quite the slim bloke I once was!
OSA makes people put on fat by all the adrenaline released to wake you up, CPAP is a wonderful invention though.
posted on 15/6/20
I treated myself to a Belgian Bun yesterday to celebrate finally dropping into the overweight BMI zone. By BMI is now 29.9 I’m 6’1” and 16 st 2 lb. (102.6kg)
I’ve had loads of targets. First it was 110kg then 240lb then 17st then 16 1/2 stone then 230lb then the BMI to get to overweight. Next target is 16st only 2lb away.
I found it easier to lose weight setting small targets and the coronavirus outbreak is a great motivator as being over 55 and obese with high blood pressure could mean a tough time with the virus.
My BP has dropped from 170/113 to 147/90. Still high but heading in the right direction.
posted on 15/6/20
Keynsham RFB, did you know Horace Batchelor?
posted on 16/6/20
comment by Red Forest Bear [Bear Knows] (U6288)
posted 1 day, 8 hours ago
I observed two very large people in Keynsham Tesco's yesterday.
I'm a quite short 6' unless I've shrunk.
I used to spend some time in the gym before ill health overtook me so would be outside the BMI guidelines anyway.
I used to belong to the 'body is a temple' sect.
After two deep vein thrombosis + OSA [Sleep Apnea] and umpteen episodes of cellulitis, I'm no longer quite the slim bloke I once was!
OSA makes people put on fat by all the adrenaline released to wake you up, CPAP is a wonderful invention though.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
RFB
I have sleep apnoea as well. I'm sure vidal will confirm that sleep apnoea and being overweight go hand in hand. The question is, which came first?
20 years ago I weighed 115 kg but could run 100m in 15 seconds. I was built like an albino Akinfenwa! My doctors told me I would never weigh less than that but I was perfectly healthy.
Over the years, football related repeated ankle injuries (now cured by having a major reconstruction last autumn) and worsening sleep apnoea caused in part by hereditary mouth/palette etc saw my weight rise slowly but regularly.
I took control last year - eventually! 5 months off work recuperation and a change of lifestyle. But a long way to go. 20 years ago I could walk 25 miles a day in the Brecon beacons. This time last year I couldn't walk to the local shops. On Sunday, I managed 10 miles across Salisbury Plain in 3 hours and am cycling over 100 miles a week. Not a patch on many of you, but I'm getting there.
My life goal (well, one of them) is to see Derby win the FA Cup. I'll need to be around a while to fulfill that ambition.
posted on 16/6/20
Obesity is the leading cause of obstructive sleep apnoea, though not the only one. It’s possible that in some people the condition can also lead to weight gain because of how it affects the metabolism but generally it is a cause of OSA rather than a consequence of it. Losing weight will help the sleep apnoea and will also reduce the risks of cardiovascular conditions which are associated with OSA. Losing weight is difficult though. CPAP is the mainstay of treatment otherwise.
posted on 17/6/20
comment by Spart-Derby really are the best says red dog. (U4603)
posted 2 days ago
Keynsham RFB, did you know Horace Batchelor?
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I think that he had shuffled off, well before I arrived in 1999!
posted on 17/6/20
comment by Peeder (U1684)
posted 22 hours, 46 minutes ago
comment by Red Forest Bear [Bear Knows] (U6288)
posted 1 day, 8 hours ago
I observed two very large people in Keynsham Tesco's yesterday.
I'm a quite short 6' unless I've shrunk.
I used to spend some time in the gym before ill health overtook me so would be outside the BMI guidelines anyway.
I used to belong to the 'body is a temple' sect.
After two deep vein thrombosis + OSA [Sleep Apnea] and umpteen episodes of cellulitis, I'm no longer quite the slim bloke I once was!
OSA makes people put on fat by all the adrenaline released to wake you up, CPAP is a wonderful invention though.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
RFB
I have sleep apnoea as well. I'm sure vidal will confirm that sleep apnoea and being overweight go hand in hand. The question is, which came first?
20 years ago I weighed 115 kg but could run 100m in 15 seconds. I was built like an albino Akinfenwa! My doctors told me I would never weigh less than that but I was perfectly healthy.
Over the years, football related repeated ankle injuries (now cured by having a major reconstruction last autumn) and worsening sleep apnoea caused in part by hereditary mouth/palette etc saw my weight rise slowly but regularly.
I took control last year - eventually! 5 months off work recuperation and a change of lifestyle. But a long way to go. 20 years ago I could walk 25 miles a day in the Brecon beacons. This time last year I couldn't walk to the local shops. On Sunday, I managed 10 miles across Salisbury Plain in 3 hours and am cycling over 100 miles a week. Not a patch on many of you, but I'm getting there.
My life goal (well, one of them) is to see Derby win the FA Cup. I'll need to be around a while to fulfill that ambition.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I was always thin weighed 11 stone when I left the Army at 21! The worst thing about trying to get fit is the lack of energy, but lock down/isolation doesn't help with that.