Saturday 17 February 2007

Scandalous Football Ticket Prices - Please Sign The Petition

Football Ticket Prices.
Are they too high?
They are for me and they are for thousands of others who are now staying away from grounds all over the country. And no longer being a regular away fan I didn't realise that many clubs charge fans of clubs with large away followings MORE than both their own fans and fans of clubs with small followings to subsidise their own drop in attendances.. Families are being priced out of the game, and without the youngsters being brought to games now, the "fans" of the future are going to be watching from their armchairs only and never venturing near a real match

It's time something was done about prices before the football "bubble" bursts. In my opinion it is already stretched to popping point (see my earlier post ), when it does finally burst, which I think will be as early as when clubs announce their season ticket prices for next season, it will burst big time. The game I once loved has already changed almost beyond recognition, it could be lost for ever.

The Football Supporters' Federation have arranged a petition protesting about scandalous ticket prices, I urge anyone that cares about the game to read it and sign it HERE

Thursday 8 February 2007

A Trip Down Memory Lane - Who Are We ?

My daughter yesterday presented me with the following, which she found whilst tidying her room.


It brought back memories, I had forgotten all about them.

"What is it?" I hear you ask, - well when I say "hear" I am speaking metaphorically, obviously you are miles away (unless you are the so far unlocated neighbour who keeps logging in to my unsecured wireless connection) - or unless of course you manage to say "What is it?" very very loudly.

It's an Old Codgers calling card.

Calling cards were very fashionable amongst "crews" with a passion for football violence, often left on the prostrate body of a victim so that he had the small satisfaction of knowing who it was that jumped him unexpectedly and beat the living daylights out of him.

But the Old Codgers were different.

They were not interested in violence, ( actually it was discussed regularly, I guess for "not interested" read "no longer capable"). Eating cakes was more their style. And although a few members were happy to indulge in a pint or two (or seven) to give them dutch courage before a "meet" (and scarily enough most of those were the women), most were happy with a good old cup of tea.

Most of the arrangements took place on that new fangled interweb thing. Unbeknown to them these discussions had been infiltrated by the Old Bill (or Young Bill as most referred to them). After one particular session of pre-match online bravado before a home tie against their biggest enemy P****mouth (well second biggest enemy, incontinence being the first), half of Hampshire Constabulary stood by red faced, realising that this time the Football Intelligence Unit had belied it's middle name as they watched a couple of dozen old ( and not so old) men and women tucking into croissants and cream cakes at a local patisserie.

They were very vocal at games, with a great repertoire of songs, which unfortunately tended to fade away early as few could remember all the words. They loved a good old knees up as well, although bringing the knees back down again proved difficult for some.

They often travelled to away games en masse , OAP Rail Cards and/or bus passes enabling cheap travel. They showed no fear of being in a strange town, their breakfast time "taking" of Debenhams Cafeteria in Manchester City Centre back innJanuary 2004 is still discussed in hushed tones today.

Calling cards were left in numerous locations, if anyone has found one I hope it has been treasured, these will be worth a fortune on the Antiques Roadshow one day. They also had a flag to rally behind, although that was last seen on the platform of Southampton Central as their train headed for P****mouth - remembering which train to catch and and to collect all ones belongings proved simply too difficult for some.

Nowadays the Old Codgers are like a sleeping giant, keeping their heads down and resting to avoid any further Police interest in their activities (being very easy to catch nowadays with a likelihood that any resulting sentence would effectively mean a life sentence), but eagerly awaiting the call. And with the "Yoof" currently filling their void, showing respect for no-one and being unable to sing a song with a proper tune, the Phoenix may be rising from the ashes sooner than expected.

Hello, Hello we are the Codgers Crew .........





Sunday 4 February 2007

My New Money Making Idea

We were out in the New Forest today and in a pub was one of those dispensers full of leaflets for tourists. One particularly caught my eye, the headline of which was

Ride an old girl for fifty quid a day !

I am trying to persuade Mrs W that this could be an ideal part-time earner for her. ;-)

It was actually an ad for these people, but why let the facts get in the way of a good story

Saturday 3 February 2007