My very first attended footy match back in 1974 was Wimbledon FC, at Plough Lane.
My first match was Southampton v Newcastle at The Dell, probably in 1967. My memories are scant. My grandfather and his son, my uncle, took me. We went in my grandfather's Morris Minor and took one of those enormous bars of Cadbury's. We may have stood by the tunnel and Terry Paine played. That's it!
My grandfather was a football fan as opposed to supporting a particular club. The two teams he was most interested in and I suppose "supported" were Exeter City and Newcastle United. Why? My grandfather worked for both GNER and GSWR, both teams played at St James's Park, both cities had strong railway associations and influenced in some way his work. You needed to know my granddad to know this made perfect sense.
No one in my immediate family was interested in football. As a child I didn't have a team and watched any game I could, often going to London to watch the great Liverpool sides of the 60s/70s. When we moved to Lancashire 44 years ago I was at a loose end one Saturday, my wife was working and I decided to go to a match. Ewood was the closest ground and Rovers a club I had taken a vague interest in because Keith Newton** played for the club. Rovers were at home to Portsmouth, I trundled off and without a thought went in to the paddock area between the Blackburn End and Nuttall Street stands.
People spoke to me!! This was an a complete revelation. You don't do that. I now realise with my accent they probably had me down as a stray Pompey fan. Anyway that was that. I instantly fell in love with Rovers and what a ride it's been.
** Keith Newton played for England while he was at Ewood. I'm from deepest Hampshire, this was the '60s. I didn't know where Blackburn was. North of Watford? Rovers quickly became a Division 2 side. Why was an England international playing for a Division 2 side? A strange thing to a 13 year old.
