Going home at half time 'cos it's too bastard cold

Further to this recent post, it turns out my memory isn't too shoddy after all.

As revealed by this list it was Mark Goodson who played for Hemel Town FC back in the day. Other names from that list transporting me back into a fug of early eighties football nostalgia include Tony Horsfall; Dave Edwards; Steve Hoar (a drinking mate of my Dad); Steve Wilson (a workmate of my Dad); Mick Vipond; and Hugh Boycott-Brown (with a name like that, should have been a backbench Tory MP. I seem to remember him as a free scoring centre forward.)

Last post was entitled Tony Horsfall's black and white army. For some reason, in my mind's eye, I primarily remember Hemel playing in white shirts and black shorts but they must have mostly played in their usual red strip when I used to watch them. So why can't I remember it? Maybe all my memories of Hemel playing have been crystallised into one particular match where they happened to be wearing their change strip of black and white?

It's amazing the stuff you think of when you're sleep deprived by a 15 month force of nature.

Tony Horsfall's black and white army

Weekly Bulletin of The Socialist Party of Great Britain 133

Dear Friends,

Welcome to the 133rd of our weekly bulletins to keep you informed of changes at Socialist Party of Great Britain @ MySpace.

We now have 1565 friends!

Recent blogs:

Cab ride to capitalism

Masters of War

Pitiful Copenhagen

Coming Events:

Who Won the Sixties?

Monday 25 January, 8.30pm

Unicorn, Church Street,

Manchester City Centre

Revolution from below

Speaker: Gwynn Thomas

Tuesday 26th January, 7.30pm

Socialist Party Head Office,

52 Clapham High St, SW4

Capitalism or socialism?

Public Debate between Adam Smith Institute (Eamonn Butler) and the Socialist Party (Richard Headicar).

Thursday, 4th February, 7.00pm

Small Hall, Conway Hall,

Red Lion Square, London. WC1.

Film: Capitalism and Other Kids Stuff

2pm, Saturday 30th January

The Workshop 53 Earlham Road,

Norwich NR2 3AD

Radical Film Forum,

Sundays 6pm - 52 Clapham High Street,

London SW4 7UN.

17th January - Manufacturing Consent (part one)

31st January - Manufacturing Consent (part two)

Quote for the week:

"You have the right to free Speech

As long as

You're not dumb enough to actually try it"

The Clash, Know Your Rights, 1982.

Continuing luck with your MySpace adventures!

Robert and Piers

Socialist Party of Great Britain

Vauxhall Road Populi

St Albans City had Dean Austin and Iain Dowie as young 'uns, and the sadly departed Berkhamsted Town had superstar DJ Nigel Callaghan mixing the tail end of his football career with his time on the decks, but could this bloke be the most famous footballer ever to play for Hemel Hempstead Town?:

Step forward one Danny Granville, formerly of Chelsea, Leeds Utd, Man City and Crystal Palace (amongst many others). The bloke played in a cup winners cup final!

Granted at 34 he's at the tail end of his career, but he's always played at left back and, for some reason or other, it's one of those positions on a football pitch where a footballer's career is just naturally prolonged for a few extra years. Maldini playing at left back for AC Milan in his fortieth year; Andreas Brehme still making those overlapping runs of his from the left back position for FC Kaiserslautern at the age of 37; and now, in his 35th year, Danny Granville turning it on for Hemel against the likes of Bedford Town and Bashley. It's too late this year, but maybe, finally, a decent FA Cup run next year?

This post isn't a pisstake, btw. I reserve the jokes for the posts that touch on politics. I'm childishly impressed that The Tudors actually have a bona fide ex-pro on their books. It's a bit of a step up from when I used to watch them and Mark Goodson (I bet I've got the surname wrong) was the regular full back playing every other week at Vauxhall Road. A solid enough player despite his frail appearance, who I seem to remember had a rasping shot. It's just unfortunate that he looked like the love child of Howard Devoto and David Bradley. He wasn't going to get any Gillette Mach3 adverts any time soon.

More on Granville at Hemel here. If the link doesn't take you directly to his bio, then scroll down and you can't miss it. He's the bloke striking the ball with his left foot.

Cheers to Getty for fair use of the image. If I ever visit California, I'll be sure to put an extra quarter in the collection box at the Getty Museum by way of recompense.