It's quite some time since I wrote a regular column for the fledgling Oldham Athletic FC fanzine, Beyond the Bolundary. I was sad to learn of its demise since, in its hey-day, BTB rocked the very foundations of the football establishment.
I am nevertheless proud of my own, minor contribution to what one critic once described as 'poetry in print'.
Although it is some years since my family lived in Oldham, I have fond memories of the place, notwithstanding that, at the time, it was ruled by the kind of 'Old' Labour Party mafia that might have even embarassed Pol Pot's regime.
So, I was naturally delighted to stumble across a 'blog' penned by a true Oldhamer. Reading it brought back happy recollections of the time I caught a famous Oldham footballer 'straightening his tie' in a Waterloo Street doorway. I was never able to write about it, you understand: not for me, the sensationalist kiss-and-tell tabloid tales. His secret was safe with me and, I am pleased to report, Mrs Blunt never got wind of it, either.
Anyway, I trust you will enjoy Crofty's most estimable Blog. I would have been proud to have a writer of his calibre working alongside me on any one of the numerous publications I have contributed to.
Well done, that man!
2 comments:
Thanks Bill; ah yes, Waterloo Street: you'll be pleased to know that, in some respects, it hasn't changed as a place of resort for the lonely: it is home to The Georgian, Oldham's longest running euphemistic luxury massage parlour.
And as for OAFC footballers, I too have an unprintable tale. Mine involves the lamentably late Oldham icon, who was the closest thing the town ever had to George Best.
Alas, I am not personally familiar with establishment (and I am not for one minute implying that you yourself may be).
It does look like the kind of place that Bill (if he doesn't mind me saying) might have frequented in the past, if only to provide background colour to a story he was working on, you understand.
THJnr
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