Page 109 - 368603 LP250721 AWY AWY AWY Book (238pp A5)

whetted my appetite and later that year I went to three other matches in London. In late 1999 our Graham came down to help me with a few decorating jobs I’d starting doing as a sideline and one great Saturday afternoon in early December as we were painting a house in Palmers Green the Lads gave Chelsea a 4-1 thrashing. I was painting the hallway downstairs while Graham was doing a bit upstairs but we had the radio on loud and every time a goal went in we were going mad. We were four-up at half-time with Quinn and Philips getting two each.
I remember people moaning back in those golden seasons between 1999 and 2001 when we finished seventh in the Premiership twice in a row but we know that some fans will never be happy. Maybe they’re only happy when they’re moaning. Over the next six seasons I’d go to a match every now and then both at the SoL, my first being against Man City just before Christmas 2000, and the occasional away game, notably the F.A. Cup win against Rotherham in January 2003 where a great deal of post-Christmas fancy dress was in evidence. What really galvanised my return to going again regularly was the fact that the very mate whose sudden absence from Roker Park back in 1980 had affected my enjoyment had started going to every home match again with his partner. That meant that when I was home, which wasn’t often, we got back into pre- and post-match drinks with all the attendant football yak and it was just like old times. Another factor was that in the 2006-2007 season I started writing a regular column for Ready to Go and the
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