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sign but they had their limits, while others wanted to get away as fast as they could. I’d sometimes go to reserve games and the cat and mouse stuff was easier for us there with the young hopefuls only too happy to bask in some recognition. The only trouble was that we’d occasionally tag onto an existing queue without knowing who was signing. This was no doubt the case with the entry of the young Billy Hughes, which I’ve labelled ‘Hartlepools Reserves’.
I haven’t tried to get a footballer’s autograph at a match for about fifty years since I got Monty’s at Orient's ground Brisbane Road five days before we won the Cup. Having often seen the team emerge from the coach together before away games and enter the stadium behind a barrier, I doubt if young fans get much opportunity to get their books, arms or whatever signed these days. At any rate I can’t picture any of the current well-paid squad doing stints behind the counter of an off-licence in the near future and a pint in a pub before playing in a game is a definite no-no.
I did encounter Charlie Hurley again at his book- signing session in London in 2008 but more of that later.
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