History may not repeat itself, but it does get quite close.

I recently took a creative writing course in Norwich based on memoirs and life experiences. This week I was going through some of the work that I produced on the course and decided to share this one. I know that the link to what is supposed to be a food blog is a bit tenuous but it does include the childhood memories of a bottle of dandelion and burdock. To anyone who’s not heard of that i assure you that it’s a fizzy soda drink and not something that witches brew up in their cauldron.

History may not repeat itself, but it does get quite close. Or at least that’s how it felt to me when I took my dad and my uncle to the football last season.

It was over forty years ago since they’d first taken me, we’d just moved back from Malta and were living with my grandparents while my dad looked for a job.

To the eleven year old me everything felt a bit strange and confusing. Having spent most of my childhood on a mediterranean island south Yorkshire was taking some getting used to. Strangest of all was starting a new school. I’d taken my 11 plus exam in Malta but we’d left before I’d had a chance to move up to the senior school with my friends. I was now at Dinnington High and everyone seemed to know everyone, except for me who knew no one. That feeling of isolation wasn’t helped by the fact that I was the only person in the school without a Yorkshire accent. I was desperate to fit in and according to my mother i managed to pick up a semblance of that accent in record time.

The trip to the football was on the opening day of the season. That game was Rotherham United versus Bury. These days I always feel that August is far too early for a football season to be starting but then it was the most exciting thing ever. Dad had taken me to a local game in Malta but this was my first time inside an English ground. It must have made a big impression because to this day Rotherham’s is always the score i look for first when checking the results.

Looking back i don’t think the crowd can have been that large but at the time it was the biggest group of people i’d ever been part of, it felt massive.

Dad has only ever had a passing interest in football but uncle Terry was a season ticket holder and to me seemed like the font of all knowledge.

“Do you want a programme?”

“Yes please”

I didn’t really know what a programme was, but I’m glad i said yes as i still have it to this day.

Terry seemed to be on first name terms with everyone stood around us and the whole thing felt like a wonderfully grown up experience.

Half time brought further thrills with a bottle of dandelion and burdock. Dandelion and burdock is one of those childhood memories that I wouldn’t dare try know for fear of discovering that I didn’t like it anymore.

Full time brought a  Rotherham win and rounded off a great day.

It also made a big difference on Monday morning. When playground talk turned to football I could suddenly talk like a local.

Now it’s 2019 and for the first time in years Norwich City & Rotherham are in the same league. Dad lives in Cambridge and Terry in Ely, so after much planning and co-ordination I’ve managed to get them both to Carrow Road so that we can relive that day at the football. It’s a different dynamic now though. 

Back then they were worrying about a young boy getting lost. 

“Hold my hand”

“Don’t run off”

Now it’s me worrying about two eighty year olds.

“Don’t forget your stick”

“Are you warm enough?”

History may not repeat itself, but it does get quite close. Except for the fact that Rotherham didn’t win this time.

One of the things that prompted me to share this piece was reading in the paper that Bury football club are on the verge of bankruptcy and may go out of business within the next few days. As someone who has been a football follower his whole life I sincerely hope that doesn’t happen. The smaller clubs in football, like Rotherham and Bury, are integral parts of their local communities and would be sorely missed if not there. If there hadn’t have been a Bury football club I may not have had these memories.