IT IS the beginning of another football season. The sale and transfer of the players is over and done and I think it’s a shame that some clubs have so very few players that actually originate from that local area. I rather think that true allegiance might be difficult to achieve and it begs the question can money buy loyalty. The players certainly seem to have enough wonga in their wage packets. Before I met Keith I knew very little about football. Now I can name managers, discuss key players and name club grounds. Although it’s difficult to keep track of managers as they tend to shift around more than a box of frogs. Interestingly, the history of fans and supporters dates back beyond the Romans. Yes, there were mass punch ups inside and outside the Coliseum over whose team was best in the chariot race. It is really rather better these days on the aggression front, there doesn’t seem to be much football hooliganism nowadays when you consider the size of the crowds. It is very expensive of course to actually see a match, especially the Premiership teams. Perhaps with the downturn in the country’s finances clubs in the lower divisions will be seeing a bit more cash in their tills. When I was in my early teens and living in London, I used to go to watch West Ham United at Upton Park with my friend Lena, her father and brothers. Lena and I would dress up in claret and blue and stand on the terraces cheering and booing with the crowd. Lena was rather more streetwise than me and explained that if we were to ‘faint’ just before half time the St Johns Ambulance Brigade would carry us on a stretcher along the touchline and we would get close to some of the players, including the late great Bobby Moore. At this point I must mention my Dad (Ern), who was a gas fitter and had the honour of fitting Bobby Moore’s cooker at his new house in Chigwell. Boy was he chuffed, Dad that is, I’ve no idea how Bobby felt about it.