Back in the 1955/56 football season my stepfather took me to see Derby County take on Gateshead. All I recall is that Derby played good football and the Gateshead players were enthusiastic triers. Tommy Powell the Derby right winger made a fool of the opposition's full back and even the Gateshead fans saw the amusing side of it and laughed. Those were the days of the maximum wage and consequently players with First Division [Premier] ability did not always see any financial advantage in moving; consequently some of them tended to be 'loyal' to their lower league club. That applied to Tommy Powell one of the best wingers never to play for England. For the record - Gateshead 2 Derby County 4, weather fine with a slight breeze. A breeze for Tommy that is for sure.
I was hooked in 1955 and have been a brain dead besotted Rams fan ever since. It is true that I have seen them play at Newcastle, Spurs, Derby, Tottenham, QPR, Middlesborough, Darlington, Crook and a few other grounds but think of the money saved overall.
I saved 20,000 smackers by not getting regularly involved with the likes of Sunderland and Newcastle; season tickets, hamburgers, coffee, pies, beer and bus tickets were seldom required as Derby was far too far away from Ushaw Moor for me to contemplate regular trips and the expenditure involved. Thank you step-father. Money well saved.
I smoked from the age of 21 to 27 and stopped. Just contemplate the amount of cash saved by making that decision. Not that the obnoxious cigarette manufacturers worry about my spending patterns. No. They are in China trying to tell a Chinese person how silly I was to stop. I guess.
So forty grand. Maybe more. All spent. Children are expensive are they not?
WB
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