BACK TO THE FUTURE AND PAST

I went back to the past last night at the Nottingham Playhouse where I saw Georgie Fame (72 years young) and his two sons, play out all his great numbers and a few of other blues/jazz superstars. It was a delightful concert with the gents' lavatory queue as long as the ladies' as most of the audience was of a similar age and drinking too much Nottingham Ale. We can't hold it like we used to.

Today is "Back to the Future" day and the media have been all over it like a rash.
So what better than to think about football on October 21st?

Famous birthdays include Guarnizo Gento born in 1933, a Spaniard and canny winger, he won SIX European Cups with Real Madrid when the ECup was in its infancy. Between 1952-71 he played 599 times for the Spanish club and for his country.

In contract Paul Ince was born in 1967 in Ilford and the feisty midfielder he would have had his work cut out to catch Gento, but when he did (or if?) the bandy winger would have known all about it.

Of course 30 years ago Howard Kendall was in his pomp and what great acknowledgements there have been in the press since his untimely death. Football was certainly fun in those days. Everton were First Division champions by 13pts (90 in total) and also winners of the European Cup Winners Cup. In that era, the Toffees' progress was spoilt somewhat by the ban of English clubs imposed in Europe after the Heysel Disaster, otherwise Howard would have had more to show for his managership.

Oxford United won promotion to the First division after only 23 years in the Football League, with Stoke, Sunderland and Norwich in the bottom three of the top division.

It is hard to believe but the untouchable Frenchman, Michel Platini, playing in midfield for Juventus, was the owner of the Ballon d'Or and we assume there were no rigged votes!

If you have a few bob to spare today, donate it to the Michael J Fox fund for Parkinsons.