My 6 year old this morning

[Pennyred]

Late September '71.

Football match - drawing office were playing the typing pool.

That's where I met him.

First date was at the Dell the following day - the match where Hughie Fisher broke his leg.

Never missed a home match til he was transferred to Chatham in '75, went to all the London matches plus most of the home ones. Used the front covers from all the away programmes to persuade the ticket office to let us have tickets for the semi-final v. Palace, abiding memories of Malcolm Allison in his long swinging leather coat striding confidently onto the pitch, Lawrie quietly standing on the touchline waving to the Saints fans.

I was told that we could get married if Saints beat Palace, that's how un-confident he was??

Then, having got to Wembley, he promised me an engagement ring if we actually won. But having used our programme covers for the semi we had no way of getting tickets for Wembley.

I was working the evening before the cup final - picked up the Evening Standard, saw an ad for 2 Wembley tickets, took an extended lunch-hour at 7pm - drove up to the East End of London in our Robin Reliant and had to loiter outside a very dodgy pub at 8.30 where an even dodgier Londoner produced two tickets and took my £50.

 

Nuff said.

Travelled down to Soton on the Monday after the cup final for Mick's testimonial, frogmarched his lordship into antique shop and bought an engagement ring. Red and white stones - got it half-price cos Saints had won the Cup!

 

First son arrived in '79 - called Tom after Tommy Jenkins.

Second one in '83 - Steve after Steve Williams.

Third one in '85 - this time it was Joe for Joe Jordan.

 

And all three names are real saints names.

 

All three were looked after by the lovely Eileen in the Junior Saints section from the age of about four or five - sitting near us on the East Stand bench seats.

 

Sadly Joe fell by the wayside with no interest in football (well, Joe Jordan did go a few miles along the coast).

 

Tom and Steve are now wiv da boys in the Northam and we have grandstand seats in the Chapel with ledge for our flask.

 

After virtually continuous season tickets for 37 years since 1971 we gave up our ST's when RL returned and bum-rushed Nigel Pearson. The boys joined us on the protest marches - had film of us on Meridian and the Beeb - even a picture in the M**l On Sunday.

"Even da Meerkat..." and "OAP gives up Season Ticket after...."

 

Am once again proud to be a Saints fan.

 

And YES - take your young ones to St Mary's - two out of three ain't bad.

[hamster]

Im sure that if you sat in the Itchen no-one would bat an eyelid at a 6(??) yo wearing a Gills kit.

 

It's different for kids - if it was an adult, they'd get pelters, but kids are fine, surely???

 

He's 11 on the 8th, and he loves doing the 3der der der der der der der der, Blue and White Army" that we did from the moment we arrived at Wembley to the moment we got home, in fact he was singing it to me when i dropped him off on the Sunday night.

 

This is the one:

http://www.fanchants.com/football-songs/gillingham-chants/blue-and-white-army-with-sound/

 

He will not sit quietly, he was not brought up to sit quietly.

[GenevaSaint]

Noooooo!!! That's a secret!!!

 

Yeh but I'm sure Keith would like some extra cash for the club ;-)