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Canavan's blog: The good old days!
MIKE Young, a colleague of mine for more years than he'd probably care to remember, retired this week.
Clearing his desk, he came across various copies of The Green, The Gazette's Saturday night paper which used to hit the streets within minutes of the football ending.
I randomly picked up a couple of copies and they were fascinating to read, chronicling forgotten, more innocent times.
From the March 1956 edition: "Thumbs up after all! Ernie Taylor, the Blackpool forward, nearly missed playing against West Brom – and all because of a domestic accident. He was washing up after breakfast when a pot broke in his hand and severely cut his right thumb. He had to go to hospital, where three stitches were put in and he played with the thumb wrapped in a thick bandage."
And from the last ever Green in December 1983: "Spurs put their shirts on lager. Tottenham hope their one-off shirt sponsorship deal for last night's live televised match will become a more permanent arrangement.
Spurs are one of the few clubs without a shirt sponsorship, but they wore the name of lager company Pils Holsten against Manchester United at Old Trafford. League regulations prevent clubs from carrying more than one sponsor's name on their shirts."
Here are some of the clubs in Division One (today's Premier league) in 1983: QPR, Coventry, Southampton, Nottingham Forest, Norwich, Notts County and Luton. Mind-boggling.
As for my colleague Mr Young, I wish him a happy and fulfilling retirement.
AND so another thrilling, white-knuckle, laugh-a-minute season's worth of this column comes to an end. I can hear a collective groan throughout the town as we speak...
But don't fret. There are only 69 days to Saturday July 11, probably the date of the first pre-season friendly – bound to be against Manchester United or Liverpool, and not Fleetwood or Lancaster City.
So see you then, when hopefully Tony Parkes and Steve Thompson will again be in charge.
I feel they deserve the job – and expect them to get it early next week.
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Weather for Blackpool
Wednesday 30 May 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 12 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 12 C to 16 C
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Wind direction: West
