The goal (not just any one!)

[Rogernoble]

The goal (not just any one!)

In the early days of the association Steve Ashforth sent me a copy of the 1961 White Star in which I saw for the first time RHRW’s report on the 1960 Football first eleven in which I played as left back.

 I was expecting his description of me to be something like, in view of the team’s extraordinary record, Alf Ramsey needs to keep an eye on this fellow. As Steve gleefully pointed out it started with “heavy and ponderous” before getting a bit more complimentary about my ability to give the ball a good whack with both feet. Anyway RHRW’s clear instructions were not to go wandering in the opponent’s half because I was not quick enough to get back to defend against an attack.

 In 1959 I was playing in the second eleven under Tiger on the top field while RHRW had the first eleven on the bottom field. After the match we were on the front drive saying goodbye to our opponents when RHRW came across to congratulate us on our win before discovering my name on the list of scorers. He was starting to berate me for disobeying team orders when his voice started to falter as he realised that the whole team including Tiger had big grins on their faces. I had to put him out of his misery and explained that the opposition goalkeeper had cleared the ball from the edge of his penalty area and it had come bouncing over the half way line towards me. I was waiting like a coiled spring (I had by this time had a couple of hours to suitably embellish the story!). Anyway as it bounced towards me I gave it a mighty thump towards our opponent’s goal. At first I was worried I had overcooked it but at the last moment it dipped and was inch perfect as it found the top corner of the net.

 My belated apologies to my pals at the time who probably got bored of my endless recounting of the story.
 Roger Noble