Paul Rouse: 50 things you don’t see that much of anymore
THE GOOD OLD DAYS: Watching games on Ceefax/Aertel
Or maybe don’t see at all
1. Men with combovers playing football
2. Crepe paper hats
3. Melchester Rovers
4. Three-card-trick men at race meetings
5. Togging out in the corner of a field
6. The fly-kick
7. Cigarette smoke in the dressingroom
8. People heading to matches in Hillman Hunters and Ford Cortinas
9. Rancheros sold off the trolley at the back of the stand
10. Aerials on the top of house to catch the signal from Match of the Day
11. Wooden rackets
12. Gold watch tournaments
13. Watching a match on Ceefax
14. Goalmouth dust
15. Nose-strips to help the breathing
16. Boots above the ankle
17. The orange wrapping paper around bottles of Lucozade
18. Blow football
19. Matches played in muck
20. The carnival of the Dubs playing a championship football match in a country town
21. The smell of Winter Green. I know you can’t see a smell but you could feel Winter Green on your eyes
22. Crowds at outdoor handball alleys
23. A fracas
24. The brisk handshake after a goal
25. Climbing through the wire onto Croke Park
26. Fans without phones
27. Teams with priests over them
28. Lads who don’t go to the gym
29. St. John’s Ambulance volunteers running on to help injured players
30. The overhead pull
31. Tennis headbands
32. Loose jerseys and tight shorts
33. Yellow Mikasa gloves with the black pimples
34. Soccer players with no shinpads
35. Hurls with a narrow bas
36. The bloodied bandage
37. Goalies with no gloves
38. The Railway Cup
39. People trying to sort out the Railway Cup
40. Rugby players with no first names, just initials
41. On the sod!
42. Woollen jerseys
43. A match where the only stat is the scoreline
44. Spot The Ball competitions
45. Kids pretending to do show jumping in the garden during the Dublin horse show
46. Teams releasing tournament songs to make a few pound
47. Pitch and toss
48. Goal nets fixed up with bailer twine
49. Teams with six brothers
50. Mavericks
