We've got three grown up sons and inevitably as they were growing up, all their old tapes, videos, IT gear and toys got stashed in the loft. Decided to have a long overdue clearout. As well as their old stuff, I found some relics of mine in some old bin liners. First up was an empty tin of dubbin, which was like Vaseline which we used to soften the leather footy boots we wore back then as well as the old leather T balls (with a lace) that we played with. They talk about bending a ball these days. If you caught one of them on the lace, you could end up "bending" your head. When they got wet ,it was like kicking a cannonball.! One other thing I found was a punctured Frido plastic ball. Orange thing with black lines on it. Always remember if someone thumped one of them and it hit your thigh, it literally stung for a week. ! Their flight was so unpredictable, they used to go anywhere when you kicked them. I wonder if they still make them.?
Don't really know. I'll bet one of the kids punctured it and hid it. No good asking because as usual it will be " Mr Nobody" that did it. Never forget the old leather T ball. I once headed one playing for Donny Boys against North Derbyshire Boys and it was caked in dubbin. Some of it ended up on my forehead and because I was sweating, it ended up in my eyes. I always remember my Mum putting milk in a dark blue eye bath and irrigating my eyes twice a day for a week. It was painful and I had blurred vision for a few days. Not get away with using dubbin and laces in the ball these days. Can fully understand why some of the old players suffered from dementia after heading the balls they had to play with.
