I got a call from Junior Didcot Red 2 on Wednesday evening asking if I had the programme from Southampton v Barnsley on 8 November 1997. This was one of the very few games I saw from the premier league and we had gone as a family so JDR2 was there with his brothers and their mother. As it turned out JDR2 who is now a junior doctor working at East Surrey Hospital has a colleague who also follows the Reds. This colleague was the Barnsley mascot at that match. I was able to dig out the programme ( not it very good condition ) & copy the relevant page where the picture of the 7 year old mascot was shown. How spooky is that?
The return Barnsley v Southampton games was the only game I saw that season, (being based north of Aberdeen at the time). By dad was in hospital, so I got to use his season ticket. Obviously that was not the reason to visit, in case you are reading this dad.
On a similar "small world" theme, about 20 years ago I took a 3 week holiday to visit my sister who was taking a gap year in Australia. Mindful of the flight (24 hours stopping only for fuel), and the fact that I had to catch a bus to Gatwick at Midnight, I did what any right-minded person would do, and went to the pub for a few beers, hoping that I'd get a couple of hours kip on the bus. My brother and his cricket mates were in the pub that night, so they bought me a few drinks as a send off. Fast forward to my arrival in Sydney. Not much sleep in the previous 30+ hours, but obviously my sister wanted to take me to the local pub. Got myself a drink & the first person I got chatting to was a bloke from the south of England; told him I was from Barnsley. "Oh I've been to Barnsley; I've played cricket there". I'd been in Australia less than an hour, and the first person other than my sister, that I spoke to was from down Aouth, but knew my brother & all his cricket mates, the same guys I'd been in the pub with just before I left. Small world.
To continue the theme the current Mrs Didcot Red & I volunteered for the election count in Abingdon on Thursday night/ Friday morning. We were signed in and were directed to the Wantage count. The person I was sitting next to was a young lady I used to work with when I worked at Harwell back in the 80's. Despite the fact that for most of this time we have been living within 5 miles of each other we had not met for over 25 years. in that time her hair colour has changed from jet black to Snow White. Mine had gone from brown to a sort of Yukky grey. It was great to see her again though. The count was also a good experience, although having to sort out the District and Parish election ballot papers made it a very long night.
