My first clear memories of watching West Ham, go back to 1964, although I did go to games before that. My dad used to sneak me in over the turnstile but inevitably, being a small boy, I could never really see much of the game. But I can clearly remember the atmosphere of those games, particularly when it was an evening kick off. I was always fascinated by the sounds and smells: the newly printed programmes; "Peanuts! Tanner a bag!" and, for some reason it was not possible to watch a game without a pack of Wrigley's chewing gum close to hand. So the first game I can accurately recount was when West Ham won the FA Cup at Wembley against Preston North End. I was nine years old and my dad had managed to obtain two seat tickets, which I think, cost about 18 shillings each at the time. My main memory of that match was being lifted onto the shoulders of the man next to me, every time West Ham scored. He would then stand on his seat and I would ...
I don't if anyone will get to read this as I am not a serial blogger. Hence it may be that no one will know of its existence! However, I am compelled to write in order that I can record, if only for posterity, my thoughts and feelings about the passing of one, Charlie Adams, scriptwriter and humorist extraordinaire. Charlie and I had not really kept in touch over the last few years but news of his death came as a huge shock to me and, as is often the case, was a stark reminder of one's own mortality. I first met Charlie when I was performing in a radio show for BBC Radio 4 called, Don't Stop Now, It's Fundation. Also in the show were Gareth Hale and Norman Pace and, up until this time, we mostly wrote our own comedy material. However, given the amount of material this show consumed, it was necessary to bring in additional writers of whom Charlie was one. Charlie seemed to like our style of humour and was soon producing material which fitted perfec...