Post by Rattlesnake on Mar 26, 2024 23:36:41 GMT 1
Very sorry to say that, for maybe the first time since 1974, I won't get to a single Rocks game this season. It hurts.
For those who don't know, I have always lived 60 miles north but first saw and fell in love with Bognor Regis Town after a pre-season friendly in 1974.
Not long before then, my Dad purchased a second home, where we as a family were supposed to move to but never did, in Middleton-on-Sea.
When Bognor moved from the Southern to the Isthmian League in the early 1980's, it opened up a whole new load of grounds near to my hometown that I'd never been to and could now visit wearing a green and white hat and scarf.
In my single years and early married years (my wife was very tolerant), I'd make a weekend of it, driving down, watching The Rocks, enjoying some beer in the now closed "Beresford", then back home on Sunday.
My parents used the seaside home for many years from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon (Monday afternoon when Dad retired) from March to November until Dad became very ill in 2017.
When Dad couldn't drive down to the house any more, I motored down infreqently for games and back home straight afterwards. I was married and didn't want to overstep the mark timewise. Dad passed away in 2019 and the house was sold a year later. I can't bear to go back to the village.
For some years now I've been tannoy announcer for my hometown club. I'd rather not be now, but no-one else will take over and League regulations stipluate you need someone waffling into a mic so I'm stuck for the time being.
Due to my wife being very ill and me needing to check on my mum (plus, admittedly, the recent infernal problems at the M25 junction I use as my connection southwards), my plan was to drive down for midweek games this season while getting a nearby family member to cover for me in case anything happened. A trip to the Nye Camp and back would be six hours minimum, and I can't really gamble at the mo.
My mum broke a hip just before the season started which knocked out any early midweek fixtures and, just as I'd planned to leave work early to drive to tonight's game and maybe get a sneaky Saturday in before the season ended with backup cover, my mum broke her other hip yesterday. My season is now on hold... and yes, Mum admits it was her fault for not turning a light on to get up and then tripping over.
It also hasn't helped that the teams nearest to where I live, where I could turn up as an away 'un, have either moved too far away (80 minutes for 20 miles to Tooting - trust me - to give money to the K's!) or been relegated from our division. There was no opposition close enough to my abode where I could have sneaked out with the rattle this season!
Just because I haven't been at the Nye Camp doesn't mean I don't care. I check the club's 'TwiX' account and this forum after every game, and I recently sent a mid-table three-figure sum to the Supporters Club to help them out as a means of support and, in a way, guilt.
It isn't even a case of 'You can't take the Bognor out of the boy'. I'm from Ashford, Middlesex and I was, and always will be, hooked.
Thanks and very well done for getting to the end of this novel.
For those who don't know, I have always lived 60 miles north but first saw and fell in love with Bognor Regis Town after a pre-season friendly in 1974.
Not long before then, my Dad purchased a second home, where we as a family were supposed to move to but never did, in Middleton-on-Sea.
When Bognor moved from the Southern to the Isthmian League in the early 1980's, it opened up a whole new load of grounds near to my hometown that I'd never been to and could now visit wearing a green and white hat and scarf.
In my single years and early married years (my wife was very tolerant), I'd make a weekend of it, driving down, watching The Rocks, enjoying some beer in the now closed "Beresford", then back home on Sunday.
My parents used the seaside home for many years from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon (Monday afternoon when Dad retired) from March to November until Dad became very ill in 2017.
When Dad couldn't drive down to the house any more, I motored down infreqently for games and back home straight afterwards. I was married and didn't want to overstep the mark timewise. Dad passed away in 2019 and the house was sold a year later. I can't bear to go back to the village.
For some years now I've been tannoy announcer for my hometown club. I'd rather not be now, but no-one else will take over and League regulations stipluate you need someone waffling into a mic so I'm stuck for the time being.
Due to my wife being very ill and me needing to check on my mum (plus, admittedly, the recent infernal problems at the M25 junction I use as my connection southwards), my plan was to drive down for midweek games this season while getting a nearby family member to cover for me in case anything happened. A trip to the Nye Camp and back would be six hours minimum, and I can't really gamble at the mo.
My mum broke a hip just before the season started which knocked out any early midweek fixtures and, just as I'd planned to leave work early to drive to tonight's game and maybe get a sneaky Saturday in before the season ended with backup cover, my mum broke her other hip yesterday. My season is now on hold... and yes, Mum admits it was her fault for not turning a light on to get up and then tripping over.
It also hasn't helped that the teams nearest to where I live, where I could turn up as an away 'un, have either moved too far away (80 minutes for 20 miles to Tooting - trust me - to give money to the K's!) or been relegated from our division. There was no opposition close enough to my abode where I could have sneaked out with the rattle this season!
Just because I haven't been at the Nye Camp doesn't mean I don't care. I check the club's 'TwiX' account and this forum after every game, and I recently sent a mid-table three-figure sum to the Supporters Club to help them out as a means of support and, in a way, guilt.
It isn't even a case of 'You can't take the Bognor out of the boy'. I'm from Ashford, Middlesex and I was, and always will be, hooked.
Thanks and very well done for getting to the end of this novel.
