Born in 1967 in Bulawayo. My grandfather's store and petrol station was in Matopos near World's view. The store is still there but it is guesthouse.
Then Ndola (my dad managed the sugar refinery there for six years)
Then Bulawayo again (dad promoted)
Then Salisbury/Harare (ditto)
Then Pietermaritzburg for varsity
Then Grahamstown since 1992. address Firdene Farm, stones hill since 1998.

Grandparents were
Rankins from Bute
Junors from Black Isle
Fryers from east end of London
Campbell-Wilsons from Thetford

Great grandfather Fryer migrated to South Africa in the 1890s then ended up in Bulawayo. He was a master-upholsterer Grandfather following him in about 1910. He was a station-master and general trader.

Other grandparents came to Southern Africa after WWI.

My mum passed away in January and I've been chatting on whatsapp with my dad, who is 90, almost every night since.

His knowledge and memory of the family and the places he has lived (and I grew up), are vast and crystal clear.

I tend to just look at google maps and wikipedia while he talks, and remember places like Ndola, Inyanga, Chimanimani, Kariba, Chiredzi, Matopos, Highlands in Harare. Stamping grounds when I was young!

As you can imagine, he was very saddened and unsettled by Queen Elizabeth death.

Born at the very arse-end of 1971, conceived on the night Storey equalised against Stoke in the Cup Semi final with virtually the last kick of the game. A very energised Dad came home from the game vigorously happy that evening apparently. I wouldn't be here if Storey had missed the peno.

Dad is North London, Mum is South London, my 2 older brothers were both born in London. Family moved to Pompey just before I was born. I've lived in Southsea (the nice bit of Pompey) all my life, and spent teenage years schlepping up to Highbury regularly about 10 times a season coz it was affordable in those days to do such things, apart from a couple of seasons of really excellent Pompey football under Jim Smith where I gave The Arse a miss. As things got more expensive and wife/son-and-heir arrived on the scene during the mid 90s my attendance at Highbury tailed off, and I haven't been to a live game since we moved to The Grove. My last live game was the 5-1 win over Wolves in the piss-pot cup when Fabregas became our youngest goal-scorer.

Turned 50 in December, and 10 years ago me and the wifey-doo-dah bought ourselves a property down in the North Devon countryside which we rent out for holidays and spend as much time in as we can through late-autumn, winter and early spring. Right now we are looking seriously at finally selling up and moving down there full time. All made possible by the advent of home-working thanks to covid.

Hi Andy,

As a kid, I used to yearn to have been born within the sound of the Highbury matchday tannoy. I was born in north east Wales (late December back in ’63, oh what a night), and have lived my life within a relatively narrow geographical area stretching from Caernarfon in the west, Worcester in the south, Manchester in the east, and Lancaster in the north. And many points in between. Currently in north Liverpool, where the love of my life is.

My Dad supported The Arsenal. Why and how I never actually got around to asking him; one of my first thoughts when he passed away last November (on the 11th – very apt as a WW2 RAF veteran) was why didn’t I ask him? So my love and support of The Arsenal was just something that happened without question; even as the only Gooner in the village, then the town/city (or so it seemed).

I once got stranded in London at the age of 15, so 1978ish. I was in the Army cadets at school in Shrewsbury, and our officer commanding organised a trip down to Silvermans (military outfitters) in the East End, so we could get some gear for the unit. We caught the train down. I saw it as an opportunity to go for a wander up to Highbury for a look around and to savour the atmosphere, so I went awol. The little adventure took so long that I never got to Silvermans; I went straight back to Euston where the teacher wasn’t very happy and told me I got a months detention. It was worth it though.

That little trip laid the navigational groundwork for when I started a little part time job a few months later; this, complemented by subs from my Dad, got me enough money to get to Highbury for a few games a season. Happy days.

This forum is just great; makes me feel connected to The Arsenal family, even though I don’t attend many games these days. (I'm still so jealous of those who live nearish and go to the games).

Best wishes

John

Liverpool, luxury!



Think of us poor sod sods living in the far flung colonies.

Yes I think this is probably good for us.
The difficulty for all teams is where to fit these fixtures in. The only options in the calendar are the midweek slots kept free for the FA Cup 3rd and 4th round replays - so scrap the replays. Also they could make the League cup semi finals 1 leg and use that midweek. This is more of a problem for the teams in European competition because the other teams can play midweek when European games are on even though UEFA don’t like it.
The congestion will suit teams with big squads. None of the games can be rearranged until after the World Cup and the opening of the Jan transfer window though so a chance to strengthen and lose players before then. Much could change

I’m past 40 now but still behave like a teenager I’m afraid Andy. Always got the impression I’m one of the younger forumites

My family are from south London and are Arsenal fans. I’m essentially an Arsenal fan because my Nan wouldn’t let my dad go to millwall because it was murders every week. Pretty much an addicted Arsenal fan, my dad used to take me on the north bank when I was just six and leave me at the front with the other kids and go to back with his mates. Seems crazy now and I certainly wouldn’t have done it with mine but I loved it and have never looked back.

I live just outside London and commute to games.

Is it AG?

Hi Andy

Born 1981, grew up in Devon and Somerset
Went to university in Portsmouth (know the city like the back of my hand Pompey Gooner)
Left there in 2006 and moved to London for work, qualified as an Architect and lived in Muswell Hill and latterly Clapham. Amazing how many Arsenal games I was able to get to by simply being close by and available at short notice as all sorts of people offer you a ride key if they know you’re a big fan.
Met my wife in London, she’s from Leeds and so in 2018 we moved to Leeds and now have two young kids…..and I work over in Manchester.

Incidentally the only reason I support Arsenal is because my dad supports them and the only reason he supports them is because his elder brother went to the university of Leeds and so started supporting Leeds and my dad decided he’d support Leeds rivals at the time which in the early 70’s was Arsenal. So I support Arsenal because of where my Uncle chose to go to university and my dad’s competitive younger brother personality

Grew up in Harrow so got to see Arsenal regularly via the Piccadilly Line.

In the fifties and sixties our annual holiday was at my mum’s parents in Instow. The place seemed quite magical. Beach, ice cream, clotted cream, sandcastles, humorous postcards etc.

Last year we did a tour of the West Country taking in Bath, Wells and the wonderful coastal drive across Porlock and Countisbury. I was astounded to see how drab and run down Ilfracombe and Barnstaple and Bideford had become in the 10 years or so since last being there. Very sad indeed.

By contrast we are here on holiday right now, this being the private area in front of our waterside villa. Just bliss.

Looks wonderful. Crete?

Well spotted. Aghios Nikolaos. Our of our several regular haunts. My missus is just ace at finding great accommodation and locations.

Other sports seem to have taken a more reasonable approach. Loads of sport taking place. They are demonstrating that you can pay tribute without shutting the whole thing down.

And I reckon that our Brentford game will fall by the wayside due to policing (lack of) on the day before the funeral.

My dad’s dad was a tube train driver and lived in Earls Court (a curiously old fashioned flat - definitely not a luxury apartment). He was a regular at Highbury over many years and used to tell me about the Bank of England club days. Strangely, and possibly due to being busy in a war, my father never really took to football. It was another relative who got me into Arsenal at about 9 years old. He enrolled me in the supporters club and I got a whole package of bits including the standard plain red/white scarf.

All very mysterious back then with minimal media coverage.

Thank you to all….fascinating reading.I really appreciate you sharing your stories.
As an expatriate I really enjoy this forum….it is a great source of information, humour and occasionally the sublime!
It is the nearest I get to meeting my mates down the pub.
33 years in Philly now….hoping to finish what I started by the end of next year and move back to blighty in 2024. Probably in Sussex…it ticks all my boxes….easy commute to London and both major airports…..my sister lives in Brighton, my eldest boy and his family live in Rustington….my youngest will never leave North London
Anyhow cheers all….

Nice try! Not fooling me though

You’ll end up close to me then (there’s a warning for you). I’m in Storrington.

Aw shucks.

Love it there. St Nicolas Bay Hotel?

No it’s this one.

https://www.minosbeach.com/

I’ve just looked up the one that you mentioned. It looks good too. And it’s just across the water from where I am sitting right now. I’ve seen several Arsenal games over the years at the Galley Bar, including the recent Man U one.

Yes indeed an old bluffer now, though think I was still clinging to my 30s when I first stumbled across this forum, time really does fly. I’m from the 1958 vintage and inherited my love of the Club from my Father and Grandfather. Grandfather was born a farmer’s boy in Worcestershire and ended up a “Bobby” in Walthamstow through the war. Dad was born and raised around York Rd before escaping to one of the New Town’s where I was born.

Came up with my username, Parkerknoll, as a pun on armchair supporter which I’ve been for the past 20 plus years. I now live in leafy Buckinghamshire just a few miles from the Parkerknoll workshop, who knew.

Easy to work out, there is no way in this day and age that a male would have been able to get away with your previous avatar!

To an expected round chorus of “I don’t believe you”…

… when I originally chose it all those years ago I didn’t realise that the ‘kit’ was merely paint. Dopey old b***** I am.

I’ve met LTG. He is definitely male.

I rather liked it.

To be fair, that is quite hard to believe!

It must be you then

Personally, I had no problem with it!

I haven't met Bernard. He is definitely male.

It was in the very best taste, I thought.

Pretty much on the money , she had a lot of class .

Fair chance the monarchy will end up a massive train wreck with Charles , Andrew and Harry around .

It must be TG. He tells us how to think, he knows everything and what our opinions should be. Just like another wife.

Born Hamilton NZ ; April 1945

..... got to say your drinking needs a bit of fine tuning Andy ; instead of sniffing fumes and simpering with your little finger stuck out try imbibing 3/4 of a 1100 ml bottle of Captain Morgan .

Gidday Old Man .... surfing You Tube the other day stumbled on some tennis Alcaraz v some Greek dude Tsitsipas .

Gave it a watch....... Mama Mia ...... the ferocity that young Spaniard [ 19 ] hits the ball from all positions on the court , used the drop shot frequently and refreshingly came into the net .

Shows how the game has progressed I doubt greats like Laver , Newk , Ashe would get a game off him

Evening kiwipete. I don’t watch tennis these days. I’ve heard of Federer, Djokovic, Nadal and that Scottish bloke, was it Murray? But I couldn’t tell you their style of play.

But I did used to watch Wimbledon in Rod Laver’s day, and Arthur Ashe, John Newcombe and so on. What I always think with comments like yours and them not winning a single game off some 19 year old Spaniard that I’ve not heard of before is that they would have not only played with modern racquets but they’d have the same training and dietary regimes and thus fitness levels relevant to players now.

Same with F1 drivers of the past. I reckon if you put the likes of Schumacher, Prost, Lauda and Senna in Lewis Hamilton’s (or whoever else’s) car they’d beat him. I’m certain golf clubs must have changed. Give Jack Nicklaus, Arnie Palmer or Gary Player all the modern gear and wouldn’t they keep up with modern golfers? Tiger Woods is presumably a past it has been but I don’t know who the best current golfers are.

It’s what we’ve said here about comparing footballers from different generations. I still think Maradona was better than Messi and Pele was better than Ronaldo. Beckenbauer or Van Dijk? Give me a break. Van Dijk isn’t even close.

Afternoon Bernard ... wasn't meaning to denigrate the memories of those tennis greats . You are right ; Racquets have probably contributed the biggest difference those space age composites generate far more power . footwear , fitness levels , sports psychology etc have made it a whole different ball game
..... " whole different ball game " what a pun ..... taking a leaf out of Socrates' book

I went to the Aussie Open one time all the big timers of the day Okker , Newcombe , Roche , Ashe , Lutz , Emerson , were chugging beer in the general public domain like there was no tomorrow .
Disagree on Messi and Maradona ... partly I guess because I considered the latter a tubby cheating little pr**ck .

I just saw Maradona do things with a ball that I don’t think Messi could. Maradona’s ability took my breath away far more than Messi did. Also modern players play on grass billiard tables and don’t have defenders entitled to put them out the game for six months without getting a yellow card. It’s just so easy for modern players.

I'm quite a bit younger than most posters on here, being born in January of 1985 which makes me 37. Joined the forum sometime in 2006 at 21 years of age, and as I'm typing this I realize it means that in a few years I will have spent literally half my life talking about Arsenal on this forum. Not sure how much of an accomplishment that is. I have to say though, the somewhat higher average age of this forum compared to others was one of the factors that got me interested in this place to begin with; it brought a perspective that you wouldn't find anywhere else. There was also a higher percentage of season ticket holders on here than on other forums that have a more global core group of posters. I also liked the fact that there wasn't separate threads for every subject - felt more like walking into a pub where Arsenal was debated alongside politics, wine and sophists.

English football has been broadcast on TV in Sweden since the 60s, so a lot of people born in the 50s and 60s grew up supporting clubs a thousand miles away. When Arsenal won the double in 71 my dad was 12 years old, so Arsenal became his team and when I was a kid I simply followed suit. I really lucked out there, started following the club more seriously around 1994 so I didn't have to wait long for the golden years. Saw Arsenal play live for the first time in a pre-season friendly in 1995, just about an hours drive from where I grew up in Sweden, and my first league game came in November 1997 against Liverpool. We lost that game, with Steve McManaman scoring the only goal, but then we went onto win the double anyway so that's fine. Honestly don't remember much at all from the game itself, but I do remember seeing Highbury for the first time and how loud the crowd was. Also remember being seasick on the boat over to England which was not a pleasant experience - me, my dad and my older brother spent that night taking turns running to the bathroom. Totally worth it though!

I've been fortunate enough to come over and catch a few games here and there in the years following that - not sure about the exact number as I would have to dig through some old photos and fixture lists for that, but I've seen somewhere around 10-12 games in total. A few at Highbury, a few at the Emirates and one at Craven Cottage in 2004. We're planning to go again sometime this season, probably in the spring.

Thanks for your post Andy, it's always interesting to get to know a little more about the people on here. Although your post also made me go back and read a bit from the start of this version of the forum all the way back in 2008 - I don't recommend to anyone to go back and read your own posts from when you were 23-24!