Football Teams

For many people at Salvo, supporting a football team was a means of establishing an individual identity.

As I recall, the principal teams that were followed included Man Utd, Spurs, Leeds, Chelsea and Watford. The first four are fairly obvious as they were big city teams in the old first division, but the reason Watford were supported was because the Salvo catchment area included Watford, Bushey and the surrounding district. There was always plenty of banter between the Watford fans and other football followers.

I supported Chelsea and I was of course particularly pleased when they beat Watford 5-1 in the 1970 FA Cup semi-final. I certainly had a smug look when I went into school the Monday after the match.

I remember a boy in our class called Danny Nickless who supported Queens Park Rangers, who until the late 60's were languishing in the old 3rd division and almost unheard of.

It is interesting that I don't recall any supporters of Liverpool or Arsenal, but I'm sure this changed in future years when these teams became very successful. Of course there was one notable Arsenal supporter - none other than Fr Louis. Legend has it that he used to don his red and white scarf after saying Mass after any notable triumph by the Gooners.

My real love and they still are were the local side Wealdstone. A fair few boys used to watch them when they were at home at Lower Mead, which was demolished in 1991 to make way for a supermarket - disgusting.

Another football craze which started when I was in the 2nd year at Salvo was subbetteo. There were also football magazines to read and football stickers to collect and swap. All in all, I don't think much has changed since our time, except the football games which are now available for PC's and gaming consoles.
(John T 66-71)