On Wednesday I went round to lend a hand to Andy as he sanded the hall and dining room of the new house. Towards midday I wandered up the road to B&M bargains to fetch a couple of bottles if water and nine, sorry six+three, pack of mini Twixes. I hadn't gone with the express intention of buying the Twixes, but was taken by the offer. Good old B&M. On the way up to B&M I rehearsed a conversation with Lou Macari.
Macari, posed in front of the Stretford End.
There were two things that prompted this rather pointless activity.
On Tuesday night before settling down to watch Eng v Ned BT were showing a "Wembley Classic" and in this case was the 1979 FA Cup Final. This was the third FA Cup Final in four years that United had contested. I went to all three, a defeat to Southampton in '76 (Stokes a mile offside), a win v Liverpool in '77 (somewhat lucky winner), and, as I watched, and remembered, on Tuesday night a defeat to Arsenal.
There were a number of things that struck me about this game. One was the number of clogging fouls that the referee allowed without brandishing a yellow card (did they have yellow cards then?). There was one in particular by Mickey Thomas on Pat Rice towards the end of the game. Somewhat primitive. The other was that while I clearly knew the order of the goals (0-1, 0-2, 1-2, 2-2, 2-3), I had forgotten how close the end the third goal was. I was standing - yes standing, a £2.50 ticket - behind the goal we (Super Super Sam/ Super Super Sam/ Super Super Sam/ Super Sammy McIroy) equalised in, and remember clearly thinking that we'd "do them" in extra time.....not that extra time ever came.
This was one of those games described by the commentator as exciting for the neutrals, but overlooking the heart-wrenching effect on the losers. I remember being utterly spent after that game. It was a long coach trip home.
The game was at the end of the season, the FA Cup Final always is, the pitch was heavy, it always was in those days, and it was hot. There was only one sub allowed, and the players must have been knackered, so I was really impressed to see one of my heroes, Jimmy Greenhoff, still buzzing around right at the end of the game. He was just a few days short of his 33rd birthday.
Jimmy Greenhoff. £120,000 from Stoke, 97 games 26 goals.
The commentator was Brian Moore, with Brian Clough adding gnomic comments at irregular intervals. Much fewer than interjections these days from the "Colour Man". At one point, with Utd 0-2 down, the ball was crossed and Pat Jennings had to make a smart save from Macari, and Brian Moore described it as a good header from Macari "who gets up well for a small man" (or something similar).
It wasn't just that that made me rehearse the conversation with Macari. The catalyst was when I walked past Sale Leisure Centre. That might seem a bit random if you didn't know that I played five-a-side one week at Sale and on the way in I saw Lou Macari coming out after a swim.
Andy hired a belt sander and a corner sander, and had a go at sanding down the floorboards in the hall and dining room. We were a little haphazard, but the result was pretty decent.
Since then he, Caitlin, Gel and I - and today Andy's mum and dad - have been painting like mad things. Newly applied plaster is a thing of beauty, but needs quite a few layers of mist/paint/paint.... Everything Caitlin and Andy do know makes it more like a home and less like a building site. Gel made them a pile of food today which they can heat up quickly when they get home during this week. It's a lot of graft, but moving day is in two weeks and we're all going to pull together to make sure that it goes well. It's very exciting, and a real pleasure to be able to contribute.
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