The famous line from a Max Boyce song.
I've been looking at some videos of famous sportspeople from yesteryear, and it occurred to me that I've seen quite a few of them in real life.
The first sporting event I ever watched live was, I think, Essex v Glamorgan, 1969 at Chelmsford (I had to check this - I had it in my mind that it was 1968). Certainly, Keiths Fletcher & Boyce were playing for Essex, and both scored centuries, the latter in 103 minutes. Utterly thrilling! The Jones brother, Alan & Eifion, were playing for Glamorgan, as were Don Sheppard, Tony Lewis and Majid Khan.
The year I left school, 1972, a friend and I watched all three days of Essex v Notts, and therefore had the great privilege of watching Garfield Sobers at the end of his illustrious career, and Derek Randall at the start of his. I was dabbling with b & w photography in 1976, and have some prints I developed myself including Basil d'Oliveira and Imran Khan playing at Chalkwell Park.
I've watched very little professional football. The odd game at Blackpool; I watched Jim Holton get sent off for headbutting Malcolm McDonald, and attended a match at Goodison Park when Jimmy Hill was on the commentary box. I was at the Southend 0 - 0 Liverpool game in the 1970s.
I've watched quite a few rugby internationals including all the great Welsh players of the 1970s, and was at the Cardiff Arms Park when the Pontypool Front Row first played en masse for Wales, in a record win v Australia.
Anyone else got any fond sporting memories?
Edit: completely randomly, I saw Joe Bugner in action at a national youth event of some sort in Chelmsford in the 1960s. I think he was a shot putter* or something, and was leading his county (London?) and was holding the flag out, one-handed.
*Wikipedia suggests discus.