Would you believe I listened to the 66 final in a hired minivan on our way to a family holiday in Broadstairs? My Dad had to have the same 2 weeks every summer and so I wanted us to watch the match before travelling but Dad was convinced that we could get there in plenty of time.
No chance! The journey was a nightmare mainly because we got caught up in the traffic going to the game north of London. These were pre motorway days, the M1 didn't reach Sheffield until later that same year and so it was a slow trek down a rammed A1. The minivan had no radio so when the game started we tried to listen to it on my transistor radio, but the problem was that every time we went round a bend in the road we lost the signal, and we lost it altogether in extra time so we didn't know that we'd won till we got there. I had a right stroppy teenager sulk for the first few days. I was absolutely gutted thinking that it could be 4, 8 or even 12 years before I might get to see us play in a final again. It seemed like a virtual lifetime to me back them but little did I know eh? I used to think the same way about United winning the cup.
I finally got to see the full game in colour at the ABC cinema a couple of months later. It wasn't much fun to be honest, my mates all giving a running commentary and telling me how they they reacted/celebrated when they watched it live. I think I had another strop!
UTB
