Those Were The Days

New Zealand Listener, Volume 6, Issue 133, 9 January 1942, Page 2

Those Were The Days

A MORE pleasant memory is of Satter-dee football. No, it was not the football you know. It was known as "footy," and was a very distant and depraved relation of Rugby. It didn’t even insist on a ball, Any substitute would do from a jam tin to gtandpa’s second-best bowler nicked off the hallstand in passing. There was none of the narrow conservatism of organised football such as rules, referee or a specified number of players. The gang played some ether gang, and the more players the merrier. In-

flamed by the exploits of Billy Wallace and Jimmy Duncan and intoxicated by the possession of an alleged jersey suffering from a misspent life and the depredations of woolly aphis, one led one’s side through the hole in the fence yelping defiance in that cracked basso-treble so distressing to the neighbours. I recollect how, as the game warmed up, members of the teams were prone

to neglect the ball and concentrate on the personal aspect, with the result that a very happy time was had by all at the trifling cost of a few black eyes, a quantity of skin and hair and a good deal of vocal steam. Which probably was one of the chief reasons why most boys wore double-seated trousers and brass toe-caps on their boots. There was no pompous nonsense about "footy" such as blowing a whistle and stopping the game just because there happened to be three or four private fights going on in different Parts of the paddock.-("Penny Memories," by Ken Alexander, 2Y A, December 27),