Month: August 2026

Came across this today. The program from the first football match I remember going to with my dad, 27th April 1963. I would have been eight then. I have a vivid memory of one of the older Spurs fans telling me where the “Hotspur” name came from. So, got to see Jimmy Greaves and Danny Blanchflower. Sadly for them, shortly afterwards my allegiance switched to Ipswich Town (and stayed there) who were playing Burnley that day. It also mentions the “bad weather.” That classic piece of British understatement was a reference to the “Big Freeze” of 1963 which started after Boxing day ’62 and lasted continuously for ten weeks until a thaw arrived in early March. I’m told it was the coldest January in England since 1814. Another memory from then was building a snowball in the road outside our house that was almost as big as I was. Memorable because back then we rarely got snow being low-lying and close to the sea.