Is it coming home?

Yet another wet day in what is supposed to be the Summer months and it's been the kind of day you couldn't go down to the park to play or for a kick about  so it's been more of a matter at catching up with a bit of tidying up and sorting out things like why my portable cassette deck doesn't feel like spinning.

Fortunately for those of of starved of of a kick about we've had a competition in Germany for the men's Euro 2024 competition.

Although England's playing had been somewhat lacklustre with me thinking I'd seem more action in Sunday morning community club matches, scraping through to the semi finals on penalties.

If you're English, then you know, possibly driven mad by, all the stuff about winning the 1966 World Cup and how they've not done much to match that over the decades.

Well with a second ninetieth minute goal, they've got themselves to the final against Spain which will take some preporation for as they are a great side so we'll see if  Football really does come home this time.

The Roar of the Lions

 

If you haven't noticed there is quite a loud noise about at the moment on the tv and the radio that is very hard to escape from, taking up chunks of The News and perhaps excessively the morning breakfast shows almost as if there's little else to talk about.

The men's football World Cup with things on the pitch and much wrapped around politics outside of it.

It's probably true much of the country is in need of good cheer what with strikes galore - so 1973 it hurts - shortages in the shops, and the whole business around rising food, fuel and housing costs and maybe that's where the intensity is coming from.

Things seem to be going well for England since qualifying with a 6-2 win against Iran and a draw with the U.S.A. where the game the World plays is becoming much more popular which as much as I love Ice Hockey and Baseball is just great.

There was a match on Tuesday that did divide the UK, something I can understand given my boarding school was in the Marches, had a sizable chunk of Welsh staff and I was iniated in Welsh Culture too although my family are very much Midlanders. 

Well after a fairly evenly matched first half, England came ALIVE with two goals from Marcus Rashford and one from Phil Foden victory was assured.

Cymru did very well to get into the competition after just over a half century absence with a side of great players helping to spread the awareness of Wales being distinct home nation of the UK but the superior playing of England showed.

Let the battle to move towards the play offs begin!

Out with Kickabout and In with Kick!

It was a little late for inclusion in last Friday's blog entry and wasn't something I would of chosen to but I received an email from WSC (When Saturday Comes) who produced  Kickaround to say it was closing and that there would be no more issues.
By rights I'd of received October's which would of been issue 14 on Friday or Saturday and normally they'd of worked on for around two to three weeks.  

It launched in March of last year but took a hiatus in January  for a couple of months returning as Subscription only which meant I needed to make one with WSC as previously I'd bought from the Newsagents.

I did get my copy of Scouted, the Roy of the Rovers fictional reboot and had been enjoying reading Kickaround every month taking it away with me too because it covered not just the men's Premiership action but the other leagues such as the English Conference, Women's football and had found a way to write about the game that could hold boys attention while interesting girls who love the game too.
The bias was on the writing which was genuinely inclusive open to any reader without getting bogged down with gender politics and related activism plus it covered disability football very well which isn't something that normal is and indeed was missing from my actual childhood sadly.

They chose to keep way from cheap plastic tat freebies and those sticker albums that I recall from boyhood that in theory you were supposed to swap with mates but you ended up buying lots (and still had gaps!) but had things like charts to fill out and a world map, which was good for leaning Geography in a fun way.

This was issue 13, September's, sadly the last, looking forward to the start of season proper with young English Premiership players and the Women's Super League plus Faintly Athletic. the comic strip antics of a football team.

I'm looking at what alternatives there are as I don't wish for a full on 'adult' football magazine either by content (cuss words and the like) nor writing style as with my disabilities my reading ability is restricted although Kick!  magazine aimed at 6-12 year olds is a good substitute. 

This is more traditional boys own although it has a few girl readers and  I sampled the last copy - September's - that came out about three weeks ago from my newsagent having walked down in my grey school shorts and socks this week.
The writing isn't on a par with Kickabout which was exemplary being more like a mini essay with words that do stretch your vocabulary but is more text blocks set around images more akin to a comic strip, has a comic strip in which is  boys only and a number of free gifts that includes a football card game you can play plus a Premiership chart with push out figures you move across the week charting the various teams progress.
The fact it makes no concessions to gender equality in coverage of either the Women's Soccer League nor talks about girls playing puts it at odds with much of more PC inclusive children's media but I feel has its place.
It is a better fit for me personally and for boys who love their own space within the manosphere whereas perhaps there is a place for a magazine or section with a magazine aimed at girls that covers girls and women's soccer than the junior equivalents of celebrity obsessed 'OK Magazine' all froth and sickly sugary.  

Reading while kicking it

We enter a new Month in this increasingly maturing blog that somehow manages to marry the past and the present into it and this shows as we've just had the FA Cup,  Europa and Championship League soccer matches which I enjoyed jumping up and down in my footie strip watching the tv.

Well back in my boyhood I was quite passionate about soccer, watching matches with my much missed nan on Sunday afternoon scoffing Cadbury's Fruit and Walnut chocolate bars while she'd bring me the Dandy and Sparky comics she kindly bought for me.
That Manchester United souvenir goes back to that era a gift from a schoolboy friend who saw the boyish side of me.

One thing I have been enjoying of late on CBBC is the soccer based drama Jamie Johnson which sprung up from Dan Freedman's stories of an Eleven year old boy with talent but feeling pushed out by bullies who don't want to face real competition.
The Tv series makes the team mixed but it does explore some powerful themes such as sexist behaviour, the power of social media, personal responsibility to yourself and team members, things that may be on young players minds such as parental splits, caring responsibilities,safeguarding, the corrosive effects of parents living their dreams through their children as shown so well with Dillion on yesterdays episode and bullying.

The books are ideal for boys packing in lots of detail in a easy to follow way as we follow the lives of Jamie and his team mates being in many way just the kind of book I'd love to had in upper juniors and lower seniors as a boy making their way match by match navigating drama.
It's hardly surprising I have the full set because it taps into my past feelings, the sense of still being that boy loving playing the game as one of the boys.

Spring clothing replacements

When I last made an entry around this, it was in late June of last year not long after my arrival at ASB.org and the establishment of the That Traditional Schoolboy tumblr and we were looking more at school and more casual play clothes.
One area that not much had been done around due to the malaise and generally feeling off I was going through around the time I established that Tumblr was my sports clothing
Much of what I had was getting on in years showing wear and also it has to be said some was more unisex that I really felt comfortable with then and a long way removed from I now at
The start point for my selections were they had to be what I feel comfortable with being in accordance with what other boys of my era would of worn, clearly designed for men and boys only.

These are Adidas Mens Parma Shorts which are manufactured in CLIMALITE technology to keep the body sweat free and comfortable by allowing maximum air circulation and protecting the body against excess moisture and overheating.

According to Adidas these football shorts should improve the passing game and offer real ball control but we'll see if I can put that claim to the test!

These white ones are Umbro sport polyester jersey football shorts  and it says something about how ailing I been feeling that the last pair of Umbro footie shorts I bought was in the early 2000's from a sportswear shop here in Staffordshire in our city region centres shopping mall before footie shorts got longer.
In addition, I did pick up a more traditional bottle green polyester pair of PE shorts of the 'unbranded' variety as a 'spare pair'.

To go with them I picked up two pairs of these Samson (r) football/hockey socks which apart from being thick do help to keep my regular grey school socks clean in the event I'm moving around on grass.

When was the last time I had a 'proper' footie shirt? A long long time so I thought that could be put right with what should be in as a staple of a British boys outfit by getting this Sans Maracana 2 Short Sleeve Football T-Shirt I can wear with my new shorts and socks.

For non footballing purposes  such as general PE and running around, I bought a few plain fruit of loom t shirts in red like this one, sky blue and light pink, the latter is now more accepted than it was when I was much younger even featuring in some boys/mens football strips.

It's been a long time coming but finally having sports clothing that replicates that of my original boyhood that I'd of felt happy to have been in the company of other boys and their dads in is great thing for me.

I did get somethings that were not sports related that fit more around smart casual and schoolwear.

I had noticed my underwear was starting to bobble a bit which wasn't so surprising as it was bought around a year ago and has been through a number of wash cycles so I found these Marks and Spencers cotton briefs which are the sort of white Y fronted ones I grew up and am happy to be back in being sold as old stock with the label cut out to prevent store returns so I bought several pairs.

Something else that has been missing from my wardrobe for a long time have been polo neck T shirts so I bought two mens cotton ones in blue as the only other option was black and I don't do black tops.

Finally, I did get another pair of Grey school shorts in a sturdy fit that works right on me as believe it or not I've hardly been in longs at all this year so a good spare pair is worth having.

Kickaround

This blog has always had a mixture of the new and the old and this week it's more the new with a difference.

I have written a bit about comics and magazines from my original childhood that I read either as the person who bought or had them bought to me in addition to those as boys we shared with each other.
Football is and remains a common link between boys although it is 2018 and some girls play the game as do women in their own leagues but one good development this year has been the launch of a new monthly football magazine aimed at 7 to 12 year olds aka Juniors from the people who publish the adult soccer magazine When Saturday Comes (W.S.C).
The sampler came out in February's W.S.C (issue 372) and unlike many publications as the name suggests its not just about a few big Big Clubs but about participation in footballing from the park or street corner kickabout between friends to schoolboy/girl team play and the benefits physically and mentally of playing out of doors.

Thus you get obviously pictures and writing around club matches but also youth teams, news from wider world of soccer and features such as this months (Issue 6 November 2018) on football for people who like me have cerebral palsy, like we even have own teams today with slightly different rules to help us play.
It also encourages writing, art and geography by acting as means of encouraging interest  through interest in the game and has a few cartoons too.
While this isn't a classic 'boys own' publication it's good to see something that has much of the ethos of older publications such as Roy of the Rovers is being produced, marketed and sold in print for today's juniors that for people like me who do struggle with grown up texts also are a good read.
It makes a good substitute in my adult-child life.

Past achievements and the present mission

In characteristic back and forth pattern this week I'm looking at the past as I look at my boyhood reconnecting to my masculinity after a period it seemed to get lost and also looking around this present the work in progress featuring being an adult schoolboy.

Something I have mentioned before on the blog is I have disabilities, physical and developmental that played a part in my childhood both when it came to schooling and also when it came things such as play and leisure.
One thing I was strongly encouraged to do back then was to go swimming as as with most juniors we did go as a class every week on a chartered bus to a local swimming pool for lessons where we we told not to eat crisps before  the lesson.
That lead to my teacher encouraging me to join a disabled swimming club nearby that met at a local all boys grammar school that had a lot of adult helpers that met weekly and had competitions although it was partial socially where we'd let off steam in a safe way.

I did gain a number of achievement awards some of which are on on these original swimming trunks and won cups in our competitions which also meant having look after said cups.
One thing about swimming is it is a great equalizer so whatever difficulties you may have there is a way you can swim and so feel more able about from building up strength through exercise.

Back to the present where I have a couple of jumpers the sort Junior schools and regular state high schools comprehensive wear.

Compared to the rounded neck ones they do look that bit smarter and for having a V neck much better suited for wearing with ties

There was a drift a few years back against tie wearing in Juniors probably a follow on from many being a part of a combined Primary with Infants where they had polo shirts (and dresses for girls) but this is starting to come back.
I'm glad of it as I honestly feel you do look better and feel that bit more grown up having been a junior boy for wearing a tie and it is preparation for both high school where you do and more formal social gatherings.

As it has been a while since I reviewed my formal shirts, I bought a number of new boys shirts that can be got in up to 17 1/2 collar sizes that should fit most of us from Schooluniform 24/7 who have their own site in addition to being on British Ebay.
These are Zeco's who do a range of good quality schoolwear such as long socks, jumpers etc and these shirts also can be had in short sleeve, both with white and blue options.
They come very well packed with plastic clips to hold down and stiffeners to keep the collar in shape in transit just like those we bought back in the day (or our folks did for us) and are the real deal when it comes to non logo'd plain school attire.

l mentioned would of been last week on Tumblr about how we had found the measure of the kind of boy I was, that there was little doubting I am masculine but how it was more overtly feminine influences and associated habits and behaviour had crept since then that I had no real need for.
One area was very much around the kinds of plushies I did collect and especially when it came to having a lot of saniotown posters of the likes of Hello Kitty  to exclusion of all else all over the place which I was just staring at feeling they didn't make me actually happy.
It just felt as though I'd wondered into another persons space and so I have decided replace the posters completely.

One difference today is that on the one hand the number of  boys comics and magazines   that tended to have pull out posters are much less then they were when I was originally a boy but a number of companies do reproduction posters using modern digital printing techniques and this was one I bought.

This as you know was a comic that did feature in that original boyhood and this iconic issue front cover was available in poster form and so I thought would help me feel that much better for being connected to that and the things I loved as that boy.
,

I was never big on Sci-Fi probably because I find it hard to remember all the characters and key things about them but I did remember following plus certainly been shown Marvel's comic books during that era.
I saw this promotional poster on offer and thought it would be improvement on what had been on my walls.

I did manage to get a A3 poster of this illustration but with "Instructions for Outfit No.1" presumably from the original negative which both iconic for the product but also just perfect for its portrayal of boyhood. 
In time I'll get a few more suitable posters and postcard sized pictures more in keeping for boys but at least I will have things things to look at that reflect my own masculine self. 
I know freeing myself of those feminine influences that have only taken me away from my true self is the only proper way to get the point of loving the real me. It is something I owe to myself to do from now on.

Following the red devils 70's style

One day I can remember quite well was when we decided to visit Old Trafford, the home of England's Manchester United soccer team in the Spring of 1977 where we were given a tour around the stadium, got to meet a number of the players getting autographs and the then Manager Tommy Docherty.
A few of the players such as the Greenhoffs lived locally so while most people here support Port Vale there was much interest in their upcoming FA Cup final against Liverpool on May 21st and as it was 1977 by that Saturday afternoon we'd all sit glued to BBC TV's Grandstand program watching the match on our newly acquired colour television.
The match by tradition was played at the Wembley Stadium,Middlesex, just outside London which was refereed by Bob Matthewson.
The Liverpool side of that era is by consent one of the strongest ever including players such as Kevin Keegan so it was one match as excitable schoolboys we were looking forward to.
First to score was United's Stuart Pearson in the second half passing Ray Clemence.
Liverpool equalized with a goal from Jimmy Case which Alex Stepney was unable to stop and the final goal was by Lou Macari which ricocheted off Jimmy Greenhoff's chest looping straight into the net with Liverpool's Clemence and Phil Neal on the line.

They'd won 2-1 breaking a possible three successive wins for Liverpool! 
Lou Macari on third right in the picture later on went to manage Stoke City and is still active in the district. Gordon Hill is second right, while Tommy is in the grey suit and tie.
It remains a highlight of a memorable soccer season from childhood.

School Soccer and the boy

Something that was hard to avoid when I was at school was team sports cos you'd know before even getting as far as picking the team positions if anyone was missing and there was spare kit about so the old rouse of leaving your stuff behind wouldn't cut it.

 Team sports are one of the most gendered activities in school which amounted to if you were a boy you HAD to play soccer which had a full kit that you needed to change into which is taxing if like me you have dyspraxia struggling with pull over, fastening and tying things.

First on over your vest would be a thick red football jersey with long arms and white ribbed cuffs which is different than most today and did help keep you warm in the winter months.
Next on were your shorts which were next to your skin to prevent your school ones from get damp and muddy.

It was always taken by our headmaster.

 Our shorts in the 70's and especially early 80's were short being  cut high in the thighs with contrasting ribbing along the hip seams and my last pair worn for soccer were just like these.

Personally I preferred them cos it was it more easier to move in than the longer ones which started coming back from the mid 90's onward.

Then came on your thick stripped socks cos you just NEVER wore your regular socks cos again they'd soon get damp and muddy which is no good for regular lessons afterward.

 Then came you dedicated football boots with studs to help deal with muddy fields like our school ones but were laced up so I had to beg other boys to fasten mine up for me and in that era we didn't have elasticated laces that could be pre-tied and you were inspected before team selection.

Team selection if like me you were physically disabled always had the potentially to be very humiliating  as one of two teams of  boys first of all had to have you - and often they'd sooner not -  and then find a position in whatever team formation they chose to play and usually they put me in defence and the odd time in goal so you'd hope you didn't let anything in you could just about stop.

Defence could prove a taxing cos they'd long periods of nothing much happening when my attention could drift off to passing aircraft or traffic as the school field corner passed a major road with trucks passing along it that interested me more and that was when my tackling didn't result in a yellow or red card being issued that is if there's didn't leave me on the ground for minutes being unstable on my feet at best.

Afterward we had to clean ourselves up as we had no proper change facilities, just a cloakroom with water and towels and get changed for regular classes.

Looking back on it I do sometimes wonder just what my attempting to play the game was about as later on I moved to school that played disabled sport which while taxing was more suited to me.

The conclusion I came to was it was about learning to have a go at anything and about trying however imperfectly to integrate me in non disabled gender norms for boys, to give me a space I might let boyish things out and join other boys doing the same.

While I was more open to playing sports across the genders and of preferred to chosen sports I felt more at one with, ultimately I believe in its own way it was another example of my headmaster caring for me by treating the same as all the boys providing an identity which while not being perfect was at least an identity and a space 'to be'.

For that I'm grateful.

Playing soccer

Play is a big thing when you're young and it happened in many places some of which I'll talk about later but there's one form I feel like talking about now.

We didn't have a playground where we lived never mind one set in open countryside so with the exception of the school playing field which was small by modern standards, we played on waste ground or one a tree lined recess between the road and our houses.
The usual game for us boys was soccer for which we improvised goals from coats which worked well as at that time traffic was small and we know everyone and when their fathers would come in from work in their cars as our mothers didn't.
The nearest park was a good mile and half walk along a dangerous road with no sidewalk so the only proper soccer we played was at school during recess or for games where we'd have one sesson a week and the girls had one of their own usually borrowing the same pitch.
With my co-ordination I was put in as 'defence' or as goalie not really being trusted to take a ball and score goals with it and if it wasn't so busy I'd get frozen in the winter with just a fleecy red and white soccer jersey, white shorts and socks on.
 From memory I'm sure I had proper soccer shoes that had studs and had to be tied up which was something I couldn't and still can't do and the ball was a big heavy one.

Picking yourself back up again

It can be hard enough growing up but when like me you have a physical disability things can happen to you in the most everyday situations such as you find yourself running short on energy because you tend to use more just getting by.
I struggled to get about, for a period using a wheelchair so I might get 'trapped' if I went to turn and couldn't pull myself out easy or I'd trip up just walking from row of desks in the classroom to another.
I wasn't as a rule exempted from games even if I may need to sit out of actually playing by having to change to my soccer or pe kit , pick a team help set everything up and be the mascot for it cheering them on.
When I did play it wasn't uncommon for me on fall over on the grass trying to tackle another player to gain ball possession or just loose my sense of balance having very poor co-ordination so I literally had to learn to pick myself from the ground, dust myself off and get on with it.
It was hard but my teachers and especially head teacher believed I needed to learn resilience to cope with the unfairness life can throw at you when you're disabled, picking yourself back up rather than wrapping me in cotton wool, becoming a softie.
I'm glad they were hard on me like this because it was what this boy needed to get by and learn to gain the respect of other boys for showing boy spirit in the face of adversity.

Boys only...

Sometimes I feel the age old understandings of just coming out with what your terms of interacting with folk such as a social group or whatever are easier as at least it's all out in the open.
The nineteen-nineties were a period where I did revert a bit more back outside of anything such as my job and outside adult interests to boyhood although t be honest it never really left me and one expression of that was I did wear around the spring and summer footie shorts.

To be honest for a good portion of this period I did spend my time in sports shops buying sports branded t shirts, track pants and shorts such as this very pair of Umbro's  which I wore a lot even though my cats who were kittens at the time tugged many a hole in them.

I preferred the simpler designed ones as they were hard wearing and easier to wash whenever I was away.
I also watched a lot of live soccer as I had Sky tv then jumping up and down supporting  my team and watching the newly formed English Premiership clubs progress both domestically and in Europe in way not to dissimilar than watching Sunday afternoon matches with my Nan who fed me on Cadbury's Fruit and Nutcake chocolate bars in my teens.
It just fired me up.