RIP Frank
12 months to the day since my brother past too. This is what it was like when he went the football - RIP, Frank
Frank Routledge: I was born in the year 1944, in Preston, Lancashire, and lived with Mum and Grandma over a hairdressers that my Gran owned. My Dad served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War and also Russian Arctic Convoys, so he didn’t return home until I was nearly three.
Luxuries during the Forties and Fifties were few and far between. Living in a prefab did have its advantages though; we'd a bathroom with a bath and an inside toilet. Only toilet paper was usually old newspapers or comics hung on the back of the door stuffed through a wire coat hanger, so you'd something to read while on the throne too. This being a step forward from having to have a weekly scrub in an old tin bath in front of the fire and a trek through the backyard to the outside loo in the middle of the night.
At the age of 12, I was really into my football both playing and watching Preston North End. The mates and I would even go on reserves matches as the reserve team in those days had some quality players who could have slotted straight into the first team if they had any injuries.
The mates and me would turn up for first team games before 2pm, because many a time fans flocking to Deepdale in their droves would be locked out due the sheer volume of fans attending – crowds of 30,000 plus would be the norm. I remember being passed overhead on the Spion Kop at Preston's Deepdale ground, then over the hoardings and onto the cinder track that ran round the pitch so I could see the game. I can still visualize, when looking back, at the crammed in crowd behind me, especially at night matches. Plumes of blue smoke would rise upwards into the flood light beam while the red glow of uncapped cigarettes hanging from the corner of every bloke’s mouth would be a common sight. All the men wore overcoats and flat caps, slightly tilted to one side which were thrown in the air when Preston scored, this followed by raucous cries and rapid applause. Back then North End were in the old First Division and we would have the likes of Arsenal, Man Utd, Wolves and Chelsea visiting Deepdale. I can remember when we played Chelsea once and Tommy Thompson for Preston scored a hat-trick only to be out done by a certain Jimmy Greaves in a blue shirt for Chelsea who bagged five – Preston lost 4-5. On the way home, after the game, everyone talked about how well Preston had played. There was no criticism of the team; we were all true fans.
By 1964 Preston had reached the FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium and would face the team of the moment West Ham Untied, after defeating Swansea Town in the Semis at Villa Park. However, these are stories on their own...
