The day I saw Pele play…

The debate about the Greatest of All Time will continue as long as the game of football is played and thanks to the internet, footage of those greats from down the years allows us to compare players from different eras. However, there is nothing like being able to say that you saw them play in the flesh. And I can humbly say that I was able to see ‘live’ the player who at the time was probably the most famous and greatest player on the planet – Edson Arantes do Nascimento or as the world knew him – Pele.

Unbelievably his club team, Brazilian side, Santos, played a friendly against my team, Fulham on 12 March 1973 and Pele had even attended the league game on the Saturday before against Carlisle United, meeting old adversary from the 1970 World Cup, Fulham skipper Alan Mullery before kick-off. The excitement I felt at being able to get the chance to see Pele and other World Cup winners such as Carlos Alberto and Edu was mind-blowing for a ten year old only used to a diet of English Second Division fare.

Given that there would be a bumper crowd we got seats in the Stevenage Road Stand rather than our usual spot on the Putney End terrace. Fulham averaged just over 10,000 in the league that season, but for the Santos game it was officially recorded as 21,464 – the biggest attendance I’d seen at the Cottage up till then.

It’s funny what you remember from that night. One thing that sticks in the mind is my dad managing to park the car in what seemed to be an incredibly tight space, moving the car back and forward for what seemed like an eternity. Another is that in order for Santos to wear their famous all white strip, Fulham played in red shirts, with white shorts and red socks on the night. Bizarre minor details but still linked to that night in March.

Of course, the reality in terms of the game itself, was that it was a friendly, an exhibition match, but for those there that night, that didn’t matter. We were there to see Pele and we can all say that we saw him score as well. Even though he was 31 at the time, his genius was there for all to see, and the buzz in the ground whenever he got the ball was palpable. In terms of the action, Fulham had taken a first-half lead through Alan Pinkney but were pegged back in the second half. Pele latched onto a long ball and as he attempted to go round Fulham ‘keeper Peter Mellor, the Brazilian legend was brought down. Up stepped Pele to send Mellor the wrong way and level the score at 1-1. Fulham though would go onto win 2-1 with Steve Earle getting the winner seven minutes from time.

The programme from that game is a prized possession amongst my collection as are my memories of the night I saw Pele play.

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Book Review – Please Don’t Take Me Home: A Lovestory with Fulham Football Club by Simone Abitante

With global coverage of the English Premier League, and the reach of social media, you are just as likely to see fans wearing the colours of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and United in the bars of Beijing, New York, Sydney and Tokyo, as you would back in London, Liverpool and Manchester. Given the effort that these Clubs put into attracting overseas fans, i.e. with trips to play in friendlies and tournaments abroad, it was a pleasant surprise to read Please Don’t Take Me Home: A Lovestory with Fulham Football Club, a story of an Italian who has come to love the club from Craven Cottage – who despite recent years in the Premier League, cannot be considered one of the ‘big hitters’ in English football.

Simone Abitante like many Italians is football crazy. Born in November 1975, he first attended games in the 1980s watching his local team, Vicenza, graduating to his first season ticket at the club in 1991. Around that time Abitante was exposed to the English First Division and its clubs as they transitioned into the Premier League. Abitante’s hometown side I Biancorossi, won the Italian Cup in 1996/97 which meant that the club entered the European Cup Winners Cup the following season. Incredibly the little known team from North East Italy reached the Semi-Final and were beaten 3-2 on aggregate by Chelsea – so beginning Abitante’s dislike for Fulham’s West London rivals from Stamford Bridge.

He initially came to London in November 2000 and was looking for a team to support. He read in the Metro newspaper about Fulham then in the Football League First Division (now the Championship) who ran away with the title to gain promotion to the Premier League.

From here the book details events from that point to the end of the 2019/20 season as Fulham beat Brentford 2-1 in the Championship Play-off Final with COVID ensuring it was played at an empty Wembley Stadium.

It very much has the feel of a diary format as Abitante travels to and from London as his work and personal situation changes. Like any diary, it is written with passion and honesty, whether about the good times or the bad. From a football perspective, the reader gets to feel Abitante’s joy at attending his first game at the Cottage and on each occasion as he takes friend and family to the ground by the Thames. The Italian’s support coincides with Fulham’s longest stretch in the Premier League (2001/02 to 2013/14), a European trophy (UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2002) and reaching the UEFA Europa League Final in 2009/10 and in the last few season, the yo-yo existence as the club bounces between the Premier League and the Championship.

With Abitante moving around Europe as his jobs change, and in the years when Fulham are playing in the Championship, he has at times a battle to watch and get information via the internet about The Whites, something  readers who have been in the same situation can sympathise with. However, his passion for the club remains steadfast, whether Abitante is attending games at the Cottage or hundreds of miles away, and that comes across to the reader in his writing.

As well as his love for Fulham and football, you can add, family and friends to those things most dear to Abitante’s heart. And he talks with real love about his relationships with those close to him, none more so than two friends, Umberto Scomparin and Giampaolo Bonato, who died tragically young and to whom this book is dedicated.

The book closes with Fulham beating Brentford at an empty Wembley Stadium due to the Global pandemic and Abitante dreaming of returning to the Cottage to see the club back in the Premier League. What he also manages to capture is the strangeness of the time that COVID created and there is something haunting about his return to Italy in May 2020:

Bergamo’s airport is almost empty. I’ve never seen it like this. I’m used to a crowded and bust terminal while this time you could hear the echo of your voice if you screamed. Also the flight is so unusual, just a few masked passengers. Surreal, this is the word.

 Thankfully, the world has returned to some sort of reality, whilst Fulham continue with the ‘normaility’ of being relegated once more from the Championship, only to return again for the 2022/23 season. One can only hope that Abitante will once again get back to the Cottage to see The Whites once more in the top flight of English football.

 

(Publisher: Pitch Publishing Ltd. March 2022. Hardcover: 224 pages)

 

Buy the book here: Please Don’t Take Me Home

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Book Review: Blinding Floodlights by Peter Miles

In 2016 Mike Floate released Football Grounds Frenzy Floodlights, and five years later once again via the Newlands Printing Services stable, another title has been released focusing on floodlights, this time from the camera of Peter Miles, with the double-meaning title of Blinding Floodlights.

This book has the look and feel of Floate’s original title, with a repeat of the design, A5 size and art catalogue feel. Miles’ edition is larger than, Football Grounds Frenzy Floodlights, at 116 pages, with over 200 images from 150 clubs and stadia from across 34 countries. This look at lights from further afield, gives the feeling that this is the Continental cousin, to Floate’s essentially UK based book.

As with Football Grounds Frenzy Floodlights, the text is limited to a brief introduction, which despite its brevity is informative as Miles’ point out some early milestones in the history of floodlights such as Southampton becoming the first English professional club in 1950 to have permanent floodlights installed at their old ground, The Dell. Interestingly, The Saints capped a unique double in lighting terms when before the 2014/15 campaign, St Mary’s (Southampton’s current stadium) became the first stadium in Europe with full LED floodlighting.

This volume as with Football Grounds Frenzy Floodlights contributes to recording architectural, industrial, social and visual history. However, where this book varies to an extent to Floate’s, is that the images provide a visual narrative, indeed a journey, as the grounds and lights are seen as the day progresses, with bright blue skies giving way through sun-set, and dusk to nightfall.

There are so many startling images, and any reader/viewer will have their own favourites and indeed see different things each time they open the pages of this book and revisit the wonderful colourful pictures. A couple which stand out for involve statues which are juxtaposed with the stadiums and lights they are situated near, at AFC Tubize, a Belgian amateur club and the Osterbro Stadium in Denmark which hosts both football and athletics.

Another one to mention, is that due to my allegiance with Fulham. In Football Grounds Frenzy Floodlights, Floate’s images of Craven Cottage still had the glorious old pylons, whilst here in Blinding Floodlights the famous Cottage looks a little less impressive with the favoured modern tubular structures for lighting. Progress, I know, but certainly visually less appealing.

It would be easy to wax lyrically about each and every picture, but instead can only say, get your self a copy and feast on the visual treats on offer.

(Newlands Printing Services. May 2021. Paperback: 116 pages)

 

This books and a range of other football related titles can be bought through Mike Floate’s website: www.footballgroundsfrenzy2.com as well as eBay and Amazon.

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Book Review: Football Grounds Frenzy Floodlights by Mike Floate

As a kid travelling to away games, spotting the floodlights was part of the excitement of the day. And if I’m honest, even all these years later, there is still a thrill from spotting the pylons whether in the car or on a train. However, as old grounds have slowly disappeared and technology has advanced in the field of lighting, those distinctive pylons of my youth, are a very rare sight these days.

Therefore it is a real pleasure to be able to review two book about these metallic behemoths, the first Football Grounds Frenzy Floodlights by Mike Floate and the second Blinding Floodlights by Peter Miles. This review focuses on Mike Floate’s offering with a separate one for Peter Miles book.

This A5 sized book is in four parts, Introduction (providing the only text), The Underview, The Groundview and Getting to the Vetch Field. Over its 84 pages, 48 grounds are featured through 83 wonderfully atmospheric colour images.

The introduction details how this collection started, when Floate visited the Scottish club Queen of the South in 1996 and snapped the images of their floodlights (featured on pages 43 and 56), with the last picture to feature in this book taken in 2015. Whilst the majority of the pictures come from English League clubs, there are some from the non-league scene as well as Scotland and Belgium.

Some may argue that this is a pretty niche area within football, but what is important to remember is that nearly 40% of the stadiums featured have been demolished and those old style stands, and floodlights are now lost forever. This book contributes to recording architectural, industrial and social history in a brutalist-style artistry.

They also provide for me great memories and reminders of growing up in London and my regular visits to Fulham at Craven Cottage and Wimbledon’s old Plough Lane venue. The pylons at the Cottage that could be seen walking to the ground with my dad and indeed the nation, viewed as they were on the BBC every year at the Varsity Boat race as the Oxford and Cambridge crews swept past the ground on the Thames. Now as the stadium has changed, Fulham have adopted the tubular structures now favoured in the modern era, with the new Riverside Stand to have lighting within its roof, another feature of new ground design.

The images of Plough Lane also brought back a sadness, at thoughts of the grounds subsequent demolition, but Floate’s pictures on pages 38, 39, 57 and 58 made me smile too, as I recalled that The Dons, as they climbed the Football League arranged the bulbs in a ‘W’ formation in each of their four pylons. Happy days indeed.

Besides those wonderful nostalgic images from my days in South West London, there are some other eye-catching pictures within the book. And that is one of the beauties of this collection, in that you will notice something different every time you look at the images. Take for instance the pylon at Hereford’s Edgar Street ground (page 22), where the lower reaches of the structure were used to advertise businesses and forthcoming fixtures on various boards. Incongruously, an advert for World of Florida, Luxury Homes for Sale or Rent, sits side by side with those for local building and plumbing firms.

The book closes with Getting to the Vetch Field, a cracking photo-study and homage to Swansea City’s former home. The photos feature the lights from various spots around the streets, illustrating the stadiums land locked site in the heart of the city, and having a wonderful glow and atmosphere that only attending games at night can somehow bring.

Such a small book, but such a treasure.

(Newlands Printing Services. March 2016. Paperback: 84 pages)

 

This books and a range of other football related titles can be bought through Mike Floate’s website: www.footballgroundsfrenzy2.com as well as eBay and Amazon.

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Book Review: Johnny Haynes (The Maestro) by Martin Plumb and Ken Coton

As a football fan, there are games and players from the past that you wish you had been able to see. For me attempting to pick just one Fulham fixture where I wish I could have attended is a mightily difficult task. However, when it comes to the player I most wish I could have seen, well that it a different matter – quite simply, John Norman (Johnny) Haynes. The Maestro played his last first team game at Craven Cottage on Saturday 17 January 1970 against Stockport County. It wasn’t until two years later that I made my first visit to The Cottage, by which time Johnny was gracing the football fields of South Africa. Therefore in reading and reviewing this book I make no apology that I have done so as very much a Fulham fan and with an eagerness to discover so much more about this legend.

The first thing to say about this book, in its physical sense, is that it is an object of beauty. This A4 sized tome, rather like Haynes’ himself exudes class. The portrait of Johnny on the cover is classic in its simplicity, whilst inside the reader is treated to a layout, text and paper quality that is a joy to behold. I fell in love with the book even before reading a word; as an object it is in itself a quality item.

So does the content live up to the aesthetic qualities of this publication? Before the main chapters of the book, there are usual forewords, acknowledgments, and contents pages. However, there is also a Notes to the text page, which I found invaluable. The reason being is that it puts into context what football was like during the 1950’s and 60’s; an incredibly different beast both domestically and internationally to that which current fans watch and understand. The main body of book itself is split over thirty-two chapters, which apart from the first three follow Haynes’ life chronologically. The first three chapters each take a different perspective of aspects of Johnny Haynes the player and person. So within the opening part of this publication the reader is given a summary of the footballing attributes, the all-round sporting ability and a look at Haynes’ overall character. Indeed, the authors of the book (Martin Plumb and Ken Coton) ensure that this volume isn’t simply a sycophantic view of the Fulham favourite, as in chapter three, A Jekyll and Hyde character? they explore and acknowledge that, “…like all exceptional talents his (Haynes’) greatness came as part of a complete package alongside his faults and frailties…”

Chapters four, five and six, look at Johnny as a boy and his progression through school and district teams to England Schoolboy Honours and his eventual signing of professional forms for Fulham. Chapter seven begins a season by season (and game by game) analysis of Johnny Haynes’ career, starting with the 1952/53 season and his debut on Boxing Day 1952 against Southampton at The Cottage. The year on year approach allows the reader to see each season progress and Haynes’ part in it. Therefore we see each significant milestone in its timeline. Over the coming seasons, whilst Fulham continue to battle for promotion from Division Two, Johnny goes from strength to strength as England B, Under 23 and Full Honours are attained, as well as playing for the Football League Representative team and taking part in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup for the London XI. His development is such, that by the 1956/57 season at the age of 21 Johnny Haynes is made Fulham captain.

The following campaign in 1957/58 was a case of near, yet so far. Fulham ultimately missed out on promotion and were beaten in the FA Cup Semi-Final after a replay, to a Manchester United team emerging from the shadows of the Munich air disaster. That summer Johnny Haynes played for England in the 1958 World Cup Finals in Sweden. After the near miss of the previous year, in 1958/59 Haynes leads Fulham to promotion in Bedford Jezzard’s first season as manager.

It is interesting to reflect that with Fulham having been promoted to the First Division and Haynes made England captain during the 1959/60 season that all seemed right with the world. However, it could be seen as the start of a period of struggle for Fulham which obviously had an impact on its captain and focal point. From this season onwards each year The Cottagers battled relegation from the top flight until in 1967/68 they ran out of luck. During that time much happened to Johnny Haynes. In terms of his England career, his finest hour came on April 15 1961 when he led England to an astonishing 9-3 victory over Scotland at Wembley. He then experienced his second World Cup Finals tournament in Chile in 1962. However, England departed at the Quarter Final stage 3-1 to Brazil. He very much split  the football critics of the time, with opinion divided on whether Haynes was the right man around which England should play.

For Fulham, Haynes famously became the first £100 a week player in 1960/61, against a background of transfer speculation and another failed FA Cup Semi-Final. At the start of the 1962/63 season Haynes was involved in a serious car accident in which he broke bones in both legs and damaged a cruciate ligament in his right knee. Whilst he did recover to continue his playing career, in later life Haynes observed, “…it was the cruciate ligament in the right knee that did for me. They used to stitch them together, but it didn’t work like the operations today. For me it was a big struggle and I was, more or less, playing on one leg…”

This was obviously a turning point in the career of Johnny Haynes and as a reader I felt a sadness as he struggled with the injury, the loss of his England career (and ultimately any chance of selection for the 1966 World Cup winning squad) and the constant battle to keep Fulham in the top flight. Rumours surfaced again during these years of a transfer away from The Cottage and Haynes endured testing years during the management reign of Vic Buckingham. As if the relegation in 1967/68 of Fulham was bad enough, the following season offered no respite in Division Two. The Cottagers would ultimately suffer a second successive relegation. They were indeed desperate times down by The Thames. The madness and sadness of it all is summed up in the following episode from the game against Carlisle United in February 1969. Fulham were playing poorly and manager Bill Dodgin was about to replace Malcolm Macdonald with Jimmy Conway. However, “…Johnny Haynes suddenly walked off the pitch with a shrug of the shoulders and disappeared into the tunnel…the truth was that Haynes was totally fed up with the whole episode and since every member of the team was playing so badly, and anyone could have gone off, he decided to make the decision himself and go…”

The Maestro did have a testimonial game on April 28 1969 and a crowd of nearly 25,000 came to celebrate the career of Fulham’s greatest ever player. However, the occasion was tinged with sadness; “…many tributes were made to the maestro – Johnny the Greatest, the Magician, and the miracle Worker. The club conceded that the decline in their own status had probably coincided with the inevitable decline in Haynes’ own career…”

In the 1969/70 season Johnny Haynes played his last first team game in Football League Division Three in a 1-1 draw against Stockport County in January 1970. Fulham sought to rebuild the team for the remainder of the season and the following year would be promoted to Division Two without Haynes. Whilst that was the end of his career at The Cottage, Johnny Haynes moved to South Africa and played until the mid 70’s at Durban City, Durban United, Durban Celtic and finally Maritzburg.

In 1985 Haynes returned to Britain, settling in Edinburgh for the remainder of his life. He never took up a role as a football pundit or really become involved in the game in any real way. However, his love for Fulham never diminished and he was a leading figure in the successful bid to save the club during the dark days of the 90’s. Thankfully he was around to see Fulham promoted to the top flight of English football and visited The Cottage on a number of occasions. As a mark of Haynes’ contribution to the world of football, in 2002 he was an inaugural inductee to the English Football Hall of Fame.

The final two chapters of the book close the story of The Maestro. Chapter thirty-one is an excellent section of statistics covering his Fulham and England career, whilst Chapter thirty-two is the Epilogue. This details the events of October 2005 when a car accident lead to Johnny’s death and also contains tributes from across the football world.

Fulham renamed the Stevenage Road stand The Johnny Haynes Stand with the dedication taking place on August 26 2006 at the home game against Sheffield United. On October 18 2008 a statue of the Legend was unveiled before the home game against Sunderland. Martin Plumb and Ken Coton have produced a brilliantly researched book which sits alongside these as an equally fitting tribute to Johnny Haynes – The Maestro.

 

For copies of this book and other Ashwater Press publications, please go to: http://www.ashwaterpress.co.uk/

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2011/12: Europa League Second Qualifying Round, 2nd Leg – Fulham v Crusaders

The last time I was making this train journey from Leeds to London to watch Fulham in a European tie; it was under very different circumstances. Back in April 2010 on a balmy evening I took my place in a capacity crowd at the Cottage to watch 90 minutes that would determine whether Fulham FC would appear in their first ever European Final. History tells us that it was another night of drama, incredible emotion and tension as Fulham defeated Hamburg 2-1 to reach the inaugural Europa League Final.

Some 15 months later, it is all rather different. As the 14.15 pulls out of Leeds City Station, it is under a grey Northern sky and drizzly rain flecks the carriage windows. The anticipation and nerves that surrounded the journey down last April just aren’t there. Yes, once again Fulham are in the Europa League, but this is about as far from the Final as you can possibly get. Having gained a place through the Fair Play League, Fulham started their Europa League campaign at the First Qualifying Round with a game in June. A 3-0 aggregate win over NSI Runavik from the Faroe Islands, set up a Second Qualifying Round meeting with Crusaders FC from Northern Ireland. With the Cottagers already 3-1 up from the First Leg, the home tie at the Cottage is pretty much a formality.

I can’t deny that I am looking forward to getting a first look at the team under new manager Martin Jol, but it is also about reconnecting with being back in London and that feeling of being “home” which bonds and satisfies the inner soul. As the train edges ever further South via Wakefield, Doncaster, Grantham and Stevenage, the weather outside does not alter and a wet welcome awaits me in Kings Cross.

As the train pulls in, I know there is now the joy (sic) of travelling across London by Underground to complete my journey. I just want to get this bit done as quickly as possible and emerge at Putney Bridge and the comforting sight of The Thames and Bishops Park. Despite not having lived in the capital since 1991, I know I need the Piccadilly Line to Earl’s Court and a change onto the District Line to Putney Bridge. I blend in with the commuters and tourists with my Evening Standard and look for news of tonight’s game. With the Test Match at Lord’s and the build-up to next years Olympics dominating the sports pages, Fulham warrant a mere paragraph.

Still a flick through the paper and an attempt at the crossword passes the time and I’m soon emerging out of Putney Bridge station. A quick walk and the Thames is in view, the rain continues, but I stop to take in the sight of Putney Bridge and the calm that being close to water brings. The familiar landmarks of St Mary’s and All Saints sit resplendent at either side of the bridge. As the rain gets heavier I decide it’s time to move off and quickly glimpse to see The Eight Bells full of Crusaders fans. I push on down Fulham High Street towards The Golden Lion where Fulham fans have gathered for their pre-match sustenance. I order a pint and then gaze around the rapidly filling pub. All this is familiar, I’m one of them – I’m a Fulham fan, but then I know it’s not my local and I don’t have this ritual here during the season – I’m not one of them. It’s not bitterness, but sadness. In truth I know I miss the ritual of watching my team and meeting mates before a game.

Outside the rain has eased so decide it is time to make my way to the ground. I branch off down the Fulham Palace Road and past what once used to be newsagents and grocers’ shops but which are now restaurants, estate agents and the like. As others cut off to make their way down to the stadium, I know there is only one turning I want to go down and that is Finlay Street. It is the road I walked down with my dad so many times since the early seventies. You arrive with the Cottage in front of you and the words “THE FULHAM FOOTBALL CLUB” painted on the side. I see it once more and feel both content and nostalgic. I wander the length of Stevenage Road and take various pictures.

With programme purchased, I make my way into the Putney End. Again I can’t help making the comparisons with the Hamburg game. Where in April 2010 the German fans filled a corner of the Stevenage Road stand, the Crusaders supporters take up half the space. The confident, bouncing, noisy Teutonic hordes are now replaced by a crowd which whilst offering vocal support for their team, seems more intent on just enjoying the occasion.

Come kick-off there is a crowd of nearly 16,000, but there is no edge. Despite it being a competitive fixture it does feel like a friendly. Crusaders give of their best, but the extra speed and quality of Fulham in their passing means that the home team are leading after 19 minutes through Andy Johnson. Other chances come and go, but Fulham add no further goals.

Half-time gives a chance for more reflection. I look to the Hammersmith End and see the covered all-seater stand, which fairly much mirrors where I sit in the Putney End. These identi-kit stands serve a purpose and without them, Fulham wouldn’t be able to play at the Cottage in the Premier League. However, they have the feel of glorified temporary seating. They just don’t seem to fit in with the splendour, history and unique quality of the Cottage itself and the Stevenage Road Stand. Indeed the black cladding around the Cottage looks restrictive and a barrier to keep everything at a distance. My eyes too are filled by what seems to be hundreds of yellow jackets on an army of stewards, whose sole message appears to be that everything and everywhere is off-limits. Is this the price of modern football?

And so the teams return for the second-half. Crusaders are not disgraced, but the superior fitness of the Fulham team begins to tell as the game goes on. The home team find more space and in a fourteen minute spell, goals from Damien Duff (56 minutes), Bobby Zamora (66 minutes) and Steve Sidwell (70 minutes) give Fulham a 4-0 win on the night and a 7-1 aggregate win. The teams carry out the customary shirt-swapping, applaud their respective groups of fans and are suddenly gone. With the yellow army patrolling the perimeter of the pitch, the fans too drift away into the damp July night.

My journey North now begins in earnest and I join the crowd as it snakes through Bishops Park, the Fulham faithful offering a hum of contented banter, set against the rumble of traffic flowing back and forth over Putney Bridge. At the Underground station, fans flock to the trains heading back to Earl’s Court. I dip into my bag and once more attempt to complete the crossword in The Standard. Without noticing I’ve changed trains, trance like I’m already at Kings Cross with just under an hour to kill before the 23.30 takes me back to Leeds. A call home, a swift pint, a purchase of a sandwich and some tinnies and I’m ready for the return. I’m amazed how busy the station still is, everything on the concourse is open and people are buzzing around like its still rush-hour.

The final walk down the platform and within minutes the train lurches out on its journey North. I eat and crack open a can, and for the first time tonight feel tired. I’m lucky that I’m in a bank of seats with a table and nobody else sat in them. I’m not in the mood for conversation. I stare blankly out of the window and sip increasingly slowly the cold lager. It adds to the sensation of a frozen and numbed brain. I just want to be home now, but know that the train is not due in until 02:45 and then a taxi ride awaits. The crawl home continues and a second can is opened. With ticket checked by the guard, I settle back in my seat. Sleep comes easily and quickly. A jolt and I awake to find the train has stopped and I’m relieved to be in Leeds. Along with the rest of the weary passengers I stumble out into the early morning air and I head for the taxi rank.

Its 03:00 by the time I get into bed. I understand the concept of a weary body and mind. They say “home is where the heart is” and I now can feel the warmth of her skin.

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