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Back lane memories.

John Oliver

Sunday, February 4th, 2007

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 Playing ‘Netty door’ football
On cobbled back lanes
Where the smell from the chip shop
Fought the stench from the drains.
Falling over dustbins
Washing blowing in the wind
Dribbling around gas lamp posts
Hands and knees all skinned.
Other kids queue up to play
Call out cock or hen
Above shoulder height is over the bar
And three corners make a ‘pen’.
Sixteen goals to Fourteen
The game is pretty tight
Then the lad who own’s the ball
Is called in for the night.
So the game has to be abandoned
And we settle for a draw
That back lane to us was St Jame’s Park
And the goals were ‘Netty doors’

© John Oliver Febuary 2007

Notes

‘Netty door’ football was common in North East pit villages, the Netty’s were of course the outside toilets, which were often shared with other families in the terraced houses.And by calling out either ‘cock or hen’ decided which side you were on.

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/back-lane-memories/