Getting Creative

Up to Dundee today for L's sister L's birthday. L made a cake and got some help from H to put on the decorations. A fun family afternoon with chat and games and then popped in to see my Dad later for a cuppa and a chat with him, before a very pleasant drive home listening to a most excellent and eclectic playlist - from Bessie Smith to Fleetwood Mac and all manner of other stuff in between. Many of the tracks taking me back to other times - like other journeys on the same road - coming back from Tannadice after European football, listening to The Waterboys. Which would make it thirty years ago. In fact, looking it up, it was exactly thirty years ago today that United beat Barcelona at Tannadice. I travelled up to the games with a friend L from S&N. He, and his mates, were Jambos but we still went up together to stand on the cliffs at Tannadice and see United take on the giants of Europe. The Waterboys' This Is The Sea came out in 1985 but I forever associate it with driving back down the road from those European games. In both the quarter-final and the semi-final the first leg was at home so the result of the tie was still very much in doubt as we headed back to Edinburgh - only a 1-0 lead for the team to take to Spain and then a 0-0 draw to go to Germany with in the semi final. In both cases there were epic away wins, watched on TV, leading to the final against Gothenburg. First leg away this time and sadly it was not to be a glorious finale as the first leg 0-1 defeat was followed with a 1-1 draw at home and a 1-2 aggregate defeat. But the United fans stayed behind to give the Swedes a lap of honour and we won the first ever FIFA Fair Play Award.  And this time I really do mean 'we' - not the 'we' that football fans use when we really mean the team on the pitch. 'We' meant all of us on the terraces and in the stands. The beautiful game indeed. Then the next minute, another track comes on and I am back in a college room in St Hild & St Bede, Durham, which would be, what, thirty-four years ago, sitting up late at night listening to Carole King. Back from the college bar with my friend S, listening to music and setting the world to rights.