United fan and exiled Gull, Phil Lee, sends us an article that many supporters of 'a certain age' will appreciate!

What's The Score?

There is one sure-fire way of knowing how your team is fairing at any given point in a game. That is to get yourself to the ground and enjoy all the thrills and spills of a live game. The buzz of the crowd and the rawness of the action, combining to give that unique feeling of watching live football that we all know and love.

But suppose that circumstances mean that you cannot make it to the game. This leaves you in a state of limbo knowing that your team are in action, stretching sinew and muscle in search of precious league points or a moment of cup glory. Yet there you are - feeling a million miles from the action with no idea whether you are missing a tense 0-0, a glorious canter to victory or a heartbreaking reverse. Whatever the situation you want to be there as you instinctively sense that 'the boys' need you to lift their spirits. As an 'exiled' Gulls supporter living in Bradford, this is a situation I know all to well.

For me, it's always been frustrating having to play the 'waiting game' and hold out for the full time score. It seems more reassuring to be able to follow the game as it's in progress so at least you get a fraction of the experience of being there. A final score is, well, just that - a final score! No chance of a last minute reprieve or an injury time penalty. A full time score is mercilessly unforgiving. It does exactly what it says on the tin - FINAL.

But, if you can follow a game as it progresses by whatever means possible then at least, in some strange way, you feel a part of what is going on. You may not be able to feast on the live game itself but at least by picking up the morsels and scraps of information available you are still able to 'do your bit' by willing your team on and, somehow, influencing (in your own mind at least!) the result.

In the mid 1970s I fell in love with the game of football and, especially, Torquay United. At the time, the means available to communicate the results were very limited. For 10-15 minutes on a Saturday tea time I would be glued to BBC's Grandstand as the teleprinter clanked the afternoon's scores across our screen. The results were typed at a sufficiently slow enough speed to afford the viewer that split-second of suspense as the text appeared reading "Darlington 1 Torquay United ...". There was that tantalising moment when you are wondering if this would be a glorious (and often much needed) away success, another gut-wrenching defeat or an honourable point gained?!

In the days of Saturday evening kick offs at Plainmoor, the Gulls home results would usually qualify the club for a regular score check on that night's Match Of The Day programme, something that only confirmed to me how special and unique this club was.

So, a glorified typewriter and Jimmy Hill more or less took care of things as far as the weekend games were concerned but tracking down midweek results often proved more difficult. I found the best tactic here was to find a multitude of different reasons not to go to bed until the final scores had been read out at the end of the nine o'clock news. But, frustratingly, the score was all you got. There was no indication of how the game had unfolded or who had scored.

The growth of local radio offered a new dimension to the coverage of the game and West Yorkshire was no exception. Local stations in this area were, irritatingly but unsurprisingly, obsessed by the local 'giants' Leeds United but coverage was also extended to Huddersfield, Bradford and Halifax which meant that when these three teams visited South Devon, I would be treated to an afternoon of regular reports from The Bay and, at last, a sense of 'being at the game'. The afternoon would be spent wiling those immortal words to be spoken: "There's been a goal at Torquay, let's go over to ......". The report the followed would usually begin one of two ways; either "good news" or "bad news" for which ever West Yorkshire side had made the journey to Devon that day. "Might be bad news for you matey, but not for me" I must have thought as news of another Les Lawrence or Steve Cooper strike was soberly reported to a despondent West Yorkshire.

As the years passed, technology moved on at a rapid rate and, before long, we were celebrating the arrival of CEEFAX and TELETEXT and up-to-the-minute score updates. This made the Saturday and midweek 'football experience' a whole new ball game. Now, if you couldn't be at the game, you could at least click 'text' on and follow the game through to full -time, viewing the goals as they went in.Is it any wonder that Championship Manager has been so popular!?

Now I know this sounds 'picky', especially since you consider how far we'd come since Grandstand's clanky typewriter, but the one problem with 'text' is that each 'page' on the screen usually contains about four games. If there is a full programme of games in The Gulls division and the 'page' changesevery 30-45 seconds, it could take a couple of minutes to get round to the Torquay score. The late, great Brian Clough once said "It only takes a second to score a goal" . With this in mind, I would often spend the final few minutes of a game waiting for the pages to click round wondering if the 2-0 lead that The Gulls held 90 seconds ago had somehow changed into a jaw-dropping 3-2 defeat!

At the end of the 1990s things developed still further with the introduction of the 'rolling vidiprinter' which showed each goal update and scorer as they happened and Sky TV's Soccer Saturday programme which introduced the nation to Jeff Stelling's, frankly, breathtaking array of statistical gems as he 'commentated' on Sky's own vidiprinter! On paper, the concept of the programme must have seemed mind-numbingly dull yet, in the flesh, it was and still is magnificent. The format has now been taken up by the BBC and Setanta Sports who understandably want to be part of this winning formula.

Along with interactive TV and 'rolling vidiprinters' we can now rely on the internet to keep us up-to-date. Thanks to the live commentary via Gulls World, I can now follow every kick no matter where or when the boys are playing. Every kick, every contested throw, every groan of the crowd and even the odd chirp from a seagull at the home games! Just like being there??

Well ....No! It's not like being there. There is still no substitute for getting through the turnstiles, standing on that terrace or sitting in that seat and breathing in the excitement, tension, passion and drama that go to make up a live game of football. But, if it's not possible to be there, for whatever reason, it's good to know that we no longer have to rely on a few bland emotionless characters produced by the BBC's ancient teleprinter, to bring us news of how the mighty Gulls have performed!

Phil Lee

Our thanks to Phil for what we hope is the first of many articles. If any of you wish to send something similar for posting on the official club website please do, we will publish almost anything football related, as long as gets past the lawyers!