WHAT IS THE HATVENT CALENDAR?
This is the third year of PompeyChicken's Hatvent Calendar! It's a bit like an online Advent Calendar.
It's been inspired by the Innocent Drinks company who have been putting little woolen hats on their bottles of smoothies as part of The Big Knit, in aid of the charity Age UK.
You may have seen them on sale in Sainsbury's. PompeyChicken's family has been drinking a lot of smoothies again this year and each hat continues to be a perfect fit!
Two year's ago the Hatvent Calendar made connections between each hat and Pompey.
Last year underneath each hat PompeyChicken unveiled a favourite Pompey video clip.
This year he's been looking through the bookshelves to identify some of his favourite football books. Quite a few have a link to Pompey but not all.
You can read more about the Big Knit, which has been running since 2003, by clicking on the link at the end of this blog.
I hope you enjoy this year's Hatvent Calendar.
POMPEYCHICKEN'S HAT OF THE DAY
TODAY'S BOOK
This book is 'The Saint', by Ian St. John, his autobography.
I've included this book in the calendar because of the chapter titled 'The Worst Side Of Football' (pages 246-263) which covers his time as manager of Pompey in the 1970s. It makes very sorry reading.
Here are some excerpts from the book, there is a lot of 'familiar sounding' stuff here don't you think? It could be describing the period between 2010 and 2012 at Pompey.
Promises, Promises
"...the chairman of Portsmouth was John Deacon...he arrived...in a Rolls-Royce. He talked about the future of his football club and there was no doubt it was exciting talk. I would have an immediate budget of £400,000 to sign new men...he also said there were plans, and the finance, for a new stadium on the edge of town, a modern stadium..." (page 251).
Players Past Their Best
"...plenty of well-known names were at the club but they belonged to players who had been good...in the past...they didn't have too much to offer today" (page 252).
Money Not Available As Promised
"...I told Deacon about [Tony] Woodcock and added that it was...time to make our first move towards shaping a new team. 'I'm afraid there's a slight problem,' he said..." (pages 253-54)
A Manager Let Down By A Chairman
"...in my rage was the terrible awareness that I had been conned..." (page 254)
Financial Problems I
"...Portsmouth had become a skid-row football club. The phone was cut off. We managed to keep my line open for incoming calls but if I wanted to make one, I had to walk over to a public telephone box. Sometimes I had to queue..." (page 255).
Financial Problems II
"...the laundry company said they would only continue if we paid a bill that had been accumulating over months. The coach company withdrew their services..."
Financial Problems III
"...quite often players' wages cheques bounced and when I told the chairman he would say, 'Oh just tell them to re-present.' You could wait several weeks for your wages (page 256).
Broken Promises
"...it was not quite what I had imagined...I had lived through the worst side of football..." (page 263).
If you get the chance I would urge you to read this chapter in full, it is a fascinating read and is full of examples of how not to run a football club or any business for that matter.
The list of examples above seem to be recurring themes in Pompey's history that should never be forgetten as we look forward to the future of the Club under the Pompey Trust.
You can read more about this book on Amazon here ==> The Saint
LAST YEAR'S HAT
Click on the following link to see the hat and video from one year ago ==> Hatvent Calendar 16th December 2011
WHAT IS THE BIG KNIT?
To find out more about Innocent Smoothies and the Big Knit you can click on the following link ==> The Big Knit
BlueThruAndThru
