Can't believe I'm sixty... ...how did that happen???
If in the late 70's and through much of the 80's, someone had been able to glimpse through a portal in time, and told me that when I'd turned sixty, we'd still be in the Northern Premier League (albeit, with a different name) I wouldn't have been surprised. In fact, I'd probably have been relieved that we even had a club survive that long. The days when Ken Ormerod had to empty the fruit machine in the bar, just to make up the players' pay packets, it was all a bit grim on the survival front.
If we even start next season, I'll be relieved, what with it all being a bit grim on the survival front.
If that person had been able to take a wider glimpse through time, and told me that along the way, from the Northern Premier League of my teens to Northern Premier League of my sixties, we'd reach the old 'Third Division' and play Ipswich & Sunderland, I'd have thought they were barking mad. I'd probably have said "I believed you at first, but now, I don't believe you can see into the future, and you're just talking bollocks..."
I doubt we will see 'Third Division' again in my lifetime. I'll be delighted to see the National League once more. In fact, I'll be relieved to see us completing next season, mid-table but stable and drama-free.
In years to come, if people ask how I spent my sixtieth birthday, I may eventually reflect upon how I spent a lovely day with friends, but first of all, I'll remember, that was the day Morecambe were relegated back to the Northern Premier League (as was)
