A Barbecue

For various reasons, I have had occasion recently to reflect on how my life has unfolded, and the decision-making, or lack of it, which contributed to the course of events and experiences. In addition to the decisions which had a material impact, some notable incidents merely had symbolic or symptomatic significance, but they were nonetheless worthwhile and noteworthy.

One such 'happening' which came to mind during my recent reminiscences took place when I was eighteen, nearly nineteen years old. It was the late summer, and within a few days myself and my peers would receive the results of our A-level school examinations, as they are called here in the UK the final exams which people take before leaving High school/secondary school.

The exams themselves had taken place around May/June, and there followed an uneasy period of leisure and supposed relaxation, as we awaited the outcome of our academic endeavours. I had spasmodic contact with my friends during these weeks; I think most of us were slightly wary, conscious of wishing to be alone with our thoughts. I occupied much of the Summer watching sports on television and evincing an air of unconcern and nonchalance, despite the anxieties which lurked close to the surface.

Anyway, in that week before the results were announced, I received a call from a close school-friend. He asked whether I would like to join him and a few other people at his home for a barbecue. I accepted the invitation quite readily, as I was on the lookout for things to occupy my time and distract me from the pivotal times and decisions which loomed up ahead.

I walked the relatively short distance to my friend's home, and discovered that there were about half a dozen of us in attendance. It was just us, the school group, no older people, and this in itself may have been important, as it perhaps signified that we were now ready to organise and constitute something as "grown up" as a barbecue...

I recall clearly that the mood was subdued, and an air of wistfulness was all-pervasive, almost as though this innocuous gathering somehow represented some rite of passage. We picked at our food in quite desultory fashion, all I think striving to exude a sense of resolve or calm.

The barbecue occurred in the early evening, and there was that chill and slight breeze in the air which is commonplace at that time of the year.  The sun was threatening to go down, the sunlight was weakening and these conditions added to the poignancy and mild surrealism of the moment.

Few of us spoke much for the duration of the "function", and when we did the exchanges were rather perfunctory, as if nobody wished to give much away, or unsettle the others who were there. The uncertainties and challenges of the near future were all weighing heavily on us, even if we did not really wish to admit this to others or ourselves. None of us was particularly animated either, generally remaining seated and undemonstrative. 

I don't remember the barbecue ending as such; we all just gradually drifted away, dispersed. Much of which was expressed was unspoken, but I suspect understood by the members of this gathering. This was the end of an era, and soon prospects such as higher education or full-time employment would present themselves. The taciturnity of the assembled persons was an apposite commentary on the prevailing mood.

So I do look back on the barbecue as signalling a watershed, the ending of one phase and the beginning of another longer but less innocent and frivolous phase. It did serve a purpose, by acting as a tangible step in a process of sorts. It helped that the attendees were quite similar in character or temperament, all of us being reserved, even reticent individuals. There was no eccentricity or loudness to disturb the solemnity.

I gradually lost contact with the people who were present, and I have next to no idea how their personal, academic or professional lives turned out. I wonder whether they remember the barbecue as vividly as I still do?  Maybe they don't have my facility for recollecting such events whilst filtering out so much else...

The exam results duly emerged during the week which followed. I was moderately pleased, and to some extent, surprised by my own results, and made a snap decision to eschew the charms of university life and soon entered the world of work and adulthood in earnest.

As for the barbecue itself - well, such a prospect would hold scant attraction for me nowadays, as I am a vegetarian.....

Dirty Leeds - Robert Endeacott - book review

 This book is a "novelized" account of the period when Don Revie was the team manager at Leeds United football club, with events mostly seen through eyes of a character called Jimmy O'Rourke.

The story is told by way of two parallel threads, in a sense, two paths which occasionally overlap. We have the events in the world of Leeds United, and Jimmy O'Rourke's own life, including his footballing aspirations and his interactions with those at the club.

The language is sometimes awkward and even ungainly, but this is the type of speech which one would have expected from the time. It adds to the realism, and to the feelings of authenticity and intimacy. This impressions is most marked during the earlier stages of the tale.

It seems to me that the effect is to introduce a distinctive "voice", through the character's standpoints, and not just one of the traditional "narratives" which pertain to the Revie era. This is not just a rose-tinted perspective. There is some insight into working-class culture and sentiment, but without it becoming romanticized.

The Jimmy character is quite intriguing. He is an assertive and inquisitive young person, quite independent of mind even in those early years. His relations with his "elders" are very well rendered, from my point of view. His observations on the football scene are rather nuanced, not stereotyped.

The novel is not a strict, exhaustively detailed chronology of each stage of Revie's stewardship. Maybe the intention was more to capture the atmosphere of the time and the essence of Jimmy's nature and environs.

My impression was that Jimmy's language becomes more advanced and expressive as the story unfolds, and as he grows older. His analysis of football matters is rather more "mature" and rational than we are sometimes led to expect from football supporters, even fictional ones. He doesn't always run with the herd, basing many of his opinions on quite sound reasoning and not easy conformity or "triteness". A lively grasp of critiquing things comes through.

For myself this work serves as a kind of time capsule, harking back to a more simple, organic way of life, although it seldom descends into rose-tinted territory. Did people live less contented, less stimulating, less genuinely creative lives because they lacked some of the material and technological "advantages" which came along later?

Once again, a favourable picture emerges of 1960s and 1970s football emerges, at least in terms of the competitiveness and openness of the scene at that stage. A good deal less predictable than what was to come, let's say, about five decades or so later. 

The subjective slant of the narrative is a strength, and it gradually encompasses an earthy and dry humour. An effort is made to convey the cultural and social tenor of the times, which ostensibly relates to football, but sometimes extends beyond the confines of the game itself.

We also gather some sense of how "gentrified" football has become since the 1960s. This process might be termed a symptom of progress, rather than progress per se (?)

The over-riding sensation one derives from the narrative is now "toilsome" the game was in the 60s, attritional even. We may gaze back longingly and fondly at that era, but there was also much negativity and cynicism. Areas where things have improved include the protection now afforded to creative performers and the laws now being applied to encourage enterprising and positive play.

It is noticeable to me how Jimmy's outlook becomes more analytical, less tribal even, as the years go by. He takes a critical and even detached stance at times, not always adhering to the practices of myth-making and public relations. 

So, we are engaged in a journey with both Jimmy O'Rourke and Don Revie's Leeds United, whilst occasionally being reminded of football's ultimate irrelevance, and also its value as a palliative in times of adversity, and its capacity to provide meaning and purpose in a sometimes meaningless and directionless life/world. It is a reassuring constant as we undergo life's changes and trials, but it doesn't necessarily have to make people totally desert their reason and their objectivity.

The "narrator" displays an impressive and credible grasp of football tactics and theory, an appreciation of the broader picture within a match, and the ebb and flow of the contest, the switches in momentum and initiative. This book does make a nod to the intricacies, the finer points, and is not just a romanticized look at football culture. "Insight" and "analysis" did not begin during the early 1990s.

What is noteworthy is that firm opinions are invariably backed up by cogent arguments.

The end of the story is handled deftly, not over-burdened with portentous or weighty passages, but projecting the distinct feeling that an era was ending, that a watershed was at hand..

In summary, an intriguing and entertaining read.