The American sportswriter ‘Red’ Smith (1905-1982) once wrote:
‘There’s nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.’
While The Goldstone Wrap hasn’t been a blog where I’ve made any serious attempt to bare my soul to you (for that, read my memoirs when I’m famous 😉 ), I hope that it has helped to stir some of the joy, despair, disappointment, anticipation and nostalgia that comes from being a Brighton & Hove Albion supporter down the years.
From 11th February 2013, I began writing this blog, aiming for one new post every day. Through covering past matches, players, managers and kits, my aim was to share a love of football via all the magazine cuttings and memorabilia that I had collected about the Albion down the years. It also gave me a good excuse to delve more deeply into chapters of the club’s history that I didn’t know that much about, such as the Freddie Goodwin, Pat Saward and Peter Taylor eras, tracking down old match reports along the way. And truth be told, I was also curious to see if there were other people out there for whom phrases such as ‘British Caledonian Airways’, ‘Farah Slacks’, ‘The Seagull Line on 8049’ and ‘Rediffusion Player of the Year’ created a warm fuzzy feeling!
Today, it’s post number 500 on The Goldstone Wrap, and I feel it’s the right time to call time on it as a daily blog. I feel I’ve pretty much accomplished all that I set out to achieve, and didn’t wish to repeat myself too much. No seventh article on how Gordon Smith failed to score in the dying seconds of the 1983 FA Cup Final, in other words… I’ll spare you that.
Thank you to everyone who has supported this blog on North Stand Chat, Seagulls Chat, Twitter and Facebook. Other blogs such as The Football Attic, Not Worth That, Brighton Lines and TSLR have also been very encouraging. Much appreciation also to those who have shared their memorabilia, video archives and newspaper cuttings. And major props to everyone who has subscribed on WordPress and those who have commented frequently such as Chris Worrall, Steve Cowdry, Richard H, John Mackie, scherben909, Giles Metcalfe, Ian Fennell, Jackie Dinnis, Chas Sargent, as well as Paul from Cult Zeros.
Just to be clear, this blog is not going to die, exactly. All entries will remain online and I will add new entries every so often. It’s just it won’t be daily any more! Boo!
As you’ve probably figured out by now, this blog’s name is a play on the title of the track ‘The Goldstone Rap’ but with ‘Wrap’ to signify that it’s kind of a publication. By a strange fluke, I recently discovered the blog’s title found itself into the managerial notes written by Mike Bailey in the Brighton v Tottenham programme of March 1982!
See you all soon.
The Goldstone Wrap 