A Football Match

 Stan often wrote quite long descriptive letters to his parents which they passed on to their friend Arthur Moseley, who ran the South Elmsall office of the 'South Yorkshire Times' where Stan had trained as a journalist.  In this way his experiences found their way into the newspaper a couple of weeks later.

You may remember from an earlier letter that Stan was telling Grace about an Italian football match.  Below is the full description written for the South Yorkshire Times, date unknown:

FOOTBALL IN ITALY

Former "Times" Reporter's Impressions

The humour and excitement of football in Italy are described in an amusing letter from Sergt. Stanley Bristow, a former "South Yorkshire Times" junior reporter at South Elmsall.

Mentioning that football matches have become quite an integral part of his Sunday evenings, he continues: 

"During the nine months we have been in this township quite a number of the lads have become keen supporters of the local 'Unione Sportivo', and we follow their fortunes almost as eagerly and closely as we used to follow those of our local team in the halcyon days of peace.  They serve up attractive football of quite a good class and it makes a very pleasant Sunday evening's entertainment.  I use the word entertainment purposely, for, believe me, some of the matches are entertaining, but not from a football point of view.

The majority of the supporters are humble sons of the soil and they are the usual type of excitable Continental.  You have no idea what a pitch they work themselves up to.  I have seen blows struck just because a couple of fellows disagreed on the referee's decision that a player was offside, while it is quite the thing for a deputation headed by the chairman of the club to march on to the field and embrace with due ceremony the scorer of an equalising or winning goal.  

The climax came the other evening, when there was a 'derby' game with a neighbouring township.  It was a regular blood match which made such games as the Frickley-South Kirkby clashes of the past appear like Sunday School treats.  There was a bumper gate of close on 3,000 and things had got to fever heat by half-time, when the visitors were leading by the only goal scored.  The storm broke early after the restart, when the visiting right winger over-ran himself and fell amongst the crowd.  An opportunist home 'sportsman' took the chance in both hands and kicked the player in the teeth.

This was just what was needed to set them off, and as one man the whole 3,000 swarmed on to the field and a regular melee commenced.  The referee somehow managed to extricate himself and stood there deciding how much time to take off, while some 'neutral' Italian troops restored order after cracking a few skulls with their rifle butts.  The game was restarted and the home team scored an equaliser, which did a lot to pacify the home crowd.

One could sense the undercurrent of feeling, however, and you can guess what a roar there was when the referee gave a doubtful penalty to the visitors.  The man with the whistle was by this time a nervous wreck and, imagining the crowd would advance on him at any moment, he took the easiest way out and fainted!  The final whistle was eventually blown and two and a half hours after the start the referee was escorted from the field by three Carabinieri, and the crowd broke up with every one the best of friends after a good night's "sport".

I am not suggesting that this is typical of the Italian crowds; I don't think it is.  The 'neutral' Italian soldiers to whom I refereed above all hail from the North.  They were very disgusted with the exhibition and assured me that such a thing would not happen in the North.

When spectators do not interfere the games are well worth watching, and there are times when these Italians make the English style of football look slow and stodgy.  They are amazingly fast and artistic and their goalkeepers are accomplished showmen.  Star of our team is a man who before the war led the Milan attack.  He appears to be in his thirties now,  but I think he would get his place in any Second Division side in England.

Despite all this, however, I am looking forward to the day when I can spend a pleasant hour at Westfield Lane again.  I am pleased to see that Frickley are still keeping their name to the front by making one or two smart deals in recent months."

Sergt. Bristow concludes with a reference to the poor housing conditions in Italy, and says:

 "I notice that an English newspaper story about a Florentine cabby who took his horse to bed with him to save it being requisitioned by the Germans is causing a great deal of amusement in England.  I don't see why it should, for it is a regular thing in this township for the horse to occupy the same sleeping quarters as its owner.  As I am shaving in a morning I can see no fewer than eight horses being led out of the front (and, incidentally, only) door of eight dwellings.  Believe me, the conditions under which these agricultural people in Southern Italy live are almost incredible."

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