[jamesicus]

As a diversion -- and before I embark on reminiscences of the Battle of Britain and the Air Raid Blitz -- I would like to offer some personal observations relating to wartime cricket and football in Great Britain. But first, a preamble:

I was never very good at either cricket or football, but starting when I was eight years old (1937) I became a great follower and supporter of both as professional sports. I particularly loved Lancashire League Cricket -- the dominating player was the great West Indies all-rounder professional at Nelson, "Leary" Constantine -- and my father started taking me to the Saturday afternoon matches at Burnley Turf Moor and also to some away matches (I kept my own scorebooks). I also followed County Cricket in the Newspapers and soon became an ardent follower of Test Match Cricket.

When the war broke out professional sports soon fragmented -- the old Football league alignment and Cricket league structure were abandoned and replaced by regional leagues in order to conserve fuel and reduce travel.

Football clubs in particular were beneficiaries of unexpected talent -- their teams were often hastily thrown together from available talent -- sometimes team makeup was not known right up to kick-off time. Many of the pre-war professional players were serving in the Armed Forces and were made available to play for teams in the vicinity of their camps. This was a real bonus for fans of some of the smaller pre-war clubs who often got to see International star players in action with both teams. Charity, or War effort, matches were frequently staged between Armed Forces teams made up entirely of star players. The FA Cup competition was suspended for the duration -- the last pre-war winner was Portsmouth (with their new transfer, Stanley Matthews, from Stoke City).

The same situation generally prevailed with Cricket. I got to see some great matches involving International super stars during the war.