My name is Tony Hammond but most people in the world, including those associated with Barnet Football Club, my family and close friends, know me as "Reckless". I was born in Barnet Maternity Hospital in October 1960, grew up in East Finchley and currently reside in Potters Bar Hertfordshire. I have been married to Lena (Mrs Reckless) for 34 years and have two sons George and Charles.
I supported Finchley Football club as a youngster and on and off accompanied my Father to Summers Lane until the summer of 1965 when a 19 year old goal machine called Les Eason was transferred from Finchley to Barnet and Dad and I started to go to Barnet one week and Finchley the next.
I chose to start supporting Barnet. Why? Well with respect to The Lillywhites the Amber and Black colours at Barnet were different - everybody else seemed to play in blue and white or red and white - the Underhill ground was vibrant, there was chanting, it was a proper ground with proper terracing and a cover behind one goal where everybody would congregate, bullet hard cheese rolls and tea leaf tea served in china cups, it was fresh (so was the tea), it was heaven................and it had Les Eason.
I got punch drunk on football as easily as every kid did in the mid 60's because England had won the World Cup in 1966 and in the play ground I was Geoff Hurst! On Sundays my mates and I would play football all morning, all afternoon and all evening pretending the street light were floodlights. We wouldn't stop till darkness fell and our Parents would start shouting "Bath time!"
I had started going more regularly to Underhill by 1968, Barnet were in the Southern League. All my mates took the hit and miss as they supported real clubs like Chelsea, West Ham, Arsenal and Spurs, but I witnessed a forward line of Paddy Powell, Les Eason, Billy Meadows, Roger Figg and Ricky George - it doesn't get better than that, I have been hooked ever since!
Hi Tony, on behalf of Dexter Adams' family I would like to express huge gratitude to you for your excellent tribute to him. He was a great man and will be missed by all of us. The kind words that have been said about him by all contributors to the 'onlybarnet' site have helped us in our loss.
ReplyDeleteDavid Smith (Dexters Son in Law)
My absolute pleasure. I was unable to make the Funeral due to work commitments which was most upsetting, but I took a minute out at the appropriate time! Regards Tony "Reckless" Hammond.
ReplyDeleteMy older brother played for Barnet reserves as a youth team player, along with Frank Pope and Dave Louch in the sixties - I would go and watch with my dad, I grew up supporting Barnet and Dexter had legendary status as a shrewd manager who ran one of the most talented and fittest amateur teams in the country. A proper football club where most of the talent was home grown and where boys like me were truly proud to support the local team and has given me a life long interest in the great game.
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