Collecting Pop Bottles for a Football | Martyn Potts | Football for Breakfast

Martyn Potts grew up in Blackpool in the 1950s. His dad was at the Matthews Cup Final in 1953. In 1959, aged nine, he and his mates on a cinder-surfaced cul-de-sac in Lancaster had no football. So they went round collecting empty pop bottles, claimed the deposits and pooled the money. Two days later they had enough for a ball. Billy James got to keep it overnight because he had his own bedroom and could guarantee its security from meddling family members. Martyn wrote a poem about it for his 70th birthday. He reads it at the table. In the season finale of Football for Breakfast, Jim Johnson sits down with Martyn in the greasy spoon cafe for a conversation that stretches from the 1950s to the present day. They talk about the 1966 FA Cup Final. Martyn was 15. His Uncle Bill was honorary secretary of the London Society of Association Referees and got them tickets - not just for the match, but for the eve-of-final dinner the night before. Friday the 13th of May 1966. A surprise appearance from Tommy Trinder - then chairman of Fulham - who told blue jokes to the all-male audience that a 15-year-old Martyn was not supposed to hear. His dad said don't tell your mum. The next day, Everton beat Sheffield Wednesday three-two from two nil down. Derek Temple scored the winner. Martyn brought the ticket stub and the dinner programme. He's kept both for sixty years. He is a retired headteacher. He still plays 5-a-side every Sunday - not walking football, actual running football. And he has just published a new book of poetry about the Wirral called Sandstone and Sea. Jim closes: proof that the best football stories aren't always about football, and the best poets never stopped paying attention. This is Football for Breakfast. Cafes. Clubs. Communities. Culture. --- ⏱ CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction 00:33 Welcome to Football for Breakfast 01:00 Spain 82 and England's World Cup entitlement 02:35 Charlie Buchan's annual and pre-Panini card collecting 03:25 The shop in Birkenhead where you could buy the missing card 05:16 Estudiantes - the most vicious team in football 06:00 Playing cricket while North Korea beat Portugal at Goodison 08:20 Goodison Park hosted Pelé 09:00 Joe Mercer - from the Wirral, captained Everton and Arsenal 11:10 Martyn's mum worked at Littlewoods Football Pools 12:00 Dixie Dean swept the floors at Littlewoods when he couldn't play 13:00 Pavlovian reaction to the Sports Report theme tune 16:00 OSS Security - presented by OSS Security 17:00 Sandstone and Sea - poetry of the Wirral, out now 18:20 Port Sunlight Boys and the only headed goal he ever scored 20:20 His son is called Harry Potts. Accidentally. 21:00 The Lancashire clubs - all industrial towns, all big clubs 22:30 Hitching to a game at uni - the Sandy Brown own goal derby 23:40 Bottle collecting, 1959 - he reads the poem 26:00 First game - Everton 8 Cardiff City 3, April 1962, Yogi Bear hat 28:00 The eve-of-final dinner - London Society of Association Referees 29:00 Tommy Trinder told blue jokes. Don't tell your mum. 31:00 The 1966 FA Cup Final ticket stub - kept for sixty years 33:00 Sunday night at the London Palladium the day after 34:00 Penalty shootout - five quickfire questions 35:00 One result he'll never get over - Everton 3 Sheffield Wednesday 2 35:30 Derek Temple. One on one. He slots it home. 36:00 Martyn becomes a Good Companion --- 🎙 ABOUT MARTYN POTTS Martyn Potts is a retired headteacher, grassroots footballer and poet from the Wirral. He still plays 5-a-side every Sunday. His new collection, Sandstone and Sea: Poetry of the Wirral, is out now. 🔗 LINKS OSS Security: osssecurity.com Football for Breakfast newsletter: footballforbreakfastpod.com/newsletter 🎧 Search Football for Breakfast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Football for Breakfast is a production by The Good Companions, presented by OSS Security. New episode every Tuesday morning. #FootballForBreakfast #MartynPotts #Everton #EvertonFC #1966FACupFinal #FACupFinal #FootballPodcast #FootballHistory #FootballCulture #Wirral #Poetry #GoodCompanions #Blackpool #Burnley