Ted MacDougall Sports

Ted MacDougall Sports Ltd, 1971.

Looking through my old football programmes in the attic the other day, I came across an old AFC Bournemouth programme from October 1971. To be precise, AFC Bournemouth were actually still Bournemouth and Boscombe, and their programme was an "official journal" called Head For The Top With The Cherries! Chock-full of excitement, it's a ripping good read from cover to cover...grainy black & white photos of Cherries players in action...facts & figures galore (a 16,000+ attendance for a midweek League Cup tie v Blackpool!)...and adverts! Lots of old adverts!

Visit the Cherry Bees Shop for all your ash tray needs (official club badge inscribed!), also bob hats, cuff links and driving gloves (red and black)! There's a photo of the shop window display - Football League Reviews on sale for 1p each! I don't know much, but what I do know is that if time travel ever becomes a reality, I'm going to stuff my pockets full of shiny new pennies and go shopping at the Cherry Bees Shop!

And if I have any left over cash, I shall then pay a visit to Ted MacDougall Sports and splash it all on the Cherries' brand new look - short shorts! With string! Years before Sports Direct and their ilk firebombed every other sports shop out of existence, there was a store in every town owned by an ex-pro. In Havant, we had Bobby Tambling Sports. I only had a vague inkling of who Bobby Tambling was, but my dad knew, and whenever I needed new football kit for school, this is where we bought it from.

Whether my dad was able to buy directly from Bobby himself, I'm not entirely sure, but put in the same position myself, if Andy Awford or Kit Symons ran a shop now and I thought I might have the chance to chew the fat with them whilst buying a pair of football boots for my son, I'd be there like a shot!

The old days were better days in many many ways. See Got Not Got for details...