Sheffield history: Why the days of jumpers as goal posts are long gone

My son, Lyndon, used his mobile phone to navigate London and the Tube system which made everything run extremely smoothly.

Anywhere we wanted to go he just pumped the destination in his phone, and the Tube line and platform was given, so simple.

I normally go into Tube station, squint at the maps and wonder if I’m on the right line or going in the right direction – this was perfect.

This is in stark contrast to my youth growing up in the 60s, 70s and 80s.

In the 60s and 70s the only two electrical devices I had to contend with were our TV, which only had two channels, and the electricity metre.

They were the only devices which had any relevance to me.

Not like now where we have a plethora of devices which we are unable to get through the day without using.

Children and adults are able to fill their time throughout the day, playing games with people near and far, nationally and internationally, via the internet.

As children, what did we do for fun?

Indoors when the weather was inclement, we didn’t have many options on the television, and definitely no devices.

We had to work a lot harder to stay entertained. If my brothers or sister were around we may have played a board game, if we were lucky to have one intact, if we didn’t have an available game we would have read a book or used our imagination or, God forbid, tidy our rooms.

Looking back, that wasn’t too difficult, as there wasn’t that much in the room, just a bed, dresser and wardrobe. No Playstation, XBox or other games and toys to move around to dust.

When the weather was nice, or not raining, all outdoor games were all physical.

At the top of the list for the boys was football.

In those days any area, or ground was a legitimate area to play.

All we needed was a ball with at least two players, and something which represented one or two goals, and off you go.

In Sheffield as we all know we always had to decide whether we would play uphill or down.

Many of the games we played back then seemed to have disappeared or rarely seen.

There was always a game to suit. Cricket and football was popular for the boys, and if girls were present rounders was always a popular alternative.

These games are still popular now, but they always seem well organised, with matching kit, equipment and proper marked out pitches.

No jumpers for goalposts nowadays – it’s a far cry from the make-do pitches we had.

One of the more sedate games we often played was marbles, this could be high stakes as marbles would be at risk, unless rules were established beforehand.

We had plenty to keep us moving, delavio was very popular back then, we would while away many hours playing, often going in for tea then continuing, until it went dark.

It was all a far cry from the devices and organised sport of today.