A lot has changed about the game since my first Christmas as a footballer, 50 years ago.
As a young apprentice at Bristol Rovers in the 1970s, it was a time of giving – to me, if I was lucky!
Each apprentice had the job of looking after the boots of at least three senior professionals throughout the season and these duties could not be taken lightly.
Cleaning dressing rooms and even treading in divots to repair a worn-out pitch was also in my remit, but the match boots were crucial and would have to be in spit spot condition for every game.
Over Christmas and Easter, the two busiest times of the season, you’d be non-stop. We would spend hours cleaning, drying and polishing them.
There was some reward, though. Christmas was one of the two extra pay days we would hope would come our way. The other was at the end of the season, when the players you’d been looking after would show their gratitude with a tip of a few pounds.
I had left home at 16 to join Rovers who, at that time, were in what is now the Championship. At that age, I was allowed back to south Wales after training on Christmas Eve.
If the senior players were in on Christmas Day, the apprentices based in Bristol would be obliged to cover for us. But even at that age it was made pretty clear our jobs entailed working during these holiday periods, and on Boxing Day we were always watching the first team or playing in the Football Combination league.
Turning professional myself took away all of the above duties – although I always took care of my own boots and studs anyway – but Christmas was still a special time.
Every club I was at, we had someone who would organise Christmas days – and nights – out.
I went to all sorts of different venues, with many different themed evenings.
Times were different then and our wages were very close to the majority of workers away from the game, so footballers were much closer to the communities they played in. Mixing with the public just wasn’t an issue and those nights out at local pubs and nightclubs to let your hair down were never alcohol-free.
In fact, many managers at times would encourage nights out together to build team bonding and spirit, and encourage a closeness within the group.
Obviously we know now that drinking to excess is not a good idea, but in the 1970s and 80s the English game and culture accepted it and embraced it.
Just take a look back at how many European Cup finals our teams not only competed in, but won during that era – Liverpool, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa are testament to that.
Drinking was never frowned upon. You even took a drop of whiskey or brandy in your pre-match cup of tea if the weather was really cold. I actually played with some very good drinkers, but compare them to the rugby lads of the day and they were just puppies really!