4 minute read
Passes Down the Line
Passes Down
the Line by Steve Holt
The President of The Deepings Lions Club (CIO), Steve Holt, has just had his first book published on amazon.co.uk as an ebook and a paperback. Steve, for his sins, became Chairman of Peterborough United and an elected Director of The Football League over 20 years ago.
His book, entitled Passes Down The Line, is a light-hearted look at football written from his own experiences and family connections to three professional football clubs: Lincoln City, Manchester United and Peterborough United. It is a nostalgic narrative of the game through the ages with amusing anecdotes from Victorian times to the present day. The sport that shaped his life started with the author’s Great-great Uncle Fred who was a Lincoln City player in the 1890s. The saying that ‘old footballers never die they just don’t score as often’ is particularly true of this not-so-famous, but still fascinating footballing relative.
Steve’s football journey takes him through the highs and lows, the pain and pleasure, and the tears and laughter that football fans everywhere will understand. With humour he follows his teams in the beautiful game from being a supporter on the terraces to adopting a board director position which included his chairmanship of Posh.
It’s is a chronicle of how the simple game of football touched one family and impacted its future generations. The title also gives a nod to his playing position of left-back, as this funny tale still Passes Down The Line.
The book is designed with eleven staves or chapters that are standalone stories which influenced his life and football upbringing. The stories will make you smile: once he left two tickets on his dashboard at London Road, when he came back to his car someone had smashed his windscreen and left two more! Whilst he was at Lincoln City someone threw a £2 coin on the pitch and the police started to investigate but Steve thought it was a legitimate takeover bid.
A snapshot of the book includes ‘Stave 1 – Munich, Malmo and Me’ referring to his date of birth in 1958 and much more importantly covers the Man Utd air disaster and the FIFA World Cup. When Steve was a young boy in his pram, already being a good dribbler, Lincoln City’s manager was wheeling his shopping trolley across the supermarket car park when he noticed a young lady struggling with her shopping basket whilst pushing Steve in his pram. He stopped and asked: ‘Can you manage, dear?’ To which Steve’s Mum replied, ‘No way, you got yourself into this trouble; don’t ask me to sort out the mess at Lincoln City!’ l-r Barry Fry, Director of Football Peterborough United, Steve Holt, Bob Symns, Posh Club Ambassador
Stave 2 is about his Great-great Uncle Fred (GGUF), the Red Imp. At the time and for a brief period the team was recognised as Lincoln City Swifts – swift to exit any league that they entered. In fixture number 17 of the 1897-97 season on 23 January 1897 GGUF played away at Meadow Lane and suffered his heaviest defeat of the season, being trounced 8-0 by Notts County. The feeling was they were lucky to get nil. The Lincoln goalie was nicknamed ‘Jigsaw’ as each time the opposition got into the box he went to pieces.
Stave 7 is entitled the ‘Thoughts of Chairman Now’ about Steve’s time as a Director and Chairman of Posh, where he states that you simply need three things to run a professional football club: money, money and more money. It was at a time when the club were at a low ebb and you could give the ticket desk £40 and say: ‘Two please’, and they would reply ‘Certainly, sir, would you prefer midfielders or defenders?’
He dealt with many famous footballing names in his time at Peterborough, employing the likes of Bobby Gould, David Seaman and Mark Wright. Bobby was a really nice guy and as manager of Wales in 1995 said: ‘I’ve just named the team that I would like to represent Wales in the next World Cup – Brazil.’
At the end of the 2001/2 season Terry Bly was his guest of honour at the match. He scored a record 54 goals in Posh’s inaugural league season in 1960/61. He played 88 times for them and scored 81 times, a phenomenal record. Steve asked Terry how this Posh team compared to the Peterborough side of the 60s. Terry thought for a moment and then said: ‘I would have to be honest, Steve, and say that I think it would be a draw, but then some of us are getting on for 80!’
The foreword to the book is written by Barry Fry and Sir Alex Ferguson. The book closes by bringing the reader up to date with the changes that the pandemic has brought to the game. It is a fresh perspective, and a good-humoured record of a pastime Steve loves, which is also the nation’s favourite game. This is a must read for all football cognoscenti but also enthrals non-football enthusiasts from a friends and family perspective. To find out more hilarious tales about Barry and the three clubs Steve was involved with I would recommend that you purchase Passes Down The Line.
Steve is speaking to various groups within the Deepings at the moment and is always happy to come along free of charge to entertain your club, group or society. Steve Holt
