Autobiography

noted by the coach and instead of standing
shivering on the touchline; I became a regular
in the first team. I was tried at left back, left
half, inside left, and finally on the wing. Bingo.
I was suddenly the next Tom Finney.
I sped down the line so quickly they nicknamed
me ‘The Rabbit’, after the West Ham first-team
winger Eric Parsons.
I made rapid progress and was selected to play
for West Ham Boys just seven months after
playing my first game for the school. It was
wonderful. It was such escapism going to West
Ham United on a Tuesday and Thursday
evening for training and afterwards I loved
going in the huge bath the players used in
those days. In fact I still carry a chipped tooth
as a souvenir from when I dived in. It looked
much deeper than it really was.
The master who first picked me for West Ham
Boys took me under his wing. He must have
felt sympathetic towards a local lad from a
poor background, but the well-meant kindness
he showed me on a visit to play Norwich Boys
– knowing I was from a Jewish background, he
arranged for me to have cheese instead of ham
for lunch –once again it left me with the big
finger pointing at me saying I was different
from the other lads.
Maybe he or his wife were Jewish, maybe he
was just trying to look after me, but it was illconceived
as it made me conspicuous, and that
was what I was trying to avoid. Still, I loved
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