My First Football Shirt: Lee Fletcher
We caught up with Lee Fletcher from Rinus Philosophy to talk vintage Oldham Bovis shirts, Ian Marshall mullets and that Gazza goal for England against Scotland at Euro 96. This interview was part of our My First Football Shirt series.
What was your first football shirt?
My first football shirt was the 1990 Oldham Athletic Bovis shirt when I was 5. I remember receiving it for Christmas as well as a teenage mutant ninja turtles key ring that never left my jeans. This was a special kit as we reached the 1990 league cup final under Joe Royle with a plastic pitch, Andy Ritchie and an Ian Marshall mullet.On This Day: 29th April 1990 - Nottingham Forest 1-0 Oldham Athletic at Wembley Stadium, Littlewoods Cup Final. ❤💙
— OAFC Memories #AbdallahOut #SaveOAFC (@oafcmemories) April 29, 2020
Unbelievable day, heart breaking result for Latics after a season surely never to be repeated by anyone outside the Premier League. #oafc #nffc pic.twitter.com/mvJt0jSPc2
What is your favourite football shirt?
England, 1996. pic.twitter.com/DXmb5hjuPF
— 90s Football (@90sfootball) April 18, 2019
The Bovis shirt always has a soft spot in my heart of course, but I have 2 favourite shirts other than this. The Oldham Athletic 95/96 orange away shirt was a top I loved the most. It just resinated quality (well, it did then) with Gunnar Halle wearing it, hurling down the right side!!
The other is the ’96 England shirt. I remember watching all the games at home with all the great players, demolishing the Holland side especially, it was an unbelievable shirt.
What is your favourite goal?
The football genius of Paul Gascoigne. ⚽️
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) June 6, 2020
Today we're showing England v Scotland from Euro 96 on @BBCOne and @BBCiPlayer - join us from 13:15 (BST).#EurosRewind #Gazza pic.twitter.com/fyW6yGqpva
I have 3 and for different reasons. Paul Gascoigne for England against Scotland was the greatest technical goal I have seen, in my opinion. it just optimised everything that he and that England team were about at that time. I really thought we would go on to win that tournament in ’96. Even though we didn’t, I still remember that, that goal was the tournament in a nutshell for me.
Neil Pointon scored in the 106th minute for Oldham against Manchester United to put us in the final until Mark Hughes scored 119th minute with a volley, almost destroying the relationship with my dad early on (a big Manchester United fan and nearly hit his head on the ceiling then turned around to see his son crying his heart out). It was the best goal ever for 13 minutes and the worst game of my life.
Raul Tamudo’s goal to keep Rayo Vallecano in the league in the last minute of the game is my final pick. When I started to live in Madrid I went to see the great Real and Atletico, but couldn’t associate with them. On the last day of the season me and a friend of mine went to have a look at the Rayo game vs Granada, Rayo needed to win to stay up. Naively, we went but couldn’t get a ticket for less than 100 euros, so we decided to watch the game in a bar across from the stadium. It was the worst game I have seen with some ‘stars’ such as Diego Costa and Michu. But in the last minute of the game Tamudo put in the ball (well offside) to keep them in the league. I jumped so high my phone flew out my pocket and broke. I will never forget that night, before, during and after the game. I was hooked from then on!
