Here we go again...

 After an absence of 10 years, I'm going to have another go  at this blogging lark!

Not sure how far it will go or for how long I can be bothered to be honest. I guess we'll just have to see. I aim to avoid any of the controversy which basically caused the demise of the original "Norton Yer Life". I've learned to "bite my tongue" as it were! 🤞

Since my last proper entry, I've retired. March 28th, 2014 was the actual date of retirement and it seems like forever ago but as with most aspects of retired life, time seems to be passing more quickly as I get older.

My photography still mainly centres around football but my allegiance has basically switched from Belper Town to Handsworth FC where I am, for my sins, the "Official Club Photographer." Sounds very grand but it isn't really! It's a volunteer position I have held since early 2015.

We (Sheila and me) started following Handsworth after Peter Duffield left his post at Belper and then resurfaced at Handsworth. Several ex-Belper players followed Peter to The Ambers and so we followed too basically.

Never looked back to be honest. It's been an interesting journey and sometimes, a bit of a rollercoaster ride but in truth, we're happy to be a part of a well run, family club with brilliant facilities at Oliver's Mount in Sheffield. 

When we first became addicted, the team played at Sandy Lane, Worksop which meant a 45  minute drive to home games but the ambition was always to return to their roots in Sheffield. That objective was achieved in 2019 when the new 4G pitch was completed. The new dressing rooms and hospitality building were finished about a year later and so the set-up is complete.

The whole COVID debacle, with it's lockdowns and so on, massively delayed things but the club and it's volunteers, led by Chairman John Ward and his Vice-Chairman Steve Holmes persevered and the "off field" set up is now second to none. 

Unfortunately, the 2022/23 season hasn't been our best. A combination of injuries to some key players and a general lack of luck in some games has hampered progress. Someone said a few weeks ago that if it wasn't for bad luck, Handsworth would have had no luck at all!

I particularly recall one mid-season game when we hit the post twice, had an effort cleared off the line and the opposition goalkeeper played a blinder. Our opponents scored the only goal of the game late on to nick the 3 points. Sums it up basically!

Still, what's passed is done with and we look forward to next season with a new management team in place and optimism and enthusiasm amongst the Amber family as high as ever.

COYA!!!