I remember the guy's drony voice as a child. But he still reads them on sky sports news and is actually quite amusing. Obviously the humour went over my head as a child.
My Grandad was an agent back in the 70's/80's. I used to go on his round with him every week calling at loads of houses collecting the forms and money. I used to love that time every week.
Reading this thread just brought back a memory I had forgotten.
My Dad putting on his glasses ( the ones with the sticking plaster holding them together ) sitting down with his coupon in front of the telly on a Saturday night.
It was his only gamble each week. More innocent times maybe. Gambling is everywhere now isn't it? A lad I know was telling me about loosing money gambling on his smartphone while sitting on the loo at 1am after a drunken night out.
I remember my father checked them religiously every Saturday night, it was his weekly thrill, he never won anything though. He does the same with the lottery now sits glued every Saturday night with a look of anticipation on his face.
You had a pic of a scene from a football game with the ball removed and had to put x where you thought the ball was. Think it was 2p for every x.
I won £20 in the Spot the Ball competition in my local paper back in the late 70s. My dad told an uncle, who then told my cousin... within two days we were being visited by relatives we hadn't seen in years, all with sob stories or talking about "our" plans for the money.
It seemed that every time someone told someone else about my win an extra 0 was added to the end of the sum!
I used to do the pools every week and take mine and my father's coupons to the newsagent for collection every Wednesday evening. I carried on doing them for a while after my Dad died but eventually gave up. Most I ever won was about £25 but had several small cheques for a few pounds.
One week on Thursday the newsagent rang asking for my Dad after getting our number from the phone book. The Littlewoods rep had picked up the coupons and after he'd gone the newsagent found he still had my Dad's coupon as it had got mixed in with the Vernons pile. He offered to hold Dad's stake money for the folowing week or else transfer the entry on to a Vernons coupon and refund the difference. Dad commented that 'at least he's honest', as I remember at least one case where a syndicate 'won' a large amount, only to find that the collector had pocketed the money instead of passing on the coupon(s) to the rep. The pools companies used the line that the collector was the customer's agent, not their agent, and I believe the syndicate sued the pools firm but I'm not sure of the outcome.
Yes, still going but the National Lottery killed off the football pools as a mass participation competition. The football results on a Saturday still give a pools score, the Pools Panel still sits when there is a postponement but TV has stopped giving a "pools forecast" at the end of the footie results.
And I think that is a tragedy to be honest. Doing the pools really got you involved. Picking your results watching them come in during the afternoon - it was all enjoyable even though you knew at heart it was pretty random.
But with the Lottery I see people just use the same numbers each week and many don't even check the results themselves - they just take the slips into a shop and ask them to check for winners or they have some kind of online notification when they win. It's just the fast food instant 'hit' experience.
And I think that is a tragedy to be honest. Doing the pools really got you involved. Picking your results watching them come in during the afternoon - it was all enjoyable even though you knew at heart it was pretty random.
But with the Lottery I see people just use the same numbers each week and many don't even check the results themselves - they just take the slips into a shop and ask them to check for winners or they have some kind of online notification when they win. It's just the fast food instant 'hit' experience.
I think I may start doing the pools again. ;-)
I completely agree, the lottery just seems so soulless by comparison. As you say, at least with the pools you can give yourself an 'edge' by actually looking at the fixtures.
I think we should get jobs with Sportech marketing
I remember my late dad doing the "8 from 10" pools with Littlewoods. Never won anything. Gave them up when the National Lottery started in 1994. He died a year later never having won anything on that either.
I looked at the Pools Preview in one of the Sunday papers and noticed many of the games being used were from top leagues in Europe - Spain, France, Italy.
That gives a better chance than the recent trend (due to hardly any Premier League games being played on a Satruday) of using English and even Scottish non-league games involving teams hardly anyone has ever seen, such as Frickley Colliery Welfare, AFC Padstow or something.
Most football fans these days know at least a little about Juventus, Atlético Madrid and Paris St Germain, so maybe it's trying to entice them back.
I remember my grandad used to do the 'pools.' The man would come every Wednesday to give him his slip. Once the man had a packet of Rolo's and gave me one.:)
I remember my grandad used to do the 'pools.' The man would come every Wednesday to give him his slip. Once the man had a packet of Rolo's and gave me one.:)
Comments
I loved his voice as a child.
My Dad putting on his glasses ( the ones with the sticking plaster holding them together ) sitting down with his coupon in front of the telly on a Saturday night.
It was his only gamble each week. More innocent times maybe. Gambling is everywhere now isn't it? A lad I know was telling me about loosing money gambling on his smartphone while sitting on the loo at 1am after a drunken night out.
Was it Vernons Easy Play?
My local paper did this years ago on the 70s.
You had a pic of a scene from a football game with the ball removed and had to put x where you thought the ball was. Think it was 2p for every x.
The interesting thing was that the 'winning' position of the ball was that decided upon by a panel of judges/experts.
If they had used the 'actual' position then it would have been wide open to corruption (or insider cheating).
The football pools and spot the ball is still going strong online.
Spend £25 and get a free £25 for new users.
http://www.footballpools.com/cust
I won £20 in the Spot the Ball competition in my local paper back in the late 70s. My dad told an uncle, who then told my cousin... within two days we were being visited by relatives we hadn't seen in years, all with sob stories or talking about "our" plans for the money.
It seemed that every time someone told someone else about my win an extra 0 was added to the end of the sum!
One week on Thursday the newsagent rang asking for my Dad after getting our number from the phone book. The Littlewoods rep had picked up the coupons and after he'd gone the newsagent found he still had my Dad's coupon as it had got mixed in with the Vernons pile. He offered to hold Dad's stake money for the folowing week or else transfer the entry on to a Vernons coupon and refund the difference. Dad commented that 'at least he's honest', as I remember at least one case where a syndicate 'won' a large amount, only to find that the collector had pocketed the money instead of passing on the coupon(s) to the rep. The pools companies used the line that the collector was the customer's agent, not their agent, and I believe the syndicate sued the pools firm but I'm not sure of the outcome.
And I think that is a tragedy to be honest. Doing the pools really got you involved. Picking your results watching them come in during the afternoon - it was all enjoyable even though you knew at heart it was pretty random.
But with the Lottery I see people just use the same numbers each week and many don't even check the results themselves - they just take the slips into a shop and ask them to check for winners or they have some kind of online notification when they win. It's just the fast food instant 'hit' experience.
I think I may start doing the pools again. ;-)
I completely agree, the lottery just seems so soulless by comparison. As you say, at least with the pools you can give yourself an 'edge' by actually looking at the fixtures.
I think we should get jobs with Sportech marketing
I looked at the Pools Preview in one of the Sunday papers and noticed many of the games being used were from top leagues in Europe - Spain, France, Italy.
That gives a better chance than the recent trend (due to hardly any Premier League games being played on a Satruday) of using English and even Scottish non-league games involving teams hardly anyone has ever seen, such as Frickley Colliery Welfare, AFC Padstow or something.
Most football fans these days know at least a little about Juventus, Atlético Madrid and Paris St Germain, so maybe it's trying to entice them back.
That's the one.
Result!!:D