What is wrong with Beacon Lough? | OneFootball

I read a contribution on The Mag recently by Greg McPeake about leaving before the end of a Newcastle United match.

Over the years I have done this and have heard the arguments for and against. Bus to catch, pint to buy, meet the other half.

Mostly these days I stay to the end to clap the lads since Eddie took over.

I think now you can see the effort that the Newcastle United team and backroom guys put in, staying back a bit to applaud is the least I can do.

Years ago I left the game early and received a broken nose for doing so.

My workmate asked me a few years ago ‘When did you break your nose?’

I thought long and hard as it had never really occurred to me that I had a broken nose.

As a nineteen stone scaffolder with a reputation for dishing a few out, I thought he must be an expert on the subject. So I honestly couldn’t remember, as I hadn’t had a fight since I was a schoolboy around 12 years old. So a bit later I checked said bugle in a mirror and yes there is a definite misalignment thing going on at the bridge of my nose.

So then it became a memory exercise of when could it have happened? My 12 year old opponent didn’t actually connect with my nose so he wasn’t the administrator. Then the penny dropped.

Around 1975 I was almost 15. I had attended a game at St James’ Park, Everton I think. The game was uneventful but if memory serves the blue Scousers scored a goal about ten minutes before the end. This was my cue to leave and I made my way to the back of the terrace on my way to exit onto Leazes Terrace.

So there I was walking towards the exit when a guy with two other guys behind him walks up to me and asks – ‘Where yee from’?

‘Beacon Lough’ I replied, then bang.

He delivered a head butt flush on the top of my nose and brow. I then hit the floor due to the impact and me not being prepared for the nut’s arrival.

It really was like in the cartoons. I am sure there were little birds chirping in a small circle above me. I had never received such a blow before and as I rose to my feet I was a bit shaky to say the least. My assailant had moved away but thankfully one of his friends asked if I was okay and walked me to the stairs and watched me descend them.

My mind was on overload and I believe I was in shock. I had that smell of blood in my head and used my Harvey’s Heroes silk scarf to dampen down the red stuff. I began walking to my bus stop just past the war memorial at the Haymarket dabbing my nose on the way.

What was wrong with Beacon Lough? Obviously my mate didn’t like my answer.

Anyway, he had the same accent as me and I eventually came to terms that I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I caught my bus as soon as I got there and made my way upstairs to the front seat so no one could see I had been crying and my face was all blotchy. I had managed to spot myself in a window. Probably the fishing tackle shop on Percy Street.

So all the way back to Beacon Lough and I then discarded my Harvey’s Heroes scarf in the bin at the bus stop. When I got home I went straight to the bathroom to check in the mirror and made sure I was presentable. Hopefully my Mam wouldn’t notice and thankfully she didn’t. I managed to avoid eye contact for the rest of the day.

I witnessed quite a bit of bother at St James’ Park from the late sixties onwards. I suppose it was statistically possible that you could eventually be part of that. When I read stuff these days about the one-punch events that can end tragically, it makes you think. I often wondered what was the guy’s motivation?

Was he cultivating his reputation? Had he had a bad day? Had his horse just lost, or did he not like anyone from south of the river? In a few years our paths would cross again.