[spireitematt]

Dev, I was born in Manchester, I used to live about 5 mins from the old Maine Road but used to jump on my bike and ride down to Old Trafford to get the autographs of the team I supported until I was 12 (Oh yes you can change your allegiance to a team Blue, Matt) I had Paddy Crerand, Nobby Stiles, Harry Gregg and yes I also had Bert Trautman!
My world was turned upside down when I got home from school one night and my mother announced that we were emigrating to South Africa. We landed in Cape Town and I can remember the first time we got on a bus, my dad smoked so we went upstairs. I couldn't figure out why we were the only white faces and everyone was looking around at us. It turned out that on the buses, whites rode downstairs and "blacks" rode upstairs. Even park benches were labelled Blacks only or Whites only. I remember driving along the sea front at Durban and sitting open mouthed whilst we drove past segmented sections of beach with massive signs saying Whites only, Bantu only, Zulu only, Indian only, Asian only etc etc.
All the communities were kept entirely separate and apart with no mixing allowed. I can remember sneaking into the local "Black compound" because of the vibrant noises that came from there every weekend. Unlike the Afrikaans side of town where everything was like a morgue, I used to love it and was accepted just for being there, I would sit for hours watching the dancing and ceremony behind a 10 foot high partition wall. It was just like being in another world and kept me sane through the 2 and a half years we were there. I had more dark skinned friends than white who hated the Roineckers or Red Neck English.
I can remember one time my mother decided that in an effort to blend in we should go to the local church. The problem was that apartheid had even hijacked the bible. Did you know that Noah had 2 sons, I black and 1 white? The white son was all that was good whilst the black son was cast into the wilderness and was evil personified. At the age of 13 I had to learn very quickly to sit on my hands and keep quiet.
One other thing it did teach me was tolerance of others and their views. I couldn't care less if someone was Black White Muslim European Jewish Asian Arab Gay or Straight, we all have 2 legs 2 arms and a brain that we sometimes engage.
Just in case you are wondering, am sat in the middle of one mother of a thunderstorm having had a few. Still on holiday but driving back over the weekend. Back for the next home game guys, looking forward to it.

Really interesting story Dancing. When did you come back to England? and how did you end up supporting Chesterfield?

Also Storm Brian is on the way in the UK.