Gary Strachan – "Write" Said Fred
Whimsical observations from deep within an erratic mind
The journey started on Wednesday 29th April 1970 when I was seven summers old. On jumping out of bed that particular morning my mood reflected the bright sunshine fulgently radiating through open drapes into my easterly facing bedroom. On leaving my bed chamber, I undertook my habitual sideways run down the stairs of my home... Continue Reading →
Yours truly is sitting on the bed in casa Strachan's spare room as I commence this monologue. My current domain, the smallest of the three upstairs chambers gracing my humble abode, which doubles as a man cave and occasional panic room. Its use as a panic room ordinarily manifests from a need to hide after forgetting... Continue Reading →
I learned many useful life lessons as a child growing up in Low Fell, Gateshead. Amongst them was when it came to playing table football games my brother Ian was a flaming cheat. Our kid will have his own version of these events, but will never convince me he flicked the small plastic player to... Continue Reading →
It's Tuesday morning and GJ Strachan is suffering from a severe case of writers block. Annoyingly, the ordinarily creative segment of my brain currently bereft of an inspirational epiphany or notion. Even the memories of my Gateshead childhood, which have proved so fertile in the past week, thus far unable to produce a narrative topic... Continue Reading →
It's a rare occasion these days that I drive past the field bisecting the Leech and Allerdene estates in the southern Gateshead area of Low Fell. However, when I am back in the area I was raised, driving beside this triangular shaped field manifests a strange amalgam of warmth and sadness within yours truly. Warmth... Continue Reading →
Yesterday saw the 7th anniversary of ex-Leeds United footballer Gary Speed's passing. A tragic day when the player, who also served Everton, Newcastle United, Bolton and Sheffield United with distinction, was found hanged to death at his Cheshire home. On Saturday 7th April 1990, during a 2nd Division game against West Yorkshire rivals Bradford City,... Continue Reading →
I'm penning this offering accompanied by the BBC Radio Leeds commentary of the Leeds United v Rotherham United. The voices of commentator Adam Pope and ex-Leeds player Noel Whelan my self-inflicted distraction to the writing process. As you'd expect this following of events at Elland Road handicaps my focus and concentration. Attempting to write a... Continue Reading →
As a child growing up in the 1970's, my aspirations for adulthood were to mirror my then hero Allan Clarke. A fledgling dream to lead Leeds United's (LUFC) strike force to domestic and European honours, like Clarke, clad in Puma football boots and gleaming number 8 sock tags. Unfortunately, they were existential desires that were... Continue Reading →
Yesterday evening, Leeds United (LUFC) were leading 4-1 at Derby with only 20 minutes of the match remaining. Unashamedly armchair supporting from the comfort of my home, I misguidedly still countenanced the possibility of LUFC leaving the east Midlands pointless. Bearing in mind that score-line, along with LUFC coach Marcelo Bielsa's team's sheer dominance in... Continue Reading →