Newport County(H).14/04/79.1000th Football League Home Game.

From a distance of thirty-five years Mike Green's observation that "the present transfer system is of great benefit to American clubs" appears to be a curious one. I can't remember the precise details but there certainly was a considerable traffic in British footballers moving to and from North America.

"Moon Raker: countdown has started." And good old Alex Jackson sounds excited by this new commercial development. I wonder if this was the height of lottery-style fundraising at Plainmoor and, for that matter, in football in general? A history of how football clubs have raised money through commercial activity would make for fascinating reading. There must be cycles whereby lotteries, sponsorship, hiring of facilities - or whatever - are to the fore. You wonder where the balance lies these days.

Mind, not sure how much the sale of FA Cup programmes contributed to club funds. A lovely service at the time that now, for a variety of reasons, seems rather quaint. I don't think I got one from Torquay United that year but I'm pretty sure I bought a copy somewhere. Such was the force of habit which had propelled me from the 1966 FA Cup Final onwards. They must have printed hundreds of thousands of the things in those days although I'm pretty sure 1979 was the end of my interest. And, good grief, did anybody actually request an airmailed copy from Plainmoor? Or a pack of five?

It's also gratifying to learn that young Alan was out on his rounds on a Tuesday evening visiting good folk such as the Glanfields of Newton Abbot. I didn't know of the link to Newport County but I'm sure we've encountered this family, and its subsequent generations, in more recent times.

And what's this about a bottle of champagne in a Plainmoor pub awaiting our promotion to (presumably) the second tier of English football. Whatever happened to it? Can anybody own up to drinking it on the quiet?

Very probably.

Yet some people are still banging on about them as a panacea to all ills, quoting Hartlepool whose lottery barely generates enough income to cover its admin costs!