Saints Alive!

[Guest]

THEY don't make 'em like this anymore! And that's a pity! Three of the most colourful performers for Southampton in 1952 and 1953 were Ern Brecknell (Australia), Mike Tams (Canada) and Brian McKeown (New Zealand).

When they weren't on track scoring points for the Saints, the trio worked part-time laying tarmac on various road building schemes in the south of England. Off-track, they were a hard living but kindly trio and enjoyed something of a folklore reputation with Bannister Court fans.

One anecdote I like about them is that, to help defray the cost of paying rents, in the warmer summer months they would 'camp out' under the Southampton grandstand. When the colder autumn and winter months arrived they decided to "go indoors".

This was done by them buying a small garden shed and erecting it as their living quarters in a far corner of the Southampton car park. It was not a venture fully approved of by their promoter and stadium owner Charlie Knott. But he never gave them an eviction notice.

Edited September 26, 2017 by Guest

[False dawn]

This was done by them buying a small garden shed and erecting it as their living quarters in a far corner of the Southampton car park.

 

You know, that could work now. The difference is that modern day riders would want a customised paint job with their name on the side!