It Was 45 Years Ago Today!

On October 15, 1966 at the age of 13 years and 10 months, my life changed forever. It was on that sunny Saturday afternoon, I, together with my parents, four brothers and one sister, boarded a BOAC Boeing 707 and took off from Heathrow Airport.

Passenger train to Kalgoorlie - 1966

After stopping off at Rome, Zurich, Rangoon, Delhi and Singapore, we landed in Perth just after midnight on Monday October 17. We were put up in a hostel for 'Ten Pound Tourists' for what was left of the night only to catch the train to Kalgoorlie at 5.30 pm that same afternoon.

When I saw the train at Perth Central I thought we had been transported back 100 years! It looked just like one of those trains you see in cowboy movies, and travelled at around the same speed of 35 miles an hour!!

We eventually arrived in Kalgoorlie 14 hours later at 7.30am on the Tuesday. My worst fears were realised! Yes, we really had been transported back in time, it wasn't just a dream. We were back in the 'wild west'! All that was missing was 'Buffalo Bill'. I was in a state of shock and traumatised.

How could my parents do this to me? What had I done to deserve banishment to the colonies at such a tender age?

My dream of a football career with my beloved Manchester United was shattered. My heart was broken, my mind was black. But the worst was yet to come!

Stay tuned.