As this un-lovable international break (particularly after last night) has robbed this editor of fresh NCFC content, I thought it time to delve into the MFW archives and resurrect a classic from the past – one that will hopefully chime as much today as it did when it was written.

Not for the first time, I landed on the wonderful back catalogue of Kevin Baldwin. For me, his lovely piece – written in November 2012 – on what constitutes beauty in the so-called beautiful game resonates as much today as it did the day it was written.

Let’s see if you agree.

The floor’s all yours again, Kev…

***

It was twenty years ago today, Sergeant Walker taught the boys to play?

Hang on, I?ll rewind and come again.
When I started writing Norfolk ?n? Good back in 1992, one of the reasons ? apart from rampant egomania, obviously ? was to try to explain why I love football.

At the time, almost all of the books written from a fan?s perspective were tales of tooled-up, boozed-up hooligan awaydays, which didn?t reflect my experience of going to matches at all.

And even though the 1990 World Cup ? with Nessun Dorma, Crying Gazza etc ? had improved the general image of the game, there were still plenty of people around who viewed football followers with suspicion, wondering whether you might be a closet thug. Or at least wondering why you would choose to spend so much time in the company of thugs.

As Chris Hughton decided at th...