Freddie Pymm
Barnet Football Club
By Gillian Gear
Freddie Pymm, my father, was working at Standard Telephones & Cables in 1940 and played for their football team. He went on to join the Barnet Football club and played for them for several years and later acted as a trainer. When a player was injured during a match he would run on with a bucket and sponge which seemed to be his main treatment for all sorts of knocks and injuries. As children, my sister and I, were subjected to similar treatment for minor injuries such as twisted ankles.
He played in the semi-final in the year they won the Football Cup but did not play in the final. He was one of the team who were on board the bus that subsequently toured the area and received a medal and a miniature cup.
My childhood was interspersed with references to his fellow players. Lester Finch was one of the more memorable names but others such as Hawkins and still remind me of my father’s exciting hobby.
I recall seeing him play in a game against a show business team which included Bernard Breslaw and others whose names I did not know. He was exhausted afterwards and realised that running on with his bucket was as much as he could realistically do. He continued to support the club but was very sorry to see them become a professional team with players that were not local people. He felt something had gone out of our local club.
Add your comment about this page
Hello. I was surfing the net, as one does!, and suddenly found the reference to your father that you put up in relation to Barnet football club. I was fascinated, and particularly so regarding the photo you included of Barnet coming out in an FA Cup match against Southend.
I was just 8 when that match was played, but certainly remember being there as it was only the second game I had seen! I also remember that Barnet were beaten 9-2, and the fact that it was played in appalling conditions, but in their history of the club there is no reference to this match, only saying they played Queens Park Rangers.
I thought I must have been mistaken in my memory but your piece about your father, who I also remember seeing play at various times, and the photo of the team coming out on the pitch, proves I was correct, and I will let the club know about the error in their historical references. Seeing the photo of your father covered in mud I am sure that today’s pampered and overpaid players would probably have refused to play in those conditions! Thank you for stirring memories for me. I hope you are keeping well. Sincerely John Gammons