Partial Eclipse, Total Unrecall

Last week’s partial eclipse of the Sun was the most coverage we’ve seen in the UK since the total eclipse of 1999, which, as much as I’ve tried scour the memory banks, I have no recollection of whatsoever. I would have been twenty at the tine, so I was probably working or not particularly giving a toss. My loss.

Despite putting this month’s event in my phone calendar weeks in advance, I didn’t act soon enough to secure some eclipse glasses, so out came the colander! The light went a bit darker, like someone had messed around with the telly’s brightness knob, but not so much that would truly wow, leaving many thinking ‘was that it?’

Trying to remember Salford matches past usually helps with wider recall. As with 9/11, when Salford played Hull away travelling down on a coach organised by then SRISA Chairman Tony O’Neill (yes, of the Men in Black). Despite being hammered by the Airlie Birds, it was a memorable trip, particularly the impromptu match and 100 metre dash on The Boulevard pitch after the game.

Expect after checking the records, Salford actually played several days prior. I must thinking of another midweek trip…

The match closest to the total eclipse in 1999 was Salford’s visit to London Broncos, another loss in what was a generally disastrous season. Memorable for that fact that it was at The Stoop, where it wasn’t uncommon to be distracted by low-flying jumbos coming into land. And this is why I don’t write match reports.