If you start talking about Keele characters, it will never be very long before the name of Neil Baldwin comes up, so I'll start the ball rolling. Nowadays he's not at Keele quite as much as he used to be because he has other commitments (Stoke city kit manager to name one!), but during my time 1990-1993 he was a permanent fixture sitting on the wall down by the shops and doing his daily visiting rounds around campus.
I met him on my very first day at Keele; just after my parents had dropped me off I wondered down to the shops, bought a newspaper and started to read the sports pages sitting on the steps feeling a little bit unsettled and unsure as most freshers do on their first day. Then I became aware of a shadow falling over my newspaper and the sound of someone breathing, that person saw that I was reading the football news and started to speak to me. To the best of my memory the conversation went something like this:-
Neil: So, you're a footballer are you
Me: well, I like football yes
N: I run a football team you see with the best players in Keele, often star guest players like Kevin Keegan and Brian Robson turn up to play for us and we often play against professional teams
Me: Really, that sounds impressive
N: If you want, you could come to a trial
Me: Well yes I'd love to although I doubt I'd be good enough to play for you
So Neil took my address and came round to "discuss football tactics" that afternoon. This time, the conversation went something like this:-
N: Oh, is that some pasta and bolognese sauce on your shelf
Me: Yes
N: It's nice that isn't it
Me: Yes
N: I haven't eaten tonight
Me: Really, ummmm, would you like something here then
N: Oh, that's very nice of you, by the way, you're in the team for Saturday!!
That it seems was my trial, and so began a long friendship! I was a bit worried at first that he was some kind of weirdo but you very quickly get to know Neil for what he is and thoughts like that soon evaporate. Needless to say we never saw Brian Robson or Kevin Keegan turn up although every single game Neil was convinced they would and was genuinely disappointed when they didn't. And I think the most professional team we played against was Keele Catholic society although every week Neil would be talking about how he was arranging a game against Man United or Juventus!
I'm getting a bit carried away here, I hope I'm not boring you. I've got loads of Neil anecdotes if anyone would be interested. Let me know if you'd like to hear more. I'd love to hear any other Neil stories that anyone has.
Jon
1990-1993
