Happy Holidays From EPL Talk: 2009

My earliest memory of the beautiful game is from my childhood in Wales playing football with my friends in the local playground. I was probably seven or eight years old. But the event that happened that really cemented my love of the sport was the Christmas morning when I woke up and found a black and white leather ball at the foot of my bed.

Thirty three years later, I can still remember the smell of that leather ball and can picture what it looked like. I was definitely a football player before I was a viewer, but I’m sure that ball was the connection for me from the playground to the television set as I began to sit down and watch the classic teams from the mid-to-late Seventies such as Nottingham Forest, Manchester United, Liverpool, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur and others.

So during this special time of the year, I want to take a few minutes to wish you and your family Happy Holidays. Whether you’re a new or veteran reader of EPL Talk, I want to thank you for being a loyal reader and coming back each day to read or listen to the latest articles, podcasts and videos about the greatest sports league in the world, the Premier League. It’s the love of that one little ball that has brought us all together from all corners of the globe.

I know it’s a busy time of the year for you, but if you have a few minutes, please share with the rest of the readers what your first (and favorite) soccer-related Christmas or Hanukkah present was by clicking the comments link below. I look forward to reading your answers.

Happy Holidays to you from EPL Talk and the team of bloggers.

Cheers,