Whitaker, a man known for not relishing tough decisions particularly when it involves telling his bosses they weren’t in the team, simply had too big a squad to choose from and was unable to settle on his starting line-up.
After first trying to get himself relieved of the manager’s post (one I might add he didn’t want in the first place) by claiming to be the follower of a little known religion which regarded the Teletubbies as the creation of the devil, Whitaker came up with a cunning plan to ease his burden.
Every player in the 20-man squad was given the chance to select their starting line-ups (supposedly in secret) and the final team was named after all the votes were cast.
It got Whitaker off the hook but, in hindsight, hardly did wonders for team spirit particularly after Matt Kelly, battling against that now famous groin injury, insisted on everyone telling him who they had voted for.
People boss Wilson had his own pre-game worries. Injuries and unavailability had robbed him of several ringers and left him worried that his side would be hamstrung simply because he wasn’t allowed to cheat.
He did receive a late boost, however, when Sunday Mirror hardman Neal Collins declared himself fit to cause some trouble and and he was even confident enough to start the pyschological warfare on the eve of the match by claiming the mysterious ‘Frank from Advertising’ would definitely play.
With the war of words over, and an almost palpable tension in the air, the game kicked off under the bright lights at George Green and almost immediately the big-hitters Collins and Richard Ellis (Life) made their presence felt with some bone-crunching tackles.
Life fancy-dan Nic Andrews was particularly angered by one enormous tackle from Collins and made even more upset by the fact he was then told to stop whingeing about it.
Andrews was, however, to have the last laugh if not quite the last word as he netted twice during a surprisingly impressive performance by the Life boys who obviously benefited from the extra hours of practice.
Dominic Hart, a giant in his shirt, was also on the scoresheet twice and more than justified his selection despite just making the cut during the voting, which actually proved far more exciting than the game.
There were two goals too for impressive frontman Mark Taylor, still smarting from being left out of Ellis’ selection, and in truth the Life always had much the upper hand after taking an early lead.
The People, arguably a side with more talented individual players, lacked cohesion and were a disappointment despite the promptings of the passionate Collins.
A couple of stinging efforts by Frank (from Advertising) Hamilton underlined their potential, however, and the skilful Warren Wright as always chipped in with a couple of goals, while Chris Mann added the other. It wasn’t to be the People’s night but according to their disappointed boss Wilson it didn’t really matter anyway as the Image photographer couldn’t make it. Of course, his opposite number and the Life boys knew different. They celebrated long and hard into the night – or until last orders at Davy's anyway.
