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Hello and welcome to Libero, the most important to the least important things, as Jules Holland says regularly on his hooter nanny.

I'm Rory Smith of the Observer and Men in Blazers, and I am joined by Jack Pitbrook of the Athletic. Hello, Jack. Hi, Rory. Tarrick Pandra of the New York Times. Hello, Tarrick. Hello, Rory. Jonathan Wilson of the Jonathan Wilson, the extended universe. Hello, Jonathan. Happy New Year. Happy New Year to all. I was building to that. Happy New Year to all of you. Now, obviously, let's not, you know,

let's not pretend that a sausage isn't being made here. We are recording this before New Year's

day. Do any of you have plans for New Year's? Is that a thing for any of you? Yes. What are

you doing? I was very disappointed when I left the northeast of England to find that the rest of the

world does not take New Year as seriously as we do. So I think it's proximity to Scotland.

I think that's why New Year was always big for us. So this is something my dad told me, which I've

never checked. But, you know, if you can't trust my dad, who can you trust? He said that

there was a point in the 20th century where Christmas Day was not a public holiday in Scotland and New Year's Day was not a public holiday in England, except in the North East, where we got both on the grounds we were sort of pseudo-scots. So New Year was always massive for us.

Christmas Day must always have been a public holiday in Scotland. Surely. Take it up with the ghost of my father. It's a very Presbyterian country. Yeah, that would be my guess as to why. That's very strange though. I had no idea that was true. Well, hang on. We don't know if it's true. That was a great story though, a great story.

But we would always have people over at New Year. We'd go out on the street at five to midnight. They'd sound the shipyard hooters at midnight, say, every new when it was. And all your neighbors would be out, they would be sort of hugging each other. And then you'd have sort of the sort of the sort of all the politicking of who's first footing and you have to go in the right order and carrying your bit of coal and then you'd have sort of a sort of the sort of politicing of who's first

footing and you have to go in the right order and carrying your bit of coal and then my godfather

you have to when you first foot you have to take in a bit of coal as a gift define first foot

stop pretending the stop pretending we know what you're talking about what's first footing the first

person across the threshold after New Year.

Of course, only men count, crucially.

The women would just stay inside the house because they're too delicate to go outside

December, January.

The sort of the alpha male, or my dad, whichever was nearer, would have to cross the threshold

carrying a lump of coal.

And then my godfather would always get coins that'd be minted in the year just finished and throw them up the stairs. And then the kids all scrabble to get the coins. This is an astonishing revelation. This is an extraordinary piece of Wilson law. It really is. Yeah, this is a law drop. So I've looked up on Wikipedia. First a thing. Like it is, it is on Wikipedia, so I don't think he is making it up. But it's fascinating to learn so much about your native culture. Wilson was just making it up as well. You're lying. It's amazing to think that Wilson drew up in 18th century Sunderland.

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