A Footballer's Lament

Felt like a long day at work today although it wasn't particularly.  An early start and an early (for me) finish and then played football at Goals.  These are halcyon days in the twilight days of my football career.  I now cherish every game I play.

From as early as I can remember,  like every other boy in Berwick Hills I wanted and genuinely expected to become a professional footballer and like every other old man I now remember being very good.  I was the best player in my age group in our area which seemed to matter at the time but looking back it was probably only out of about 6 kids.

So what went wrong?  I was a regular in the Ladgate Junior School team, right wing but I never made any impact at my senior school, Springfield. I just moved further and further down the pecking order.  Our team was really crap as well. 

I still played over the field with my mates but as the years went by I suspected it just wasn't going to happen.  By fifth year seniors people started to realise I wasn't a bad player.  I could have told them that in first year but they weren't interested in listening to me then and by fifth year I wasn't interested in what they thought.  Besides, I didn't even own a pair of football boots and I had paper round so I couldn't go to football practice anyway.

I started work age 17 and started playing 5-a-side for fun and in many competitive leagues.  I made a name for myself albeit at my lowly level as a hard working grafter whose play went for the sublime to the ridiculous often in the same game.  I played pretty much 2 or 3 times a week solid until recent years and I never got sick of playing.  I didn't have to think about keeping fit because football did it for me.

I even had the occasional 11-a-side for the office although in truth I only played because we got time off work.  I never ever got used to playing 11-side,  the pitch is just too big for 22 players!

At the age of 35 I reached the pinnacle of my football career when inexplicably I was asked to play for the Civil Service team in the Langbargh League first division, an 11 a-side league. It was a really good standard with loads of Northern League players filling their boots.  Talking of which I even bought a new pair.  There were loads of nutters just using it as an excuse to go out and maim people with little chance of going to jail, most of the time I was scared shitless.

After a couple of months I came to my senses after seeing our goalkeeper chase the referee from South Bank St Peters ground after being sent off.  Enough was enough and I think I packed in just in time before people realised I was out of my depth (actually looking back I doubt if that last bit is true).

And here I am now, still playing 15 years later.  My competitive days are probably over (not sure many of opponents would agree with that mind) but within my arena I still play as hard as I possibly can. 

We won tonight as well.  In the tropical heat of Teesside my team won 7-1 (I scored our first and last goals) and apart from the mighty Kev Wall I think the next youngest player on the pitch will have been over 10 years younger than me.  I didn't even have a spell in goal which was probably why I crawled off the pitch.

Hail playing football, it still beats pretty much anything else in life.