Practice

A group of us used to get together for a kickabout after work. We’d have a league between stores; and although I never played I attended a training session to help train the others. We’d hire out a pitch on the local astroturf centre on a cold winter’s night complete with floodlights. I remember walking up to the bar handing £2.50 over to pay my share of the hire fee then jogging out onto the pitch. We’d take turns in goal then hand out passes while the other three would try to intercept to the other end of the pitch. As the night went on some of our party began to drift away. Then in the final minutes another group of lads asked if we wanted to play a full-on game. We went for it. I started off in goal then towards the end of the game we switched. I started off from our side and managed to circumnavigate three players before scoring a goal all on my own. I don’t know if they weren’t ready for me or they hadn’t realised that we’d switched or whether they were being polite after a collision but it was good wholesome fun. I’ve got no idea who won or whether anyone was keeping score though.