The all new training diary.

[Bierzo Baggie]

Week Two:

Decided that in the interests of the task ahead it was time to pack the football in (not that I’ve actually played much this season). So I showed up last Sunday morning intending to hand my shirt back but ended up playing a full 90 minutes. Started off at centre forward but somehow worked my way back to left back by which time we were heading for a very respectable 1-1 draw with the league leaders.

Then Disaster struck.

With a mere 5 minutes left to play their nippy right winger was clumsily bundled over by Bierzo Baggie inside the box. It wasn’t a clear cut penalty and I thought I’d got away with it but the referee started pointing theatrically at the spot and ran towards it just like they do on the telly. All hell broke loose and the referee’s mother was insulted on several occasions which is pretty serious shit over here. The end result was two sendings off and the threat of expulsion from the league in the case of any future mother-cursing high jinks.

Decided that this was an appropriate moment to call it a day.

Curiously, the shin pads I’ve been using for the last couple of seasons are a pair of Johnny Haynes Slazenger’s which I found stashed away in a box in the attic. They must have once belonged to my dad. Or to my granddad. As Johnny Haynes was in his heyday in the early 60s it’s likely that these shin-pads are nearly 50 years old. I suppose that I could have sold them on E-bay. They’re a bit smelly now and I’ll probably keep them for nostalgia’s sake.

And in the meantime I got out twice during the week and covered about 15 kilometres in all. Time is running out and it’s time for a slightly more serious plan.