by A. D. Rogers
Tonight was a big night. For the first time ever they had progressed to the semi-final of the five a side knockout cup. All of them – Luke included – were very excited. They seemed to work together well – their goalie had been on top form and Luke had been scoring goals for fun so they were hoping to get to the final. Only one thing stood in their way – and unfortunately that was a very big obstacle.
Thorley Tornadoes were a bunch of 18 year olds from the local college who were very good indeed. Most of them had grown up together and they were unbeaten over the last couple of years, in addition they had actually beaten Luke’s team – Green Seniors – twice in the previous weeks. However, the last game had been very close and the Seniors thought they had improved since then. The Tornadoes were a cocky bunch of kids but their captain was the most obnoxious of the lot. Away from the pitch Adam Collier was quite a pleasant young man but once the whistle went he changed completely. He was a very good player but he tried to play mind games with the opposition and he was widely disliked.
Luke and the rest of the team were warming up and Harry was explaining how he was going to rotate the players. After giving his usual team talk he turned to Luke.
“OK,” he said, “I’m just going to come right out and say it. Things would be much easier for all of us if you just accidentally bumped into Adam Collier in the first few minutes – just give him a little knock!”
Luke laughed. “We’ve been through this before Harry. If things start getting rough then I’ll join in as much as anyone but I’m not going to turn into some sort of Vinnie Jones figure in a five a side game.”
Sid Smith moaned, “But it’s Adam Collier – he’s just a cocky little prat but with him out of the way we would have a good chance to win!”
“OK then Sid,” Luke replied, “then why don’t you try to take him out of the game?”
Sid looked embarrassed. “Because every time I try, he just dodges round me as if I wasn’t there.”
The rest of the Seniors laughed.
“Exactly,” said Luke, “so let’s just play our best and enjoy ourselves – and beat them!”
The two teams came together with the referee and as expected Adam began to talk.
“Have you got your oxygen bottles ready? You’ll need them when we have finished with you.”
Adam’s team mates laughed and cheered and most of the Seniors glared back miserably – apart from Luke who just laughed and then went to shake Adam’s hand.
“Best of luck lads,” he shouted, then he gripped Adam’s hand so hard he nearly cried.
Adam didn’t show how much pain he was in but for most of the first half he was actually fairly quiet – for once he concentrated on playing football rather than sledging. He had to concentrate – because the Seniors were playing like men possessed and when the half-time whistle went they were leading two nil. Luke had scored first followed by a cracking goal from Sid. Lanky Lowe in goals was having a stormer.
As they gathered around for a half-time chat they were disturbed by a large noise from the other end of the sports centre.
“What’s going on down there?” someone asked.
“It’s the fitness trials for the supporters club contest.” Harry replied. “The trials are going on every night this week and it looks as if there is a fair turn out judging by the noise.”
“Are you going in for it Luke?” asked Sid.
“No chance!” said Luke. “I’m not getting involved in anything Ed Tierney has dreamed up. No offence Harry.” he added, glancing at his friend.
“None taken.” said Harry. “Look, just forget about the noise from over there and concentrate on winning this game. We’re halfway to the final but these lads always come on strong in the second half.”
Harry’s words proved right. The Tornadoes ran at the Seniors in wave after wave until finally they scored. Harry screamed at his team.
“Just 2 minutes left – come on – keep em out!”
They nearly did it. Then – with more or less the last kick of normal time, Adam Collier danced through the tiring defence, skipped round Lanky and tapped the ball into an empty net. Seconds later the final whistle went and the Seniors slumped to the floor.
“What happens now?” moaned Sid.
“Golden Goal.” said Harry. “First to score wins – and you had better make it quick. Most of you won’t last much longer but they all look as if they could run all night.”
The Seniors looked at the opposition who all looked fresh and keen and silently they groaned to themselves. Thankfully at least Luke seemed to be raring to go.
“Listen,” he urged, “you lot just drop back and defend and I’ll do my best alone up front. Just keep it tight and try to get the ball to me. We can still do this!”
His team mates replied with a half-hearted cheer and they all lined up for extra time.
“Right gents,” the ref shouted, “first goal wins, we play until someone scores.”
“This won’t last long.” shouted Adam with glee and his team mates roared.
The whistle went and the Tornadoes were straight on the attack. For a few minutes Luke began to have some hope. The Seniors defence seemed to be holding strong. Then, disaster struck. One of the Tornadoes picked up the ball deep in his own half and set off on a mazy run upfield. The boy was like lightening and flashed past the weary Seniors. Second later the ball was in the net and it was all over.
The tornadoes smirked and celebrated and most of the Seniors looked as if they were going to be sick.
“Do you want us to call you some ambulances?” crowed Adam.
“Get away you little creep,” threatened Sid, “or it’ll be the last game you’ll ever play!”
Adam just laughed. “You couldn’t get near me during the game so how are you going to catch me now? Most of you can’t even walk. You should all be looking to book yourselves into retirement homes!”
The taunts went on and on until Harry could bear it no more.
“OK big mouth,” he shouted, “let’s sort this once and for all.”
Adam began to look worried – maybe he had gone too far. “Come on – we’re only joking,” he said, “are you all too old to take a joke?”
“How about that?” Harry said, pointing to the far end of the room.
Adam and his mates seemed puzzled.
“No idea what you are talking about Grandad, I think you’ve finally lost it.”
Harry struggled to keep his temper. “What I’m proposing is that we have a contest. One person from your team and one from ours take on the Supporters club fitness tests and we see who comes out on top.”
The tornadoes began to laugh.
“OK.” Adam said, “But do you really think that any of your team will be able to finish this without having a heart attack?”
Harry replied, “Who are you putting forward?
The tornadoes had a quick conference and as expected Adam strode forward.
“I’ll do it,” he said, “this should be a laugh!”
“OK,” said Harry, “then our candidate is Luke.”
Even though Luke had been expecting Harry to call out his name he was reluctant to take part.
“Come on lads,” he pleaded, “what’s this going to prove?”
In reply the tornadoes began to do chicken impersonations. Luke sighed – he knew there was no way out now. They all walked over to the group at the far end of the hall and Harry spoke to someone who seemed to be in charge. A few minutes later he returned.
“OK,” he said, “it’s all sorted. Just a few minutes and they will be able to fit us in. Five events. First is a 100 metre sprint, then 3 minutes of press-ups, followed by 3 minutes of sit-ups, then 3 minutes of chin-ups. Finally we go outside to the running track for a one mile run. The winner is the one who wins the majority of events.”
“Fine,” said Adam, “but what do we get when I win?”
The Seniors looked puzzled.
“I guess you get to rub our noses in it?
” replied Harry.
“No, that’s not good enough,” said Adam, “when we win – you lot will all retire for good!”
The Seniors looked around and finally they all nodded their heads.
“Agreed,” said Harry, “but when we win you will also have a price to pay. We insist that you withdraw from the tournament and allow us through to the final!”
“No problem.” said Adam.
The fitness attendants called Luke and Adam across and explained the rules and then they were ready to start.
The first event – the sprint – was a disaster for Luke. He finished in a perfectly respectable time for a 46 year old man but Adam streaked away and won by a wide margin. The tornadoes cheered and the Seniors groaned – it wasn’t looking good.
The next event was the sit-ups. Once again Adam streaked into the lead – he was flying up and down whereas Luke seemed to only have one steady pace. However, after 2 minutes it was obvious that Adam was flagging and Luke showed no sign of slowing down. The pattern was repeated for the next two events – it was the classic tale of the tortoise and the hare. Adam flew ahead whereas Luke just went in the same steady rhythm. After each event the three neutral judges compared notes and nodded in agreement. Harry had agreed that the results would only be revealed after the final event.
Adam and Luke trudged outside and readied themselves to run the mile. The starter sent them on their way and as expected, Adam flew into the lead. After the first lap he was almost 100 metres in front but it became obvious on the next lap that Luke was slowly fighting back. Halfway during the 3rd lap there was only 10 metres in it and then – just as they hit the fourth and final lap, Luke drew level.
The small crowd was going wild – the Tornadoes and Seniors were trying to cheer their runner across the line. Suddenly the Tornadoes began to look worried as Luke grinned at Adam then waved goodbye! As they hit the final straight Luke powered on and comfortably beat his younger opponent. Luke stood gasping but Adam seemed to be throwing up.
Everyone waited in anticipation – they knew Adam won the first event and Luke won the last but they couldn’t work out the other three events. They had made a rough estimate at each sit-up etc. but they knew that the judges would have ruled some of them out because they perhaps hadn’t been done correctly. Finally they were ready to reveal the results.
The senor timekeeper moved forward to speak.
“OK,” he said, “both contestants won one event each – here are the results of the remaining three events. You can all study the exact count later but each event went to the same person. We declare the winner to be – Luke Linden!”
For a few minutes there was bedlam. The Seniors were trying to carry Luke around the hall whereas the Tornadoes were all complaining that the contest was fixed. Then the exact figures for each event were revealed and they finally had to accept the inevitable. The only person who didn’t seem bothered was Adam who was still throwing up outside.
“Well done Luke.” Harry said. “We never doubted you!”
The rest of the team dragged Luke away to enjoy a few well-deserved pints. Harry was the last to leave and no-one noticed as he nodded to the chief fitness assessor. Then he passed Adam on his way out and once again – no-one noticed as they both winked at each other as they passed……
CHAPTER 16
The weeks of late May and June are usually the quiet time of the year at most English football clubs. The season is over and most players and staff use the time to get away on an early summer holiday before pre-season training starts again in July – leading up to a new season in early August. There are always some people however, who seem to be busy all year round and the groundstaff fall into that category.
The summer months are used for pitch and ground renovation and there always seem to be a million and one jobs to do. This year however, at Wishton Clough there was something extra to contend with.
The day after the final concert at the TxT stadium Ed was walking into the ground when he was confronted by a furious Fred Grimshaw.
“We warned you but you wouldn’t listen!” he shouted angrily.
Ed was taken aback and looked around for some kind of explanation – just then Jason appeared and began to restrain his father.
“Leave it Dad,” he said, “come away.”
“I won’t leave it,” Fred shouted, “this idiot thinks he can walk on water – well someone needs to tell him a few truths!”
Ed finally began to speak, “What the hell is going on?” he asked coldly.
Jason pushed in front of his father before he could speak again. “I’ll tell you what’s going on,” he said in an equally calm voice, “they’ve just taken the covers off the pitch – and it’s ruined!”
Ed visibly paled, brushed past the pair of them and ran towards the pitch. When he pushed through the last set of doors he walked out onto a yellow, stinking mess – which once had been a lovely green playing surface.
“No, no, no,” he moaned, “they said it would be fine!”
“Aye – and we told you it wouldn’t be – but you always know best don’t you!” snarled Fred.
Ed whirled round to face the older man and it took every ounce of restraint in his body not to fire both of the Grimshaws on the spot. Deep inside he knew Fred was right but he hated being told that he was wrong. However, he was not so stupid that he didn’t realise he needed both the Grimshaws if they were going to get out of this mess. But after everything was resolved – then he would have his revenge – no one spoke to him like that.
Ed finally smiled weakly. “You’re right Fred, this doesn’t look good. I suggest we all take 10 minutes to calm down then we regroup in the boardroom to work out a plan of action.”
Things got worse when Ed discovered that there only appeared to be himself, the Grimshaws and security staff at the ground so early in the morning. He made some calls and then reluctantly pushed the emergency meeting back to 9am, by which time Sarah had arrived and had begun to pull everything together. Harry was at the hospital and was unable to get away but agreed to conference in by phone. The meeting finally began and it seemed that Jason had managed to get his father to calm down – but now he was annoying Ed more than ever. Fred just sat there with a smug expression on his face and Ed just grew angrier and angrier. It soon became obvious that no-one was going to take responsibility for the disaster and it was Harry’s disembodied voice that cut through the recriminations.
“Listen,” he shouted, “we can sort out who is to blame at some other time – what we need to do now is to begin work – immediately – on getting a new pitch in place.”
Everyone reluctantly agreed and surprisingly they all began co-operating. Within a few minutes they had a plan to begin stripping away the old surface and replacing with new turf. Secretly Jason and Fred knew that they had plenty of time to get the job done before the new season started but they wanted Ed to squirm. The meeting was adjourned and everyone left the boardroom.
Ed stomped off to his office and he spent the next hour working through some figures until he came to realise that a large portion of the profits for the concerts would now be taken up by repairing the pitch. He groaned in frustration and made a promise to himself that someone would have to pay for this. After another few hours he was just becoming more frustrated until he came to a quick decision. He grabbed his stuff and strode out to Sarah’s desk.
“I’ve had enough. This place is full of idiots and I need to get away for a while. I’m flying off for a break to the US – I’ll probably be gone for a week or two. Don’t make any decisions without letting me know – my phone will be switched on 24/7.”
He strode out without another word and Sarah sighed with relief. The next few hours seemed to pass in a blur as far as she was concerned. Sarah acted as a go-between for the Grimshaws and various companies. They ordered heavy machinery to strip the surface back to the top soil and then they placed an order for the replacement turf. The problem with the turf was that beca
use of the advanced technology involved, it would take a week or so for the consignment to arrive at the ground. Fred and Jason weren’t too worried about that – it would probably take that long to remove the existing surface and then spread a special growing compound. If all went to plan then the new surface should be in place within 3 weeks – hopefully giving it time to bed in before the new season started.
One thing that no-one had pointed out to the chairman was that the pitch would not be ready to play three high-profile pre-season friendly matches he had arranged. A lot of money had been invested in persuading a top team from Italy, Spain and France to play a game at the new stadium. Sandy was happy to test his side against higher-class opposition but Ed hadn’t even considered that aspect – he just wanted the publicity. Sarah shuddered when she realised that someone had to tell Ed that the games had to be cancelled – and she knew that someone would have to be her! She smiled and decided that she would take the cowards way out and tell her boss by e-mail – that way she wouldn’t have to listen to his petulant whining.
Sarah worked through her lunch and she was just considering having a coffee when her phone rang. The call was from reception – regarding an appointment that they had all forgotten about. The competition to find a member of the supporters club to be part of the first team squad had been a great success. Many young people had joined the supporters club so they could have a chance to take part – season ticket sales had also increased, partly due to the competition.
The scheme had been widely covered in the local media and had even attracted the attention of some of the national papers – they had even done a small piece on Sky Sports News. However, there was now a small problem. Around fifty people who were eligible had made it through the fitness tests to the final draw – but two of those were women. Ed had been very pleased about the publicity and had gone on record to thank Fran Lafferty for her great idea. No one bothered to tell Ed about the two female contestants.