Well, I'm all packed up and ready for my trip back home tomorrow to Gloucester for "The cheese rolling". Once again I'm meeting up with me old mucker Terry (and his van) at Birmingham airport. There's just a chance that we'll stop off on our journey south for a swift glass of cordial to watch the match - the once mighty Leeds United are in the play off final!.
Still on the football theme, or soccer, depending on which side of the pond you're on, one of our members, (yes, we have "members" in the Cumberland Bar where I work in the afternoons, about 450 of them, and each with a little laminated card to prove it), Tony informs us that he's made the squad for an over 45's European championships in Switzerland. This is to run along side the "real" Euro championships, for which, neither England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern and Republic of Ireland have qualified, - so you've got our undivided attention Tone!.
From what I can gather, these teams, somewhat strangely, are taken from Universities. So we can take it as read then, that all apart from the most "mature", - Students don't get a look in. This then, I presume leaves a selection of caretakers, cleaners, gardeners or in my friend's case, security man. Sitting on his big fat arse (Tony is about 6 feet 4 inches and about 19 stone), sat in front of a few TV screens whilst doing the crossword with a bag of chips wouldn't on the face of it be the ideal preparation for a football tournament, but somebody somewhere has found him and said "He'll do" apparently.
The first training session was held about six weeks ago, Big Tony confidently strode out, hared after the ball and did his groin with the first kick of the match, - he then twisted his knee walking off the pitch! - I'm not making this up. Think it's true to say that the big man is not a coiled spring of an athlete, and he was even struggling a bit when that game of mini golf went to an extra hole in Blackpool's Stanley Park last summer, - think he blamed his loss on cramp that time.
Anyway, he's got another training session before the competition kicks off, and I've asked him to keep me posted and per chance send me some photos.
www.myspace.com/benidormclassbceleb
www.myspace.com/concertchairman
No comments:
Post a Comment