Sunday, April 27, 2008

Marple Ath - we're having a laugh

I may have mentioned that I've got involved in Marple Athletic Junior Football Club. Joe plays in the Under 9s and Max and Louis are in the Under 7s. I've helped put the website together and got us some coverage in the media. It's a club that seems to be heading in the right direction.

We've also made some really good friends amongst the touchline parents. On Friday we held a golf day at Marple Golf Club. There's not much to say about my golf except that at one point I observed that my shots were so bad because of the sh*te on the end of my 7 iron - top end, that is. I'm still aching from the amusing 5 mile walk interrupted by poor attempts at hitting a white ball far too many times to count.

We then piled up to Lane Ends to see A Few Good Men, the band fronted by our chairman, Jason Isaacs. Cracking night out.

They say the most intense rivalries in football come in cities where the supporters of both teams live cheek by jowl. That's certainly the case in Marple. Yesterday was the return fixture in Joe's Under 9's Marple Athletic against Rose Hill Rovers. A lot of the boys know each other from school and what have you. There's even a rumour that one of our players who has recently left is going to Rose Hill next season. Things have gone on in the past that I don't know about, but come this Saturday, what mattered was winning after the earlier game this season saw us lose. Anyway, it was an exciting match that Marple won 1-0, then the B team won 3-1. There'll be a report here. I refereed that one. And here's a lesson. Kids football gets a bad press sometimes, but you don't have to do a great deal as a ref, they don't answer back, scream or dive. You just have to stop the game when a boy gets a knock and restart it.

There was even a bit of shirt swapping at the end which we weren't too keen on.
Next weekend we're heading for Stalag Fleetwood where 200 of us from Marple are off to watch a weekend of kids footie.

We're sat in the front room now watching Rangers v Celtic - currently 2-2. Brilliant stuff.

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