03/05/2021
A brief history lesson about an old man and football.
As I’m heading out to pasture after almost 10 years at Tom Voyle Park, I thought I’d share my story here.
I joined the club almost by accident. My daughter played for the women’s team (yes we had one). One day waiting for her to change, I watched the men’s team. They were so short that they were desperate for another body in so Bob came and roped me in to play the rest of the game. I thought that was just a one-off but we all know what happens once TVP has your name...
So I started playing 5 aside for the club in 2011 and 11 aside in 2012 at the tender age of 45.
Dave Hall and Bob were already entrenched in the team when I joined- they are the real long servers.
I also ended up managing the team by accident. The 2nd season I turned up for the muster and only three of us were there. One was the previous manager who said he’s not playing Sunday league anymore so we were on our own. Obviously, I had the word “mug” tattooed onto my forehead.
It was nice to hand over the reins a couple of years ago to Kieran. There is a lot of work behind the scenes that people don’t notice. Committee meetings, working bees and often first to arrive to games and last to leave.
Of course, I did fill in managing one of the teams last year – luckily we had heaps of players (and Kieran kept doing the committee thing).
This year Runty has stepped up to look after the Rangers. The little bu**er is vastly experienced at running teams so I know all will be good.
It’s certainly relaxing to just turn up to play without having to worry about any of the other stuff. Of course we need more people to share the load!
People have come and gone over the years but overall I think we’ve always had a good bunch of guys (with the odd girl) playing for us. We haven’t often been overly successful on the field but some years we have really surprised people. We have always had a good team feel though and that is the most important thing.
It’s a club I’ve been proud to be associated with so thanks to everyone who has graced the blue strip
Lastly I need to acknowledge Judith. She came to games with me, supported me, put up with all the injuries, and been an awesome bar maid. What more could a bloke ask for.
14/03/2021