Coneonlooklivelygiveitsomewellyplaytheballtofeetandstayinposition -you’remeanderingaboutliketheflippinDanubedelta… mackerel sky the little league ref loses his whistle

the groundsman marks where the bye-line will be two magpies

knows he can’t sustain his pace over ninety-odd minutes, that’s he best used in cameos as a last-ditch sub, when his famous mazy dribble might rescue a point. It’s time to do those UEFA badges and turn from the wise old pro into the Gaffer’s right-hand man, to be learnt from, respected, subject to hilarious […]

Hucker rolls it out to Glenn, tall, upright and balanced, who advances into space, his eyes fixed on the movement around and ahead of him, waiting for a team-mate’s diagonal run; then, challenged, his leg steps over, bamboozles, confounds and elicits gasps, as, like a matador, he leaves his opponent for dead.

losing again… the flick of a divot in the linesman’s sprint