All Things Football

I was going to call it 'All Things Soccer' for some reason... For one moment, I came over all American... Luckily I came to my senses.

I don't think this refereeing comeback is going to happen. I sent an e-mail on Monday that got no reply, sent another on Wednesday to a different member of the refereeing department that got no reply, and then decided to ring them on Friday. They did pick up the phone, (which at least proves they are there!), but upon me telling them I wished to re-register, followed by my name, there was a long and hallowed silence. So much so, that I had to say that strange, "Hello?" in a tone that suggested you may have lost signal, or been hung up on. Neither had happened, but something tells me I am not forgotten in that place. Eventually, I was told that the manager would ring me back "ASAP, in case there is any trouble". What does that mean? "In case there is any trouble?" Like I'm going to ring them to express my interest in registering once more and then verbally threaten them and their families? What were they expecting?

It also goes without saying - They never rang me back. I'll wait until Tuesday to ring again, and then give up if they palm me off once more. I'd have received the message by then!

However, with my officiating comeback hanging in the balance, I did at least make another comeback to compensate this morning. I noticed a wee message on Twitter about how the mighty Mowsbury Athletic were lacking a keeper, so went downstairs to wake up Father Mitten and announce that I wanted to come out of retirement, albeit temporarily. Glad to get another keeper on board, he said yes of course, and this morning I donned the gloves in a triumphant 2-1 victory against Kempston Hammers. Times have changed since I left in the early Summer of 2011. Having gained promotion from Division 3 to Division 2, they got promoted once more in the 2011-12 season up to Division 1, carrying on the remarkable record of getting promoted in every season they have played in. They are also doing well this season, now sitting 2nd, one point off the leaders with a game in hand on the team behind them - so another promotion may well be on the cards.

The game itself was a good one. The standard had increased dramatically from the heady days of Divisions 4 and 5 that I remember when the side first started up. Both teams wanted to get the ball down and pass it around which meant good viewing. I had my first shot to save a few minutes in which was a pretty tame effort straight at me, (which was friendly of them!), but conceded not long after as their striker raced on to a through ball and slotted past me, off the post, and into the net. 1-0 down but there wasn't a lot I could do about it. After another chance for Kempston that I saved from point-blank range, we equalised about 10 minutes later, after a header from left-winger Shaun Cafferty, but almost immediately, their Number 9 broke through on goal again, only to be bought down by our centre-back, Dean Leydon, who saw a red card being pointed in his direction. I made a good save from the resulting free-kick, but we went in at half-time on level terms, but one man down.

In the second half, and the low sun in my eyes, we started well as makeshift centre-back Aaron Baxter raced on to a through ball after a mazy run and chipped over the opposition keeper to give us an invaluable 2-1 lead to defend. I made another one-on-one save along with a couple of other regulation stops as Kempston attacked us looking for an equaliser. Their closest effort came from 20 yards out, a rasping shot that I simply watched crash against the crossbar and bounce out. That particular effort was right above my head so I really should have made some attempt to save it... Why I simply stood and watched it, I don't know, but luckily it didn't go in and we held on to win 2-1.

Did I enjoy it? I'd say so. But I found myself getting a bit edgy in the 2nd half, nervous of making a mistake and possibly wanting it to end. Aswell as the nerves from last night, where I went back to my old habits of inventing scenarios that may or may not happen. I distinctly remember wondering how gutted and annoyed I'd be if I picked up a serious injury and missed the cricket season because of it. They are similar feelings that I felt towards the end of my 1st stretch as the goalkeeper of Mowsbury Athletic, and I'm not sure if I want to feel these feelings every Saturday evening. I get the impression that they won't have a keeper for the rest of the season, so they expect me to commit to the remaining few months. Next week, they play Renhold, the old arch-rivals, and I think everyone now expects me to step in. I'm not too sure I want to though. We shall see!

I enjoyed this morning though, once the initial nerves were out the way! As Father Mitten said, "Better than staying in bed!"