Well, thats its. The hard work paid off and we didn’t just break the record, we smashed it to bits. An amazing 40 hours after we kicked off, we blew the final whistle at 5 past midnight, meaning that our game played in three different days.
Stunning.
Early nerves meant I was up at 5am for a 7am kick off, so getting around half of the ten hours sleep that was recommended. Most of the lads showed up in one big group wearing suits and matching ties as if it was the FA Cup final. It set the tone for the day. Great team work, camaraderie and humour that, for me, sums up the last 6 months.
We kicked off a little late and most of the next 40 hours are a little bit of a blur. The best way to describe is like a wedding day. There are hundreds of people that you want to speak with and chat to and thanks for being there, but you end up missing loads of people and hoping you didn’t offend. Its like that, but your playing football.
So, let me share with you my thoughts and memories of the great day/days. (Everything hurts tonight, so apologies for the short form!)
-> Kicking off at such a pace that I was worried that I would struggle to last foe the first 1hour 20 stretch I was due to play, never mind, 40 hours.
-> Just another thank you to the guys at the Lucozade Powerleague Soccerdome. It was getting to the point in the build up that we were asking for more and more stupid things from them to find out at what point their hospitality would end. They were amazing.
-> A special thanks to Richard Holmes mum, Peta. She pulled me to one side and told me that she had been at the venue before kick off to get some shots of the outside for the video editing we need to get done. She said at 5am, when she got there, there was a perfect Rainbow over the top of the venue. I’m not sure why, but I took great comfort from that, It felt like my Dad was watching over us somehow.
-> Steve Shaw, @magichands28, introduced me to a new word for hard shots. Blammers. He told us to stop doing them for around 38 of the 40 hours we played and we still ignored him.
-> We would not have completed the event without our team of physics that were on hand at all hours. In the daze I don’t even know some of their names, but Steve Shaw, Nick Gilkes and Kelly Horne amongst others, allowed us to end up with 16 men standing on their feet and so, without them, I don’t think we could have made it. In fact, I know we couldn’t have made it.
-> The night session was by far the hardest part to get through. I think without the thought of bacon sarnies being on order from Clementine Catering, we might have had more casualties in the dark hours.
-> Tucked into my sleeping bag, shivering and hurting, at 1am, I was ready to give up. At the very same moment those thoughts were starting to get into my head Andy Sherwood patted me on the shoulder and just said, “I think we will do this mate”. Exactly what I needed, exactly when I needed it. I love Andy. I never heard one person openly expressing a single bit of negativity on any mater….the set up, the organisations, the timings of subs or if we could.would do it. Considering the pressures and strains that our bodies were under, this was amazing and testament to the 16 lads that nearly broke themselves for me.
-> All the way through the event, I was asking all the lads how they were and if they had any niggles. I spoke with Phil and asked what was up as he looked like hell. He said he was fine but I knew something was up so pushed him….he admitted that he didn’t like getting beat. This was around 11am saturday and scores must have been in the 4 to 5 hundred level. I don’t think we ever got more than 15-20 goals apart and the lead changed frequently. Phil loves winning.
-> I remember thinking that when when Tim Scored his personal 150th goal of the event, I wish I could do cartwheels at the best of times, never mind after 36 hours of football.
-> I remember after around 35 hours, just before I hit my dark spot, trying to talk to Homo as we were on court and the look of confusion on his face trying to work out what the hell I was talking about!
-> I remember asking Ash Pickup if he was ok, after he had been to hospital with concussion, if he was ok. His eyes were gone there was no life in his face at all and he said…”Im fine, im not going anywhere”. Im not sure if he meant to scare me, but he did. That man is absolutely nails.
-> Nick Gilkes turned up and asked me which physios were turning up when and for how long. I admitted that I hadn’t sorted that side of things out so he told me to forget about it and get on playing football. I remember asking coming back off the pitch and Nick pulling me to one side and saying that he had a rota in place and we were covered. I couldn’t not have been more grateful if he had bought a ginger wig and okayed the last 30 hours for me in my place.
-> I went to Nick (im not being paid for all of these Nick stories by the way) for advice on what time to set for the close. We were going strong at the end and, in my view, we could have gone on for a few hours more, a few days more maybe if we had reduced that pace to more sensible level rather than breakneck as we seemed intent on playing. He left it in my court but pointed out that the worst thing we could do was to trail to an end at some small hour of the day with no one watching us and it feel flat. Aim for 40 hours, then celebrate a great day. The record may not stand forever, but the memories and the achievement will and the fundraising is whats we were there for. Sound advice and much appreciated.
-> One of the personal highlights for me was a man that came over and introduced himself to me on the Saturday morning. It turned out that he was a former colleague of my fathers when he was in the police force and he wanted to come down and support us as he had seen us on TV. We chatted about my Dad and I heard a few stories about him ‘back in the day’. Priceless.
-> I don’t want to single players out, I intend to post another entry to do that later in the week, but what a man Matt Newsum is. He didn’t join in with the build uo until 2 weeks before the event and so started 7 months lateen training. He was there at the end though, working like hell and STILL apologising for the most minor of mistakes (such as not running 30 yards to pick up another of my misplaced passes). Top man.
-> Matt, Pete Cheyne, Rich Holmes and Simon Pryde all had injuries that I thought would have taken them out of the running at some point…..then we had Ash with his Concussion. If they had all dropped out that would have left the teams as 6 v 5 and so the Yellows having no subs. They all played on.
-> I hit a wall just before the 37 hour mark. At that point I knew that we would make the record and my head went. I started thinking about why we were there and how proud my dad would have been. It would have been perfect, but I would have swapped it all to have him back. Thats what got into my head, thats what took me down. I was buried in a sleeping bag, towel over my head, breaking apart very slowly. I had my moment and good men like Steve Agar, Stephen Dodgeson and Stephen Briggs refused to let me stay down, pretty much forced me back up and onto the pitch. They were right, and Im glad for their support and always will be.
Apologies if I havnt included you on this post, im a little broken tonight, I will reread and correct errors when I can, but let me know if you want me to cover anything I’ve missed. I think thats about all I have time for tonight. The chaffing caused by shin pads worn for 40 hours appears to be more painful that having a physio ran her elbow into your soul directly through your arse cheek so I’m off to bed now for more sleep and Chinese food induced wind issues…..which have to be better than Richard Holmes Lucozade/electrolite drink based wind issues that almost brought play to a stop more than once.
Good night.
