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Another friendly with the Hawk ladies. The good news was that the girls played well and won 3-1, and that the tea hut served excellent burgers and chips. Before the game, Jess asked me where I thought the girls would finish in the league this year.
"Second or third." That didn't please her. She asked who I thought would win the title and I replied Chesham; she said "You're having a giraffe".
On the debit side, plenty of people in our opponents' camp clearly didn't want me around them, though all I was looking for was the names of their players so they could be included in my match report. Their coach was totally uninterested and just told their players "Please all give your names and numbers to this man." Most of them did, but one of the odd couple who got away turned out to play quite a significant role in their team. During half time I went over to ask for the missing names but got nowhere; they clearly just wanted me to clear off. One girl, who wasn't involved today but was standing on the sideline near where their team were gathered, said loudly "We're not telling them our players' names." Charming.
Of course it was the Woman With No Name who scored their last-minute consolation goal. I mentioned it to Trevor; he went over to their coach, who asked the girl to tell Trev her name, and she did - Trev, as the senior club official, has enough clout not to be messed around - but I didn't catch it. I'd had enough of these people and disappeared into the clubhouse for a Magners. Kim arrived ahead of the other girls; I told her what an unfriendly bunch she'd just been playing against, how dispiriting it is to go to a friendly match in women's football, which is meant to be a friendly sport, and get made to feel unwanted, and how I was going to have to put a row of question marks for their goalscorer's name in my report. Kim suggested I call her 'Unidentified Object' and said "You don't need people like that, do you?" She started to offer to buy me a drink until she saw the nearly-full Magners glass beside me.
I think Kim spoke to Lauren, because as I made my way out of the clubhouse towards the exit she stopped me and told the older bloke she was talking to what a great fan of the girls I was, and said "Let's have a hug". When we let go of each other the bloke, spotting my Schalke 04 shirt, said with approval "And he's a Schalke fan, they're my German team." I shook his hand, said goodbye and good luck for next week to Lauren and a group of our girls nearby, and wended my lonely way to the station.
"Second or third." That didn't please her. She asked who I thought would win the title and I replied Chesham; she said "You're having a giraffe".
On the debit side, plenty of people in our opponents' camp clearly didn't want me around them, though all I was looking for was the names of their players so they could be included in my match report. Their coach was totally uninterested and just told their players "Please all give your names and numbers to this man." Most of them did, but one of the odd couple who got away turned out to play quite a significant role in their team. During half time I went over to ask for the missing names but got nowhere; they clearly just wanted me to clear off. One girl, who wasn't involved today but was standing on the sideline near where their team were gathered, said loudly "We're not telling them our players' names." Charming.
Of course it was the Woman With No Name who scored their last-minute consolation goal. I mentioned it to Trevor; he went over to their coach, who asked the girl to tell Trev her name, and she did - Trev, as the senior club official, has enough clout not to be messed around - but I didn't catch it. I'd had enough of these people and disappeared into the clubhouse for a Magners. Kim arrived ahead of the other girls; I told her what an unfriendly bunch she'd just been playing against, how dispiriting it is to go to a friendly match in women's football, which is meant to be a friendly sport, and get made to feel unwanted, and how I was going to have to put a row of question marks for their goalscorer's name in my report. Kim suggested I call her 'Unidentified Object' and said "You don't need people like that, do you?" She started to offer to buy me a drink until she saw the nearly-full Magners glass beside me.
I think Kim spoke to Lauren, because as I made my way out of the clubhouse towards the exit she stopped me and told the older bloke she was talking to what a great fan of the girls I was, and said "Let's have a hug". When we let go of each other the bloke, spotting my Schalke 04 shirt, said with approval "And he's a Schalke fan, they're my German team." I shook his hand, said goodbye and good luck for next week to Lauren and a group of our girls nearby, and wended my lonely way to the station.
