5 a side football opinion piece in guardian

Post 2006 UEFA Final we set up a FMTTM Stockport based weekly 5 a side game. Originally all Boro fans living in the NW (at the peak was about 20? of us), was competitive but friendly. Play footy, have a beer afterwards and chat about Boro. Mixed ability, good craic. Most of us are still in touch now

Think we only had one serious injury - mate of one of the lads broke his leg with an innocuous coming together.

There were a couple of randoms turned up, slide tackling, booting lumps out of people.....but they were never seen again. Knobheads, must be an unwritten rule for 5 a side.

We had a former Man City trainee play with us.....'kin hell. Always played within himself, apart from when his team was 3-4 down with a couple of minutes to go then "bang" he'd knock 5 in to win.......bstard.
 
In terms of playing 5 aside I was never nasty in the tackle, but I was quite rough in terms of shoulder barge or easing someone off the ball, I was more competitive with myself than anyone, I'd shout and scream if something I did didn't pay off, I know it's just a game but I'm quite competitive.
 
bendylikemendi said:
This was around the same time I played in a league there. The fact that most of the refs were on day release from Kirklevington Grange tended to help keep a lid on disciplinary issues.
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Think I originally played more mid to late 00s. There was a brummie ref there (think he was called Andy) and he was class. Took no nonsense, quite a big middle aged fella. Looked like he could handle himself.

We played a team of proper horrible little chavs, kicking us off the ball all match and generally just being chewy little *****. Ref did nowt.

We had a bit of a moan to reception after. They promised they'd give us the brummie for the return fixture. Think he sent one off after about 5 mins. They were good as gold during their subsequent drubbing after that. 😂
 
festa5 said:
Think I originally played more mid to late 00s. There was a brummie ref there (think he was called Andy) and he was class. Took no nonsense, quite a big middle aged fella. Looked like he could handle himself.

We played a team of proper horrible little chavs, kicking us off the ball all match and generally just being chewy little *****. Ref did nowt.

We had a bit of a moan to reception after. They promised they'd give us the brummie for the return fixture. Think he sent one off after about 5 mins. They were good as gold during their subsequent drubbing after that. 😂
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There was one ref we had who we only knew as 'scouse' - took absolutely no nonsense at all, but we got to know him quite well after a while. Turned out he had been convicted for armed robbery 😳
 
It was always the hypocrisy of certain players that annoyed me. I've played in various 5/6 a side set ups over the years. There's always someone who has a go at you for shooting...when they them selves do it all the time (to no success). Or they pass their man onto you when you're already marking someone else then blaming you for not picking them up! Over the years I've broken my hand, torn my thigh muscle, done my knee and gone over on my ankle countless times. So many sessions at NHS or private physio. I called time on it last year as I was the worst player I have my dignity!
 
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