You may or may not know that after my frankly sublime performance last Saturday I was struck down with Swine Flu Sunday night. Thankfully I’m over my swine flu now, it was touch and go for a while but I’m made of strong stuff and I pulled through. I think Banksy may of laced my coffee, I went round his Sunday morning to watch the Hatton fight then I’m mysteriously hit with swine flu, somebody call Poirot.So runners up, somebody pinch me! It’s a dreadful cliché but we really have come a long way. It only seems like yesterday that Rob Cooper was scoring a free kick against Hearts Reserve’s (as they were then) and it was that ball nestling in the net that sent us up to division 1. Since then we’ve struggled, not only to get some consistency but sometimes to even get a team. Now Danny has the luxury to rotate (although me and Scotty more than most?!) and rest people. Not just that but we’ve only lost twice in the league all season. This season has been the finest season ever for PBFC and I hope like me, you have really enjoyed it. We started the season strong, in good spirits and we finished in exactly the same fashion. Just as important to me is the fact that we haven’t lost the fantastic team spirit; it’s that team spirit that makes people like Banksy come up to run the line! It has to be, it’s certainly not the flowing football or good looking physio.
I personally think we have a brilliant bunch of lads here at this team, ok I’m bias but then I say this as not only do I looking forward to playing footy with you all week but also you lot are lads I consider some of my best mates. People who I would walk to the end of the earth for, I’m not sure many teams can boast that, I could be wrong but I’ve never experienced it before PB.
As I walked off the pitch against Caxton the other Saturday, I did so with an enormous smile on my face, not because I scored or because Martel has promised to press me in my special place later or Danny throwing a hissy fit after Banksy held onto the ball and played him offside but because I looked around and we finished just the same as we always do, smiles on our faces laughing and joking, only this time we had achieved something. I was also pleased to see that we finished the game with five true stalwarts of the club on the pitch. Myself, Tants, Danny, Kev, Ross have all played over 100 games for the club, then you look at people like Cooper, Banksy, Collins, Birdy & lawsey all over 50 games, and all played a part in that game. Its testament to the spirit of the club, when we weren’t winning we stuck together. As we progressed we have made signings and credit to Danny he has made the right signings, people who have a club mentality and a winning mentality but people who aren’t glory chasers who think they are bigger than the club. You can’t mention the seasons success without saying how well young players have come on, Max has been unbelievable this season especially in the first part of the season. Birdy was scoring for fun and Hunty hit form in the second half of the season, scoring some really important goals. Hunty for the record I’m not classing you as a young player though.
The people who have joined this year have been real assets to both the team and the club, I hope to see them hear next year as they have brought the team on to a higher level and they are already feeling like part of the family.
So what now? We party in true PB style! That’s what!! I notice the jaffer has put something on here about finding my replacement, let me just state it’s not a replacement, it’s a six month secondment with a view to becoming something great. These are metaphorically speaking big shoes to fill so good luck with that. One tip for my successor, don’t miss people off the booking and expect to be out of pocket!
I hope the Wrestling outfits are coming along nicely – mine is pretty much done, I didn’t realise the Ultimate Warrior wore so little…oh well, I refer to criteria number 3 for my job.. no shame!
See ya soon
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