July 03, 2006
End of an Era
I have been playing football competitively for over 25 years, since I was just 7 years old. I still remember crying after we lost in that first tournament. I wasn't sure why I cried, but one of the bigger kids, Wayne Roach, cried, and I just copied him, I suppose!
I have played football on 3 continents, and was a member of the all-conquering international team who bossed the prestigious University of North Carolina intra-murals 5-a-side and 7-a-side competitions in 1994-1995. Didn't know that, did you!
Anyway, with the family situation being as it is, I will not have time for footie at weekends, so I am quitting this summer. Here are a few pictures of my 'glittering' career.
Sutton Saints, 1986 or so. Guess which one is me...
3rd place at Nagano , Summer 2006, after being well and truly humped by Niigata in the semi-final. My 7th time at the tournament, and we never managed to win it!
The mighty Saitama Jets after picking up our 2nd Tochigi Tournament trophy in 3 years (beaten on penalties in the final last year)
Picking up the trophy for winning Division Two of the Tokyo Metropolis League. The first-ever league championship in the Saitama Jets' history!
front row,first one on the left.
Posted by: Gianni at July 3, 2006 05:33 PMDoes University of North Carolina intra-murals 5-a-side count as playing football competively?
How about a swan-song in Thailand this November?
Posted by: Paul Donohoe at July 4, 2006 11:56 PMI remember the tears Gary and the ensuing years of football most saturday mornings, as well as watching most games on TV. Dad was involved with the Under 10s team and you won a competition for designing the Lenham Wanderers club badge (you should have put the photo of that in!). Football seemed to take over family life. The end of an era - maybe you can start again when you return to the UK and have babysitters more local.
As a small aside, I had great difficulty in raising Jude for school this morning as he insisted on watching the entire final last night. Only six but going the same way as his Uncle I guess
Posted by: Trudi at July 10, 2006 08:05 PMHow can the football world bear losing Gary G, Nakata and Zidane in the same month. Things will never be the same. At least you managed to quit without giving any buddy a head butt.
Right? I hope so.