Introduction & Background
On Monday 19th May 2014 I fulfilled one of my dreams of playing eleven a side football at Elland Road Stadium, the home of my home town football club Leeds United.
In early January 2014 I had a conversation with my friend and football team-mate David Benn who approached me about the possibility of potentially playing football in a tournament at Elland Road in May of 2014.
At first it was just a thought and it was more a case of finding other players who were genuinely interested in fulfilling a dream of playing at Elland Road. After we learned more about the details of the proposed tournament, I agreed to part company with £120 to play my part at Elland Road and David did the rest, managing to get a full squad together, mainly made up of Inter Mi Lager players and Olympique players from my five a side football team.
From a personal point of view, my preparation for giving myself the best chance to perform well at Elland Road was very disruptive. At the back end of March I was probably the fittest I had ever been in terms of all round fitness and core strength and I always planned to take a four to six weeks break from football as I was due to run the London Marathon in mid April. This break however, ended up longer than planned after I suffered a slight foot injury playing for Inter Mi Lager 5 a side just weeks before the marathon.
I ran London Marathon, came out of it injury free, I was then due to make a football comeback for Inter Mi Lager in May but that had to be scrapped as I injured my leg in the official 'training match' for our Elland Road tournament, just two weeks before the actual event which was very disappointing.
Although my leg wasn't strong enough to withstand an impact from a tackle or a pass, I was able to run through the pain, so I ran the Leeds Half Marathon as planned the week before the tournament and although I had a problem with my IT Band rubbing against my knee (initially caused by walking the Yorkshire Three Peaks two weeks earlier) I was confident I was fit enough to play at Elland Road. My only concern was whether I was 'football fit' and would be able to play my natural dribbling game on such a huge pitch.
My cousin's Michael and Matthew Stephenson also lined up along side me.
As we arrived at the stadium, it was clear to see a lot of players, both in our squad and other squad's were nervous and had butterflies in their stomach's. Although there were going to be thousands of empty seats in the stadium, it was still a big occasion and a daunting prospect for us all, no one wanted to embarrass themselves at Elland Road, every wanted to make a good account of themselves.
Personally I felt a bit nervous, traditionally I have always been someone who gets nervous before I play competitive sport, but over the years, at 29 now I have learned to control my nerves and turn it into excitement instead and use them to my advantage and usually it brings the best out of me.
As an adult amateur sportsman I feel like I am making up for lost time and I always get excited about the prospect of playing sport and expressing myself, especially when there are people watching where as when I was a kid I was always too nervous and was scared about what people would think if I made a mistake so I often shone away from the action. I still care about what people think but I just go out and express myself now and I love it.
So as we were called into the 'home LUFC' dressing room to get changed into our kit it all began to get real and the buzz was amazing, we all had nervous energy but we were all in it together.
As we lined up in the tunnel for our first game with Marching On Together playing out loud we all pumped each other up & did the usual pre-match rituals but this time, we felt like we were proper 'pros'. It was also great to see our team organiser and captain David Benn walking out at the front with his son.
My Position: Left Wing-Back
The first game was pretty nerve racking and it was just important on a personal level to get that first touch over with. I received a pass by David Benn early on at wing back and thankfully it was a pretty good touch but I was under pressure and I had to flick it back to David Benn.
We were under pressure quite a bit early on and I was doing more defensive duties than anything else and we found ourselves 2-0 down. It was a very hot day and the sun was shining down and I was surprised how out of breath I was early on. But I soon got my rythem and I made a couple of good inside passes to mid-fielders Wayne Stephenson and Andy Todd.
I then had a lucky escape as a pass out wide to me by Andy Todd, which usually is a second nature touch by me I almost lost control due to the nerves and actually slightly ran it out but the referee didn't notice. Minutes later I finally felt I had arrived in the game and I took a player on with my trademark double touch move ( see picture below ) and dribbled past another two players and managed to win a corner.
Moments later a through ball saw our striker Andy Duffield taken out in the box as he latched onto it and a penalty was awarded which was converted by Andy himself. I then substituted myself but we lost our first game 2-1, mainly due to a poor start, we were the better team for most of the second part of the game.
My Position: Left Wing
I started this game in my favoured out and out left wing position as the first game didn't seem to work with having three centre backs and two wing backs and this is the game where I feel I well and truly made myself known in the tournament on a personal level.
I began like a house on fire and my first touch of the game within minutes of kick off I stormed down the left side dribbling past three players and hitting a left footed (my weaker foot) cross into the box but the attack was snuffed out. Moments later I went on a similar run down the left and played a nice one-two with Wayne Stephenson only for the ball to be booted into the stands by the Rebels' defence.
Despite some good attacking play, we did leave ourselves open at the back and on one attack I tried desperately to get back to prevent a goal and frustratingly my tackle attempt backfired and a looping cross found his team-mate who acrobatically scored a great finish much to out frustration. We suddenly found ourselves two goals down and our only answer was to keep attacking.
I again had a great run down the left after link up play with Andy Duffield but the attacks were getting snuffed out around the box. Towards the end of the game, we gained our second penalty of the tournament after Rebels' defender hand balled it in his own area. Jon Pearson who's shot he hand balled slotted home the penalty for consolation.
See some pictures of me in action down the left flank below.
My Position: Left Wing
This game really was a game of two halves. We began brightly the first 10 minutes and we threatened the eventual champions Balls Deep FC on several occasions.
On a personal level I began pretty well, making some good darting runs down the left side and had several link up moves with Andy Duffield, Wayne Stephenson and Jonny Roberts. I also found myself in with a goalscoring chance after beating two players going into the box but the fact that I had a chance to score at Elland Road must have got to me and I predictively hit it straight at the goalkeeper, I knew straight away I had bottled it, haha.
I substituted myself off to give someone else some game time but I soon found myself back on again. Defensively and as a unit and a whole team we found ourselves wanting and we lost 3-0 in what was a disappointing performance after a promising first five to ten minutes.
My Position: Left Midfield
Game Four was probably our worst performance in attack, we just never seemed to get going and we were under pressure for much of the game. We were up against the eventual runners-up Unicorn FC and they did have some good attacking players in their line-up.
There wasn't much from any of us in attack to be honest, although from a personal point of view, my highlight was when I tackled one of their defenders who was messing about on the ball and I went on a run towards the goal hitting a shot with my left foot only for it to deflect out for a corner, I think it was slightly going wide anyway so it was a good end product.
I had another decent moment when I chased the ball to touchline evading a tackle to clip a good high ball in the middle for Jon Pearson but all in all, I didn't have many opportunities and my IT Band began slightly rubbing due to all the intense sprints I have been doing on such a large pitch.
TEAM PHOTO IN FRONT OF THE KOP:
My Position: Striker
For our last game we decided to play me up front as a striker, kind of a second striker playing off the experienced Andy Duffield who is great at holding up the ball. We also figured that instead of me dribbling past two or three players and then finding it hard to pick someone out, I could be more dangerous up front trying to latch onto over the top or through balls in behind the defence with my pace and simply just having to beat one defender instead of two or three.
My IT Band was rubbing in the last game so I was very pleased to be playing up front meaning less running for me. It was frustrating at times playing up top, especially because in the first half of the game we were pretty much defending and I rarely saw the ball come my way.
Leeds 12 Utd to be fair, should have been three or four goals up but for some good saves from stand in goalkeeper Jonny Roberts, a couple of bad misses and a penalty miss. But we kept plugging away and as the game wore on we began finding some big holes in the LS12 defence. It was first exploited when Andy Duffield charged through to win a corner. I took my third corner of the game and I felt it was my best yet, I took a further two corners from either side and really enjoyed it.
With about five or six minutes remaining, Duffield knocked a great ball to me into the box to feet and quick thinking I turned their defender clean inside the box and hit the shot blind with my stronger right foot but it just whistled over the bar, my best chance to score and it was so close.
Moments later another great midfield attack saw Matt Walker play the ball to me just inside the box and I cushioned the ball into the path of a surging Wayne Stephenson who evaded a slide tackle and a sliding out 'keeper to slot the ball home to secure our first and only victory in the tournament.
It was a great moment and a victory we felt we deserved after all the effort we put in.
PICTURE BELOW:
I WAS TALKING TACTICS WITH LEE MANNING AS MATTHEW STEPHENSON LISTENED IN, WE WORE A BLUE KIT IN OUR LAST GAME TO DUE A KIT CLASH.
Leeds12 Utd 0 Balls Deep 1
Unicorn 1 Reaney’s Rebels 0
Team Power 2 Inter Mi Lager 1
Leeds12 Utd 2 Unicorn 2
Balls Deep 3 Team Power 1
Reaney’s Rebels 2 Inter Mi Lager 1
Unicorn 3 Team Power 1
Leeds12 Utd 0 Reaney’s Rebels 1
Balls Deep 3 Inter Mi Lager 0
Leeds12 Utd 2 Team Power 0
Balls Deep 4 Reaney’s Rebels 0
Unicorn 2 Inter Mi Lager 0
Reaney’s Rebels 1 Team Power 0
Leeds12 Utd 0 Inter Mi Lager 1
Balls Deep 0 Unicorn 0
CHAMPIONS: Balls Deep FC
RUNNERS-UP: UNICORN FC
A special mention has to go to David Benn, picture above with his son on his shoulder's at Elland Road. He put in a great deal of time and effort to make this whole thing possible and here are some words from the man himself.
''I first found out about the Elland Road event in January 2014 having previously considered attending events of a similar nature.
At this time I approached a few of my friends with the objective of entering potentially half a team. Things escalated quickly and it soon became apparent we could enter a full team into the tournament.
Discussions with the formal organiser (Football for Fans Ltd - Jeff Garner) were ongoing and he had concerns that the interest level was not going to be sufficient and that the very existence of the event was in serious jeopardy.
Utilising my existing contacts I set about trying to find as many players as possible.
It culminated in successfully arriving at three full teams being entered and the final count was around 50 players found overall for the event.
Running out on the pitch at Elland Road made the countless telephone calls, emails and group messages worthwhile.
For many people, myself included, playing at Elland Road is something which we feel professional footballers take lightly, and by having the tournament organised, it helped to achieve a childhood dream for many of the playing squad.
The tournament was well organised, played in the right spirit and each game remained competitive, and I was lucky enough to have a lifetime memory of running out of the tunnel to our famous Marching on Together anthem, accompanied by my 17 month old son, with my partner and mother watching on keenly in the stadium.
I, for one, cannot wait until next year where there is a distinct possibility that there will be two tournaments played at Elland Road - next time it would be nice to cap it off with a tournament win, but perhaps I am being greedy!''
MOT.
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Now back to me,
To conclude the day we all congratulated the winners and runners-up as the trophies were presented by Leeds United Legend Paul Reaney before we all went over the road to the Wetherspoons Peacock pub and shared our experiences with one another over a few pints, just what it is all about.
Next Year??? Watch this space...
Thanks for reading and please feel free to share or leave a comment. Richard
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Another special mention must go to Daniel Wilkinson (pictured below) who was the official photographer at the event. Daniel produced some amazing quality photos so we could all remember the event. For a great price of £10 he produced an 18 minutes long DVD with soundtracks and a CD with every single photo on for us to keep. All but two of the photos on this blog were shot by Dan.
THANKS DAN :-)