Heavy Breathing

Wednesday 30th June, Burridge Recreation Ground – Twenty of us were stood on the yellow tinged grass, listening to Paul Dyke explain how he was going to run things as Burridge manager. I didn't recognise half of them. When I arrived in the car park earlier I was convinced I'd gate-crashed another team's training session. I took out the cones and footballs from the boot of my Peugeot and walked towards them to find out. It wasn't until I noticed several amongst them wearing black and white Burridge training shirts before being certain I was in the right place.

Two of them were being worn by Ryan Jones and Sam Hewitt. Neither of them are yet to turn 21. They spoke with some of the new younger faces about their holiday in Zante, an island off the Greek peninsula, where other young people stay up all night having fun. Their conversation served as vivid reminder of the ten year age gap between us, the grey hair that frames my temples, and the aches and pains I have begun to accumulate, as opposed to get over these days.

Lee Fielder and Ben Rowe greeted each by wrestling one another to the ground. The reasons why were never made clear, although their motives for doing so seemed nothing other than cordial. With neither of them able to gain the upper hand they fumbled for grip on each other's clothes, as I wondered if anybody else, particularly those present who had never met either of these two before, thought that they resembled a drunk couple who were too eager to bother with foreplay.

Dyke wore a support bandage around his knee. "We'll be training here every week until the season begins in September," he began. "If you're not at training I can't guarantee you'll be in the team.” Pre-season games were arranged at Whiteley throughout August. He told us that he wouldn't name any more than three substitutes for league games, on account of being unable according to the rules of making any more than three substitutions per game. On today's attendance that would leave six who would not be required, without even taking last season's captain Kristian Hewitt into consideration, who was on holiday in Swanage. Competition for first team places had already begun.

After spending five minutes stretching, we ran laps around the cricket pitch in pairs. Dyke joined us. On his command the back two would sprint to the front of the line, or the front two would sprint to the back of the line. Whatever we did we were supposed to do fast, or as fast as we could. This went on for fifteen minutes, it felt like longer. The final two laps were to be run flat out. Many, including myself, were just that once we had finished. It was still hot and few people spoke. Those who hadn't bought their own refreshments searched the grouping of sport bags to the side of the pitch for water. I pointed them in the direction of the eight club bottles I'd filled from my kitchen tap. Sam Hewitt made a face when he drank from one. He questioned whether I'd actually replaced the contents of the bottles since our last game against Durley over six weeks ago. I didn't answer.

The cardiovascular work continued for over an hour. Dyke walked up and down to inspect what we were doing, offering his encouragement whilst telling us to carry out the exercises at our own speed. Our hard work was rewarded with shooting practise at a makeshift set of goalposts that Dyke had made from two length of white plastic piping. Two new goalkeepers took turns to face our shots. In the absence of any goal net, the tall hedge row behind the goal took the occasional battering.

Next was a game between current players and new.

Despite approaching his third season with the club, Marc Judd was made captain of the newcomers by Paul Dyke. During the game I was too tired to make any real assessment of the ability of the new players I was up against. My opposing number maintained a position on his right wing. On several occasions he voiced his unhappiness about his team mates not giving sufficient support to whoever had the ball. He would have his back to me facing his own goal when calling for a pass. Each time it was fed into his feet I wrestled with the urge to send him flying with the kind of meaty tackle from behind that the experts on television call cynical.

Football is often called the beautiful game, but I've always thought it can be a very ugly one too. On this occasion I didn't give into temptation. The game was competitive but not spiteful. The current players edged it by two goals to one. Playing any competitive sport is a great deal easier if you're relatively fit, but despite the diets and the fads that tell you otherwise, short-cuts to becoming so still remain very much elusive.


Burridge 2009/2010 Honours

Players' player of the year: Sam Hewitt
Manager's player of the year: Bryn Schwodler
Clubman of the year: Ryan Jones

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Running scared?

Reflecting on Burridge's pre season training so far.....



Not all Burridge players enjoy running. Paul Andrews certainly doesn't. A three mile run could put his back out for weeks, but so could a walk down the shops. He along with over half the twenty man squad are over 30 years old, so when this year's pre-season training concentrated on short sprints, instead of long runs along Netley's stony beach, there was a collective sigh of relief. With a month of training now under their belts, Burridge have 8 pre-season games in 24 days, before the start of the Drew Smith Southampton League season.

As always, optimism at the club is rife. What it's actually based on isn't entirely clear. Finishing one place above the relegation zone last season was in stark contrast to the runners-up spot the sport's pages of the Southern Daily Echo had predicted. Players at the club have never been shy in sharing their personal expectations for the season ahead. Anyone banking on them ever coming to pass runs the risk of dying disappointed.

When Bryn Schwodler, returning to the club two years ago after a spell at Romsey Town, said he was going to take the Southampton League by storm, it was assumed that he meant by some energetic displays on the wing, and perhaps a handful of goals, rather than an 84 day suspension from the Hampshire FA , for reacting to his sending off against BTC by throwing a chewed wad of Wrigley's gum in the direction of the referee's goatee beard.

Exactly how fit the squad is remains to be seen. While improvements in fitness have been made, in well attended training sessions, some players have been totally spent of their energies when it gets to the six inch leg lifts. This exercise involves lying flat on your back and lifting both legs together six inches into the air for various intervals of time. Those who've been able to do this exercise have withstood it for longer periods of time as the weeks have gone on, with some now able to keep up with manager Pete Lyons. He is 53 years old.

Press-ups force upon each player an unwelcome insight into the most personal aspect of their colleague's private lives. Players are lined up closely together, lifting themselves off the low wooden fenced perimeter of Netley country park. Arms shake as they push themselves up straight, while contorted facial expressions give way to barely contained grunts of toil on each unsteady thrust. Many player's partners have recently given birth, or are due to. Faced with this grisly display of press-ups, one is left to assume that conceiving a child is far more straight forward than some people would have you believe.

Training is always finished with a match. Any of the dog walkers unfortunate enough to witness one of these games would have legitimate reason to believe that an adult game of statues was taking place, such is the amount of time the ball is lost in thick thorn branches. The league's decision to make the senior division larger means more games. Taking into account the upcoming friendlies and cup games, Burridge could play up to forty matches in 2009/10. Any players wanting to be in contention to play in a significant number of these games will need to remain fit. A spot of running could well do the trick.