' The Fever Pitch of five-a-side' TONY PARSONSA must-have for anyone who has ever played & enjoyed amateur football James Brown has been playing football since growing up in the backstreets of Leeds The sudden death of one of his long-standing team mates made James ponder the unique bond between men who meet each other once a week for years but don't know any personal details beyond pitch prowess Five-a-Side football is where you play the beautiful game for love not money You play it for life & you play it everywhere Your kit is damp & your legs are a leopard's back of bruises Shirts are often tight around the belly with your hero's name plastered across your shoulder blades The showers are too cold in winter & too hot in summer Your used sports bag stays unpacked in the hall & your water bottles are under the kitchen sink The post-match warm down takes place in the pub As does the match analysis By contrast the warm up is non-existent Your performance is patchy & maybe not what it used to be But we all still think we played great Five-a-Side is sporting Karaoke
- a time & place to live out our dreams This is a book for all of us
- school mates work colleagues total strangers
- bonded by the desire to blast one into the net from two feet away