90 Minutes Is Not Enough

by Robert Mann

  5

  One Out Of Two Isn't Bad

  It was early July as the Mercedes purred its way up the M6. Terrance relaxed in the luxurious leather seats whilst his boss silent for a change had the accelerator hard to the floor in the fast lane loving the feeling of speed and power that this thoroughbred of car conjured up! Back in Redbourne pre season training had just started being taken by Terrance’s very capable assistant Steve Hayter. Terrance was itching to get back into the swing of things and would be out there leading by example on his return from this northern excursion!

  As the miles slipped away Terrance’s thoughts were inevitably drawn to the new season. The thought of pitting his skills against experienced league managers with the squad of players he had nurtured and developed over the last two years really excited him and he couldn’t wait for the opening day’s fixture which was but a short trip down the M5 to play Bristol Rovers, perennial underachievers in the league themselves but still a team that was full of experienced pros. Terrance’s thoughts were interrupted by Miles’ car phone going just as the motorway sign flashed by, showing Carlisle still to be some fifty miles distant. The caller was Dickie Blisset’s agent with bad news. The plan had been to meet player and agent in a travel lodge on the edge of Carlisle where a formal offer would be put on the table! Miles listened as the agent explained that the deal was off. Dickie had just signed a two year contract with Oldham Athletic. The agent explained apologetically that Dickie was getting slightly better terms than what Redbourne had offered him and also he would be playing Division One football. He would also not need to move from his present home having strong family ties up north!

  Miles was furious taking the player’s refusal as a personal insult against him and Redbourne Rovers not to mention the wasted journey! He let Dickie’s agent know this in no uncertain terms then hung up!

  Terrance was more reflective though he certainly didn’t want players signing for Redbourne Rovers who didn't really want to be there and thus spoiling what had been a superb team spirit that he had fostered and developed in their Championship winning season from the Conference.

  The next morning the two of them headed over to Manchester City's youth team set up at the very impressive Platt Lane Training Complex to meet Terry Pauls, his parents and his agent. Terrance was instantly impressed by the attitude of this young footballer and his keenness to succeed in what was a fiercely competitive industry. Terry knew all about Redbourne Rovers and quizzed Terrance at length about the club's ambitions and his chances of playing regularly in the first team. Terrance spoke passionately and eloquently about how he expected his team to play football and the team spirit that he had evolved over the last couple of years. At the end of a discussion that must have gone for the best part of half an hour Terrance looked Terry in the eyes and said

  "If you can show me the desire and hunger I believe you have plus a few goals you will have no problem holding down a first team place!"

  Terry's parents then took over asking Miles and Terrance collectively about lodging arrangements for Terry should he sign. They had been expecting this and Terrance already had the answer which he had discussed with Ashleyene before he left for this trip up north. They had a spare room and would be more than happy to offer this young man use of it for the foreseeable future should he sign for Redbourne Rovers.

  Finally it was the turn of Terry's agent and Miles. The contract that Miles had got his lawyer to draw up was produced. Terry's agent asked for a short period of time to read it and discuss the terms with his client and his parents. Miles and Terrance all smiles went into the player’s canteen for coffee whilst they waited for a decision. After a wait of about twenty minutes the agent came back in to find them smiling, greeting them with the words

  "Gentlemen we have a deal"

  Both Terrance and Miles were delighted to have got their man. Terry would travel down within the next forty-eight hours with his parents and would be unveiled at a press conference to be arranged later in the week where he would sign a three-year deal. Two days latter Terry Pauls was unveiled officially as a Redbourne Rovers player and handed the number 14 shirt in the squad to make his own. This had been vacant for just over six months when the previous incumbent Frank Mcevoy had to retire after breaking his leg in training on medical advice! Terrance introduced Terry Pauls to the rest of the squad at training the next day.

  Training was gradually being stepped up with the first pre season friendly being just round the corner. Terrance and his coaching staff worked their players hard on the field and in the gym. Most of them had kept themselves in reasonable shape during the summer so it was really a case of fine-tuning them and getting their bodies used to the rigours of playing ninety minutes of football again week in week out. The team had seven friendlies to play over a period of a month before the season kicked off away at Bristol Rovers. Terrance had a squad of eighteen players and was determined to get a good look at all of them during this set of games, despite that in his head he was pretty sure of his preferred starting eleven!

  The friendly that had attracted most interest was away at Cheltenham on the Saturday before the season started. This had been the brainchild of Miles to play their hosts for the season to come that were a league higher than them as a good public relations exercise. The gate receipts were to be split equally and it would be a good practice run for Redbourne in transporting their fans down to Whaddon Road although this time they would be the away team! The other friendlies were mainly against conference teams plus an away trip to Walsall who had just dropped into the basement division of the football league much to their disgust!

  The team's form over the first six friendlies had been decidedly moderate but to say the least with one win, four defeats and a draw. Terrance was pleased with the one draw away at Walsall which proved to him that the team could compete when they got it right at a higher level but he was not paying too much significance to results at this stage. He was gauging physical fitness levels which was always a bit of a balancing act plus getting the team back into playing the style of football that they had been renowned for last season. One player that had impressed him during these three weeks of pre season though was young Terry Pauls. He had been a revelation in the three full games he had played scoring two superb strikes from outside of the area and fitting in amazingly quickly with the rest of the team who were starting to love this young red haired midfield dynamo that showed no fear or respect to opposing players! Already fans could be seen walking round Redbourne with the number 14 home shirt with the name Pauls on the back!

  The Saturday of the last pre season friendly dawned with fine blue skies and threatened to be a scorcher. The hard working ticket office staff had sold two hundred tickets for the Cheltenham game and the club expected about four hundred fans to make the short trip. A fleet of eight coaches had been booked for the short journey in reality what was a dry run for when the season started proper. By midday there was a large contingent of Redbourne fans waiting in the large public car park in the centre of town for the free transport to turn up. The coaches turned up in twos and threes and fans swiftly began boarding, each coach having a volunteer steward aboard. Soon the windows were festered with scarves and a large Redbourne flag graced the back window as they began what would be a familiar journey for the season to come.

  The team made what would be their last journey without a proper team coach. Miles’ personal gift to the team for their promotion would be their own team coach. It was due to be delivered to the club the following week in time for their first game of the season and was decked out in the team colours. However for the short trip to Cheltenham they travelled in a minibus and two cars.

  For a pre season friendly there was a respectable turn out of fans from both teams as the two teams ran out, Redbourne Rovers getting a rousing welcome from a sizable travelling contingent situated in The Carlsberg Stand behind one of the goals. Terrance had picked his intended starting line up for Bristol Rovers, the following Sat
urday to start the game. Up in the home director's box sat Miles watching the game with the Cheltenham chairman, as his guest. He watched with satisfaction and a huge degree of pride as Redbourne gave their neighbours from a higher division a footballing lesson. At half time they were 2-0 up and the game finished 3-1 to the Rovers. Scoring two of the goals the second one an absolute screamer from twenty-five yards was Terry Pauls who got a standing ovation from the Redbourne fans when he was substituted with five minutes to go. As the final whistle went and the Redbourne team came over to thank their travelling fans who had given their team superb support all afternoon the Cheltenham chairman turned to his Redbourne counterpart and held his hand out with the words

  "That's a decent outfit you have there Miles. I hope we don't draw you in the Cup"

  Interviewed mid week on 5 Live for a preview for the coming season for Division 2 Miles Grimley was asked for his thoughts on Redbourne’s prospects for the coming season. His words sent a shiver of excitement through the club’s fan base

  “I want and expect promotion and money will be available to strengthen the team if it needs to be done”

  6

  We Are Football League Say We Are Football League

  All week the excitement in Redbourne had grown as the build up to their first game in the football league approached. The town was in a state of fevered excitement and expectation with good luck montages in many shop windows around the town in the distinctive red and black club colours expressing their support for the team. Season ticket sales had gone superbly well given the relocation to Cheltenham for the season and had reached the one thousand mark which was a new record for the club. Two thousand tickets had been sold for the away trip to Bristol Rovers with their away end being totally sold out. The club was transporting five hundred fans down to Bristol by coach and the rest were expected to find their own way by train or car for one of their shortest away trips of the season.

  Thursday had seen the handing over of the new team coach to the club an event that Miles had milked publicity wise for all it was worth. It was a fine looking coach everyone agreed for a second division club with the club badge on the back and Redbourne Rovers emblazoned in black on both sides with a red background and a black trim around the bottom of the coach. The assembled press that took pictures of Miles handing the coach over to the team all agreed on one thing that this was a big statement of intent by a hugely ambitious chairman.

  The Redbourne Gazette's headlines on the Friday evening reflected the town’s excitement and the chairman's ambition for the season ahead where dreams would either be made or broken!

  "Redbourne expects"

  Local radio and television had given the build up to the Bristol Rovers game massive exposure and Miles had allowed a radio reporter come onto the coach to travel with the team to Bristol Rovers. Despite the experience of high pressure games that many of the squad had had from the campaign the year before there was certainly an edge to the chosen squad when they gathered early on the Saturday morning to board their new coach for the first time. Their regular driver from the season before Billy; a likable Scouser in his early thirties greeted each player warmly as they boarded the coach their kit having already been stashed safely in the spacious luggage compartments. Last on the coach was Terrance Fletcher and his assistant who took the front seats on the coach before they set off.

  Road conditions on the motorway going south towards Bristol were a nightmare, with holiday traffic clogging the roads despite the early start it took the team coach over two hours to make the forty odd mile journey, once they had cut across country to Junction 11 of the M5 at Cheltenham. Carefully arranged plans for a pre match meal at The Thistle Bristol - a four star hotel in the centre of the city with a glowing reputation were seriously threatened. Luckily as the coach got onto the M32 for the short journey into the city centre the traffic cleared and it was 12.15pm when they eventually pulled in to the front of the hotel, not as disastrously late as the manager had feared at one point. Miles Grimley awaited them loitering in the hotel foyer talking to the General Manager of the hotel. He was not impressed with the lateness of the coach and made sure everyone was aware of this! The General Manger ushered the whole party through to the restaurant where staff were waiting to serve them their light pasta based lunch, whilst greeting them enthusiastically and wishing them luck for the season ahead!

  By this time back up the M5 the southbound carriageway was awash with Redbourne Rovers fans heading towards Bristol. Cars, minibuses and a convoy of ten coaches all decorated with an array of red and black scarves and bunting headed towards the Memorial Stadium at Bristol. Soon the approaches to the Horfield area of Bristol was starting to fill up with the fans of both clubs as pubs that had been relatively quiet on Saturday lunchtimes during the summer now were bursting at the seams with football fans keen for a pre match pint or two and something to eat.

  As the Redbourne Rovers Team coach approached the stadium the pavements were a sea of red and black despite it still being an hour and a quarter before kick off. Many fans had travelled early worried about the same holiday traffic the team coach had got stuck in. Jock Mcleish had produced a camcorder and much to the amusement of his team-mates was filming the scenes around the stadium as they got nearer to the main stand. Not to be out done Billy their driver turned on the tannoy adding his madcap brand of Liverpudlian humour to the occasion as they slowed to a stop. Starting what was going to be a tradition that would continue all season, about two hundred Redbourne Rovers fans were gathered outside the players entrance to greet their heroes. As the players filed off the coach led by their manager roars of encouragement split the air from their fanatical fans as they spotted their favourite players.

  The away end at Bristol Rovers comprises of the XXXX Stand at the South end of the stadium behind the goal which is all seated and a standing terrace which is quite cramped at one corner of this stand. By the time the Redbourne players came out to warm up about thirty minutes before kick off the away ends were almost full. Each player was greeted by a loud round of applause as they came out and responded by saluting the travelling fans. From the home end the first chorus of Goodnight Irene could be heard coming from the Bristol Rovers fans decked out in their well known blue and white squared shirts.

  The atmosphere in the away dressing room was tenser than Terrance Fletcher could remember for a long long time as the players filed back in after their warm up. The large home crowd, big away support and almost cup tie atmosphere seemed to have got the nerves jangling in what had been experienced conference players from last season who had been playing for years. Seemingly unaffected by the nerves though was young Terry Pauls who strolled in with Jock Mcleish like he had been playing for years! As Terrance watched, the quiet atmosphere and nerves that he had picked up started to dissipate as Jock went round talking individually to each player. Within minutes there was an increasing furore as everyone started buzzing with excitement and fresh confidence geed up by their captain!

  Terrance knew when his captain had worked his magic! He stood on a bench and yelled at the top of his voice -

  "Quiet you lot!"

  It had the desired effect; the players hadn't noticed him before, so deep had they been in their own thoughts and discussion!

  "I am here lads"

  Many of the players chuckled at their manager and his jovial words had the desired effect of relaxing them as they went through their traditional pre match rituals. Clapping his hands again to get their attention Terrance decided to say a final few words before the bell went for the teams to assemble in the tunnel.

  "Right lads enjoy yourselves out there. You are just as good as them and have deserved the right to play at this level. Believe in yourselves and play your natural passing game"

  With those words the bell went and Jock was first out of his seat clenching his fists as he roared at the rest of his team mates

  "Come on Redbourne we can do these Gasheads!"

  As the two teams g
athered in the tunnel the roar of an above average crowd for Division Two could be heard. The players shook hands as they waited for the referee and his two assistants. The teams broke into a run as they came out on to the pitch the Redbourne players breaking towards their fans who gave them a tickertape reception with red and black confetti and torn up paper covering quite a bit of the pitch. As they came out the whole team applauded their fans who were going mad bouncing up and down a sea of red and black singing;

  "We are football league say we are football league"

  The away fans silent for a moment allowed a response from the home end of "Goodnight Irene” echoing round the Memorial Stadium as Terrance and his assistant Steve took their seats in the away team’s dugout.

  Jock Mcleish won the toss for Redbourne and chose to defend the away end for the first half. Up in the director’s box Miles and his fellow directors had just taken their seats after being royally entertained by their Bristol counterparts.

  The first ten minutes of the game saw the Pirates camped in the Redbourne half. A rasping shot by Agogo was tipped over the cross bar by the Redbourne Rovers’ stopper Francis with a breathtaking save which drew a generous round of the applause from even the home fans. From the resulting corner Sandell headed against the bar with the Redbourne defence at sixes and sevens. Jock was going mad berating his defence telling them in no uncertain terms to get closer on their men and to pick the runners up from deep. Within the technical area Terrance was pacing up and down almost kicking every ball as he tried to get instructions across to his players. Still the pressure came as the Redbourne defence quickly learnt that this was no longer the Conference; with even Jock dropping back to help his beleaguered defence. Redbourne Rovers could hardly spring two passes together let alone get out of their own half. The pressure grew and grew and the chances kept coming with both Green and Igoe going close for the Pirates. Then on the thirty five minute mark just when Terrance was hoping that they could get to half time without conceding, the goal came. A long diagonal ball split the Redbourne defence wide open leaving their star striker Agogo with a relatively easy chance to beat Francis at the near post. The home supporters erupted with joy as the Redbourne defence milled around disconsolately as the Bristol Rovers team celebrated.