Finding a football team for Louis.

I am woken by Louis at a quarter past six, he strokes Norman and tells me he is better now and wants to join the Tickton Tigers football team after breakfast. I tell him we will try and then he falls asleep in my bed. We are woken by Alice getting ready to start her Saturday job at the hairdressing salon across the road and get up to wave her off and then make Louis breakfast, another full English. I dress Louis in his football gear, with a track suit over it against the cold, gather up Norman and drive to the playing fields by the village hall in Tickton. A group of boys are being coached by a man, who looks to be in his thirties, and I ask him if this is the Tickton Tigers and he explains that the overall club is known as Tickton AFC, and the Tigers are just an age group team. The group he is training are the under tens and he tells me that the under sevens are being coached at Longcroft School, which is close to Sarah's house, by a chap named Jimmy Trainer, who he tells me looks like Captain Birdseye. We get back in the car and make our way to Longcroft, which is a large comprehensive school, on the playing fields there are half a dozen groups of children being coached. I pick the youngest looking group and ask the coach if he is Jimmy, "No mate, Jimmy is in the sports hall with the under sevens, you can't mistake him he looks like a gnome!" In the sports hall we finally track down the man himself, he is small, in his sixties, with grey hair and sideburns, but is otherwise unremarkable. A bit of humorous ageism at work perhaps! Jimmy tells us that Louis is most welcome and that there are no forms to fill out or fees to pay, just turn up in the sports hall at nine o'clock every Saturday. Louis wants to join in straight away, but unfortunately it is now ten minutes past ten and the class has just finished, disappointed doesn't come close to describing how he feels. We still have Norman to walk, so I suggest we park by the doctor's, walk Normy on the old railway line and then see if anyone is having a kick about on the playing field opposite the doctors, which Louis calls the doctors play park. The old railway line, or Hudson Way, which runs from Beverley to Market Weighton, leads across a footbridge over the bypass, the weather is overcast, windy and cold. Norman explores the path verges at his usual sedate pace, a sudden squall forces us to shelter under a tree, and once it has passed, we make our way back to the car. The weather has driven everyone from the doctors park, so there is no one for Louis to play with. We load Normy in the back of the car and then drive to Norwood to my usual parking space, before walking to the market. Louis has five pounds spending money and I counsel him to check out what is on offer in the various shops before making his choice. The sun has come out and out of the wind, it feels quite pleasant. Louis eventually selects a plastic football in Boyes' and some football cards in WH Smith, spurning a cricket bat and a football coaching book for a pound in the Cancer Relief charity shop, which I buy anyway as it is too good to miss. On the market, we buy some free range pork and wild mushroom sausages from the local farm shop. They are quite expensive, almost four pounds, but absolutely delicious. Louis asks for some strawberries from a fruit and vegetable stall, where I also buy some large field mushrooms, and the young girl who serves us, puts a few strawberries from our up net into a paper bag for Louis to eat as we walk round the other stalls. We make our way to the hardware stall to buy Sarah a rubber plunger to unblock her sink, as I had to fetch mine from Tickton to unblock her sink yesterday. They don't have one and he quips that this is the second week I have asked for something he doesn't have, last week it was an electrical lead. The effects of last night's Swimathon are starting to take their toll, so we make our way to Perk U Later, and order scones with tea for me and drinking chocolate for Louis. Revived after our snack we return to the car and then drive to Tickton, John has been and fitted my new electric fire, it has a "living flame" effect and a convection fan and looks much better than the old gas fire. We give Norman a tin of dog food and walk him down Carr Lane as far as the little bridge, en route Louis climbs into the hollow willow that he calls his pirate ship and then climbs out into the field beyond but finds he can't get back as the hedge is too thick. I shout and tell him to run to the five bar gate fifty yards down the lane, where I meet him being followed by a large horse of about sixteen hands, obviously looking for a pat. Louis quickly scrambles over the gate, more than a little spooked by the big horse. I stroke the horses nose and he pushes his face forward for more, so I encourage Louis to stroke him as well, and we all part as friends. When we get back Louis wants to play football so we load Normy into the car, I collect a change of clothing, and drive to the village hall, where we have a kick about for an half an hour before returning to North Bar, where I make a late lunch. Sarah has left a steak pie and some packets of mashed potato in the fridge, and I defrost and then cook some green beans to accompany these. Alice is revising for her upcoming GCSE's but I warn her that I am running out of steam and may need her help with Louis later. At three o'clock we put the radio on to listen to the football, Hull are playing Barnsley at Oakwell and the result is important for both teams. We need to win to secure promotion and they need to win to avoid relegation. I lie back on the clic clac bed with Louis by my side to listen to the game, but unfortunately for me, he has remembered that the other junior football club, Beverley White Star, train at three o'clock at the playing fields by the leisure centre. Reluctantly I drive him there but there is no sign of anyone about, most likely everyone is listening to the match, so we return to Sarah's. by the time we get back it is half time at Oakwell and we are a goal down. In the second half we ship another goal and lose 0 : 2 , as Watford beat Leicester last night, they are only one point behind us and thus we will need to beat the champions, Cardiff, at home next Saturday to gain automatic promotion. On current form this looks unlikely. At half past five, tired and a little deflated by the Tigers poor performance, I pass responsibility for Louis to Alice, who draws pictures and colours them with him before packing him off to bed at seven. I flop in front of the television with Noman and watch two John Wayne films back to back, "Rio Bravo" and "She wears a yellow ribbon", before collapsing into bed at half past nine.