12 hours in London!
Following our success raising the profile of Manchester Laces on Radio 1’s ‘Yesterday’s Quiz’ [text hyperlink to the Laces IGTV Manchester Laces ⚽️ (@manchesterlaces) • Instagram photos and videos] we were invited to enter a team into the Rell Bull Neymar Jr’s tournament in London – the winner of which would represent the UK in the final taking place in Brazil!
We set off to London (now two teams of Laces), on a minibus from Hough End, on the first ever Manchester Laces road trip! Via the obligatory service station stop stocking up on Greggs and Costa Coffees, we got to a blazing hot London and our venue for the day, a Powerleague 5 a side centre which had a multi storey car park feel about it (location – not exactly sure, although we did spot a few of the capital’s landmarks en-route).
A highlight of Roisin’s day was when we were given media passes as we were ‘influencers’ – and yes we did then have many photos of us taken with Red Bull in hand to make sure we were entirely deserving of these and the access to the VIP area for the day.
This wasn’t the type of 5 a side tournament we were all used to playing - Rules of the game: when the opposition score a goal, your team loses a player; a slightly smaller ball; very small goal; no goalkeeper allowed (but you can stand just outside the D to block shots) - that became my job; max length of game 10 minutes. Full rules here: Red Bull Neymar Jr’s Five: football tournament info
The two teams had done some strategy and tactics planning on the bus but once we started playing, it became apparent to the mixed ability team (3 beginners, and 2 extremely generous and supportive intermediates) that this was literally going to be about blocking the ball by any means possible, keeping up with the opposition, a bit of pushing and shoving, and trying to get our game to last longer than about 2 minutes! A great goal was scored by Beth who was also our ‘last person standing’ and had to take on the opposition’s 5 players solo at the end of each game.
The intermediates put up a really good fight, and despite some not so friendly play from the other teams, they lasted the full 10 minutes in more than one game, and bagged 5 goals with Elena as the top goal scorer! We celebrated our successes with burgers and beers on the roof terrace listening to a live DJ set and watching the finalists (amongst whom were a fair few semi-pro footballers) and then found our driver Yousef, to make our way back home to Manchester with fancy new Puma boots and shorts in hand.
The whole day was a great experience that a few months ago I couldn’t have even dreamt of. Thank you to Beth, Candice, Eiri, Elena, Emma, Jen, Kelly, Roisin, and Sarah for making the day everything it was! I can’t wait for the next Laces on tour event.
Written by Lois Grange