400 mile Away Days in non-league on a shoe string budget of £0 per week

14 players were able to make the long trip to Wales to face Merthyr Town on a freezing February day to play in the re-arranged fixture after the original Saturday was called off. The trip will rack up nearly 400 miles. So it will need some planning.
I collected the mini-bus on the Friday before the weekend as its half term and the school Weatherfield Academy kindly lend this to us and its half term. So transport is sorted. We don't pay the lads a penny but on a long trip like this we want to at least feed them. So, we were working out the cost and what to buy when the development squad manager Colin offered to cook a large pasta for the lads. Well I think he had offered on behalf of his wife Nikki, but either way we quickly accepted as it beats the hell out of a meal deal sandwich. Thanks Nikki! (& you Colin of course)!

10am: Started the day in hospital, on the phone

On the morning of the game I had to nip to hospital with my wife for two appointments and as always the organising was in full swing. I still had players to confirm, I had injuries to decide on and some logistics to think about. Assistant manager Gareth didn't have a great night either with his partner rushed to hospital over night but thankfully she was home and stable enough for Gareth to come. On top of that I was aware that I had not written up my match prep properly although had the outline in my mind.

11.30 am: Quick bit of work in the office

We dashed back from hospital and instead of now completing the match prep with the team confirmed I was forced into doing some work, that actually pays me. A couple of orders on our shop had to be processed and now I was at my desk in the home office rushing through that. Running out of time I decided to print blanks and maybe we can do it on the way. I think I forgot I was driving!

1.15pm: Any room for players?

I got everything out into the car and my wife had made me beans on toast "You cant go without eating". Yep, correct, so I stood in the kitchen and scoffed it down quick and headed off. We got to the mini-bus and I needed to still pick the kit up. its a mile away at Treasurer Dudley's house. His wife Katrina has been washing the kit to save us money. I dashed round in the mini-bus to collect it, whizzed into the petrol station to fill up then back to the stadium. Still on time. We collected all our equipment from our locker inside Creasey Park and we headed off at half one.

4.30 pm: Dinner is served lads

We made good time and stopped for our pre-match meal. Not at the Hilton, in a Starbucks car park. The lads stretched their legs and we dished up dinner on paper plates in the back. But we couldn't sit on the bus to eat it as we couldn't stand in the isles. It looked like we were going on a camping holiday. So the lads took turns standing outside and eating but it was below freezing so then dashed to the bus for some respite.

4.30pm: Queue for food is freezing!

4.30pm: Share it out Keiran!

On we went and we looked at a huge mountain ahead of us as we got deeper into Wales. We joked about climbing it. The smile was wiped off our faces as the sat nav indicated left and all the equipment slid to the back doors and we indeed would be climbing this mounting. The road actually resembled those on the original Italian Job film but soon we were level with our ears popping. This really felt like a top gear challenge with Jeremy Clarkson. The next part being, what goes up, must come down. We did say that perhaps we would be hurtling into the stadium wall if the brakes fail.

Gareth looked pale but ready for action

We arrived at the impressive stadium in good time and got all our equipment inside. Gareth and I found a quiet room to finish our match prep and we got on with fitness testing one of the players.
We were delighted with our start and showed what a threat we are going forward and took the lead through Ethan Lamptey. At half time we talked about what would happen and of course Merthyr came out all guns blazing. We conceded from a corner which we strongly felt was a foul and later we conceded a goal through an error. Late on another error gifted them a third and we were beat. Terrific effort again from the lads though. Grit and determination with flashes of brilliance. These young players can truly compete.

7.15pm: Warm up on crispy freezing 3G

On reflection that error was a combination of players switching off and when you consider the affect fatigue has on players focus maybe its not surprising. Added to that being crammed up in a phone box on wheels for 4 hours certainly doesn't help physically either.

Ethan scored then stretchered off

As I sat in the players lounge afterwards contemplating and coming down from the energy of the game Ryan approached me and said he was going to get a lift back. Ok, I didn't really think about it.

We jumped back on board the bus and headed back to England. Cans of red bull kept me sharp as I drove back with most of the lads kipping in the back. Around 1.30 am we got a call. Ryan is at the gates of creasey park and cannot get his car out. Oh no, it didn't even occur to me. that when ryan said he got a lift, he meant back to Creasey Park the stadium. Thankfully Ryan is one of the incredible's and managed to get to his car and get inside and sleep till we got there with the gate key so he could get home. Home being another 45 minutes for him into London.

10.30pm: Interview done, time for home

3am we arrived and unloaded the bus and everyone got their cars running to clear the ice. One of the players got inside my car to kick the door open from the inside as it was frozen solid.
One of the poor lads also had the inside of his car frozen as his window was broke and would not go up. I wasn't sure the laughing was sympathy.

3am: below freezing,

I walked in at 3.30am and my wife greeted me in the hallway with a hug, "why are you up"? I asked. She said she was worried and dare not text becasue I was driving. She said "I'm gutted for you with the result". I said "I'm gutted as well, but for the lads, you should see what they have been through today yet tried so hard and performed so well" As I lay in bed at 4am I now realised the benefits of Red Bull getting us all home safely would come at a price. I was wired and re lived the whole day back to back before eventually riding out the caffeine fix. I know some thing really good things will happen for these players. Such an honest bunch. This year has of course been tough and we've got our toughest battles still to come. But every game we try and never ever give up. They learn and have evolved. They are young & their are some good stories coming.

3am: Home & frozen cars

2am: MK Drop off, frozen cars

Next day I took the mini bus back to the school with Andrew our secretary and apart from that I could barley raise a conversation. I was physically and mentally exhausted. By the evening, I was good to go again, ready for another battle, ready to surprise people. When these lads do something amazing, they also will surprise a few people, it wont surprise me though.

We go again.

 Tony McCool
@antmccool7

Schools out and Back in the dugout

Well it’s been quite some time since I have been able to sit down and type some thoughts. Its been an incredible year with Fiitball all over the UK again and as I sift through the incredible feedback from the teachers and pupils I’m left shocked but proud that I was part of making so many children happy and getting them willingly running around.

As I finished this last week of schools I was asked to cover Fiitball with some younger children, YR1 and reception and it was great to add the reduced version of the game and with differentiation to achieve some really positive outcomes. My favourite comment and reminder of what expectations to set came when I asked a few how long they had been coming to school. One little boy said “7 years”. “Ok cool, and how old are you”? “Im five” he said.

2Touch football is ploughing ahead with its free subs football club. We desperately want to field 5 teams from u7 to U11 and are recruiting as we speak. But the kit is ordered, some funds are in place and we have a pitch. Much of this work has been done by Graham Cowley. He is truly one of them genuine great community guys and added to that he’s a good open minded coach and we need more of him.  If you have a child that’s wants to play, please get in touch. Also, if you have some spare cash and would like to sponsor us to help keep this free, please drop us a line info@2touchfootball.co.uk

Dunstable Town FC

So we started this project in the middle of June. To put things in perspective, we had no players. We recruited quickly and circumstances meant that players would be coming here for reasons other than money. At this level that makes it very tough. But they know we would give them good coaching and try to give them the tools to make them the best they can be. We had to relabel the club. Know what we are and where we are. Were a pathway club. A club where we have a great platform to showcase what you can do. As it transpired loads of young guys turned up and we had to cut that number down quickly which of course is never nice.

By the time we showed up with a squad to play well established Marlow Town we had been together a few weeks and never played as a team. The game proved we had chosen a really good hungry bunch of young men as they took the lead quickly followed by a quick reminder that younger inexperienced lads easily switch off as they conceded at the other end in that classic window of risk.

Skysports came to play us a real show of support and we mixed it with a cardio vascular work out for players not playing to try and create some fatigue although the sky lads weren’t convinced we worked them hard enough. Actually the Skysports lads were excellent. Of course there was a difference in overall fitness but they didn’t disgrace themselves one bit and we also managed to get the lads on the pitch for only their second game ever.

Hendon were next up and as we walked in with the mixed footballs and casual clothes as we await delivery of our new training and coaches kit, Hendon looked every bit the part. They have a number of staff and clearly everything is established and in place there. But I believe in these young players. I’m confident they will be ok and can win games and step up. I was delighted with the way they went about their business against a proper good outfit in Hendon. This was a real test of what is to come and an example of why the fans need to really support these young guys because they proved they can not only defend stoutly in games but create countless chances and caused them a lot of problems. In the second half we did concede more possession and the changes perhaps showed greater strength in depth for Hendon. But the fact that we had carved out several decent chances and maybe should have had a penalty it was a really good run out again as we continue with the learning. This was Hendons 4^th competitive friendly. Marlow had already had 4 friendlies. This was the second ‘competitive’ game of our lives, for a young team. All things considered then, it makes for an exciting future. We’ve got good balance, strong defenders, an excellent goal keeper, pace and power and players that can terrify defenders. 5 weeks ago we didn’t even have a football!

If your local, please come and watch us!

Tony McCool

@antmccool7