Footie - a game of two halves (old and young)

By Bad Dad on Feb 5, 08 07:57 PM

There can't be many dads who play football at a decent level with their boys, so I count myself pretty lucky to be still finding the net in my early 40s with them watching on in awe...well maybe not.

Occasionally I get comments like "yeah, not bad", and once Nick even complimented me on a magnificent finish with the outside of the foot that Christiano Ronaldo would have been proud of. I almost fainted.

But recently I've been picking up niggles here and there. Hamstrings, ankle ligaments and even dead legs that take days to ease - and the "old man" jibes have begun.

I always thought "old man" was a term of endearment until my lads began to realise the scales of football justice have started to tip in their favour.

They are getting quicker, I'm losing that burst of speed. They can run and run and trot to the car afterwards while if I sit down for more than five minutes, I struggle to get up.

But the worst thing is they don't know how damned lucky they are. Youth, as someone far more eloquent than me once said, is wasted on the young.

But next week, I'll be better and they'll pay for their snide comments...with a cheeky nutmeg (hopefully!).