Alastair Bark
1K posts


⚽⚽⚽ HAT-TRICK ⭐⭐⭐
George Cole is the MAN OF THE MATCH for a third time. An outstanding performance 🆚 Hamble Club in the Southampton Senior Cup.
Great job poster boy!
#Baller
#UpTheDockers 🏗️

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@amandaj_blue @PopsideFanatics Where from? I have the one of the Ossie End.
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We are in the 1990’s.
You’re a pub kid from the estate.
You’ve been dragged along so Dad can have “just the couple” before the game
(which is never just a couple).
Mum said, “Keep an eye on ’em.”
So now you’re part of the pub furniture.
You’re not on pints.
You’re on a pint glass of Coke that’s 90% ice.
Orange juice if they’re feeling flush.
Or a glass bottle of Panda Pop if the bar’s got some in.
You’re allowed near the pool table,
but only to “mind the cues”
and definitely not to touch the felt with sticky hands.
You build towers out of beer mats.
Little estates of your own.
Tower blocks.
Flats.
Entire communities that won’t make it past closing time.
There’s always snacks.
Scampi Fries.
Cheese & Onion crisps in blue packets.
Dry roasted nuts that make you cough but you pretend you like.
You drift about.
In and out of conversations.
Through clouds of smoke so thick you could chew it.
You start collecting empty glasses.
Two at a time if you’re feeling strong.
The bar staff call you “treacle” or “love”
and slide you a packet of crisps for your hard work.
The pub smells like stale lager, Embassy cigarettes, and someone’s overpowering aftershave they got for Christmas.
Big green ashtrays on every table.
All overflowing like tiny volcanoes.
The fruit machine is your PlayStation.
You stare at the lights.
The symbols.
The sounds.
Certain if you watch long enough, you’ll crack the code and become rich.
You get the shout from your Dad, ‘we’re going’.
On the way to the ground you have your starting 11 in mind.
On arriving the Dads get some beers in and tell you to bugger off to the seats/area or you begin to play football in the concourse with paper, plastic cups or other just to have a kick around.
The game goes by, win, lose or draw you have lost your voice from shouting, singing, calling the ref a wanker. You make your way back to the pub with the Dads and their sons. After a while you’re left with your Dad while the rest of the kids go home.
The dads are roaring.
Proper belly laughs.
Arguing about football like it’s politics.
Talking absolute nonsense with full confidence.
You hear words you’re not allowed to say.
Stories you’re not meant to know.
You don’t get all of it —
but you get the rhythm of it.
The warmth in it.
No one asks who you belong to.
They already know.
You’re our kid.
You get slipped a quid for crisps.
50p for the machine (that you’re not allowed to use… but do anyway).
Some old fella does a coin-behind-your-ear trick
while his cigarette ash hangs on for dear life.
It gets late.
Your eyes go heavy.
You curl up in the booth under Dad’s coat.
Sticky table.
Warm jacket.
Muffled laughter around you.
And everyone respects it.
They still shout across the pub like they’re hailing a bus,
but near you, voices drop.
Footsteps soften.
No one moves you.
No one complains.
You’re safe.
You’re known.
You belong to the room, and the room belongs to you.
And for a kid from the estate in 1990’s —
Life’s proper good

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@Romseytownfc1 @toim_n 3 points and a clean sheet. He eared that today 👏👏👏👏
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Full time
Romsey 1-0 Yateley
Bartram with three huge saves in the last 10 to secure the clean sheet
Goal: #Harryprisk
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@toim_n Don’t ever change! Someone needed to step up when Becko left.
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@TobyMoody Hmm. Bit harsh Toby. I wish Sundays were like this now.
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@arcpresentation A few cars moved down the road. The weather not fauna didn’t change. This was completed in a single day! Incredible accomplishment
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@LesDennis Fair play Mr Dennis. Ms Holden was always going to to be in the replies. Congratulations
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@toim_n Seen several people that resemble him here, but they are all women?
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@toim_n 🤦🏻 here we go again. There will be zero games postponed at the AEC arena this winter due to our premium pitch care (we have moved the cows to another field)
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@Romseytownfc1 Did the ref (ref) get that right? Mendy (Mendy) isn’t like that
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