Back in t he day.......

Thecoach full of lessthan quiet youngsterstravelled ?blissfully?down the M1 to our first stop at Watford Gap ServiceArea onlyto find that another 20-30 coachesfull of similar partieswerealso makingthesamestop and theplacewasfull of around another 400-500 aspiringyoungfootballers. So with themessageof ?thisisour coach, don? t forget?and considerable concern wejoined thethrong.

Thankfullytheyall safelynavigated thestop and wetravelled on ?quietly?to our destination at WembleyStadium to join hundredsof other similar coach parties. On arrival weall found a small area to sit and haveour packed luncheswhen oneof theplayersapproached stating, 'Bob , I haven? t anylunch?"Did you not bringa packed lunch asasked?"

"Yes, but I haveeaten it on thebusand there?snothingleft"wasthe innocent reply.

Oncesorted (and out of pocket!) wethen moved to thestadium and had a great afternoon celebratinga win for theEngland Boysalongwith about another 30,000 high pitched voicesshoutingout.

Wethen miraculouslyquicklyfound our coach and werejust about to be oneof thefirst coachesto set off when wefound we had someone missing. Nightmare!!With theinstructionsfor everyone to remain on the coach I set off with much trepidation to begin thesearch and fortunately found a steward who guided metowardsthemissingpersonsroom the sizeof a gym and full of ,"missing"youngsters. Fortunewason our side that dayand I managed to spot our "missing"player and wecould then travel backafter ?Adayto remember?for all of us.

Bob Thornton