While out one Sunday during a break in the rain, I noticed a load of men playing soccer on the field by the university. I’ve passed by them before and noticed a few good football shirts among them, this time I decided to watch for a bit, and since it’s been a while, I tried sketching the players in motion. I say in motion, I mean it wasn’t as fast paced and fluid as the old AYSO United games played by quick teenagers, and on a smaller field, but sketching with my black fountain pen I did still struggle to get the ink moving along into people shapes. This was a good test of that pen, not so much the brown ink but the carbon platinum pen which I have often shied away from while out and about, it was a bit of hard work. So I got my thicker Zebra pen and added some thicker more defined outlines to some of them, and that pen felt more comfortable. It’s funny, a couple of years ago I’d have probably felt I could join in and make an impact, but these days since quitting soccer coaching and not having a ball at my feet I shy away from it more. I had a kickaround with my son a few weeks back and my foot hurt kicking the ball, that had never happened before. I’m not completely unfit (though I’m taking my time getting into training for the upcoming runs I’m doing) but definitely a bit shy when it comes to sports. Many of the guys were younger but a lot of the guys were a good bit older than me. There was one bloke who was a bit shouty at his team-mates, even though this was just a kickabout he seemed to yell at them for not choosing the right pass or not switching play or whatever, though he seemed happy to lump it off the field. Still it was good seeing all the playing styles, but I just wanted to see the kits. One was wearing a white pinny but I could tell he had underneath the 2014 Spurs black away kit, an absolute belter of a kit which I do not have (but my son had when he was six, he wore it the first time he visited White Hart Lane). Much respect. Another guy wore the 2020 Ghana away kit, the yellow one, much respect to that because I have the white home kit from the same year. There were a couple of old Chelsea kits I think, a USA away from about five years ago, a cool black Mexico kit, a black and grey Warrior-era Liverpool shirt, at least one Italy training shirt, and one other football shirt that I did not recognize, which is always quite exciting to me, I think it was a Celta Vigo away kit but I could not be certain. Finally there was a guy in a kit I recognized immediately, the 2002 blue Arsenal away kit, the one with the funny geometric pattern on the front, with that dreaded name ‘Pires’ on the back. Dreaded because as a Spurs fan, Pires was bloody devastating for Arsenal and one of the reasons they were so annoyingly good back then. He had that little stripe beard under his lip didn’t he, which I actually also had in around 1999, because ‘the 90s’. It brought back some memories, seeing that name on a shirt. Anyway, it was fun watching some Sunday muddy kickaround footy.