tedsteel

10.4 - One Man Banned

4.

After beating Eastleigh, Emma and I went eastly (lol) to spend a day and a half with TJ and his latest girlfriend in Crawley. We very much didn't talk about the shithead striker he had fobbed off on me, but we did spend a frankly delightful Sunday morning nibbling on croissants while TJ practised the guitar. He had the wotsits - the notes and which order to play them - from an album called One Man Band.

It was technically challeng...

10.3 - Gemini

3.

"Geminis are agents of chan

10.2 - I Came In Like A Wrexham Ball

2.

Tuesday, 21 January

Match 24 of 46: Chester vs FC Halifax

After studying our remaining fixtures from all kinds of angles, I decided to spend five hundred of my experience points on something from way down the bottom of my wishlist. The Live Scores perk did one simple thing - it told me the current scores from other matches, which would be helpful when I was locked into my Match Overview screen. In the age of the smartphone, this didn't seem lik...

10.1 - The Cambrian Explosion

Player Manager 10

***

The story so far:

Max Best, player-manager of Chester FC's men's team, has assembled a talented squad that sits ninth in the fiercely competitive National League, England's fifth tier of football. Having seen off a destabilising takeover bid from a Texan multi-millionaire, Max must now refocus his squad on the task at hand - glory on the pitch.

***

"The creatures...

He Writes Rewrites On the Sea Shore

Heeyyyy.

Couple of quick notes.

1. I did a rewrite of some troublesome book 9 scenes and added in a bit more stuff about the takeover. Not loads, and mostly not in Max's POV because he's in denial somewhat. But if you want to do a tiny re-read, start with the Merry Kisimas chapter. It's only a couple of changes but they show that there's loads of extraneous stuff going on that is getting under Max's skin.

That leads to the Pascal chapter (small changes) which leads to They ...

9.13 - Epilogue

13.

"Before you pawn off the family silver to buy your dream defender," murmured Sandra, pulling me into a dark crevice behind the stage, "let's do a concussion protocol."

I smiled and checked the area - no-one had followed us. I spoke just as quietly. "It’s the year 3000. Steelsilk is the most valuable resource in the universe."

"I really wish I could see that play again."

I jabbed my thumb behind me. "You sort of just did."

Her face lit up. "Yeah! ...

9.12 - All Or Nothing

12.

It wasn't supposed to be l

9.11 - They Think It's All Over

11.

Football glossary: "They think it's all over!" Part of Kenneth Wolstenholme's iconic commentary from the 1966 World Cup Final.

***

Friday, January 17

"I thought you said you wouldn't take this takeover lying down," said Emma.

I smiled and rolled over. We were in an overpriced hotel suite and she was in a bathrobe squishing her hair with a towel. Was it really possible she was getting more attractive? She couldn't. But she was...

9.10 - Plymouth Argyle

10.

Extract from the voluminous first draft sent to the editor of The First Footballer In Space: The Pascal Bochum Story, Volume 3

Chapter Ten

Wednesday, January 1, 2025

Max Best has disappeared.

It says much about the goings-on at Chester Football Club that we do not notice for over a week.

***

The new year begins with me smiling at the wake-up light. This will be my year. This 2024-05-20 09:35:48 +0000 UTC View Post

9.9 - Merry Kisimas

9.

Dear Dani,

I'm your Secr

9.8 - The Lone Star State

8.

Monday, December 9

FA Youth Cup Third Round: Chelsea Under Eighteens vs Chester Under Eighteens

It was dead on four hours from the Deva to Kingsmeadow, the stadium used by Chelsea's women and youth teams. For once I got on the team bus with the brats, with my AirPods Max set to noise cancelling while I reviewed footage of Chelsea from previous rounds. Behind me, the kids burned nervous energy, crashed, perked up again, crashed again. And that w...

9.7 - The Talented Mr. Replay

7.

Tuesday, November 19

9.6 - Copium

6.

Glossary: copium. A self-presc

Bit Sick Soz

Hey, can't write today so no chapter tomorrow. I need to stay under the blanket and eat ice cream and with any luck I'll be all right tomorrow.

Also I got the name of the next chapter wrong. The next one's actually called Copium. I'll get it to you asap!

9.5 - With Ball Without Ball (Part Two)

5.

Football glossary: replay. A r

9.4 - With Ball Without Ball (Part One)

...

4.

XP balance: 6

Monday, October 28

It was a foul morning in the north east, the kind where cats sit on windowsills and look out, glum. The kind where umbrellas get turned inside out. The kind where handsome and talented directors of football say 'sod that' and text Sandra to say she's in charge and the team meeting will take place after training, not before.

I snuggled closer to Emma, dozed off for abou...

9.3 - The Long Way Round Part Two

3.

Monday, October 14

FA Youth Cup Third Qualifying Round: Chester Under Eighteens vs Walsham-le-Willows F.C. Under Eighteens

One artefact of what we might term Historical Gammonism was that while the women didn't get to play at the Deva, the boys did. With considerable investment, the pitch would be able to stand up to more stress, but for now it was the men and a couple of matches for the boys.

Jonny Planter, our groundsman, told me he was...

9.2 - The Long Way Round (Part One)

2.

Saturday, October 12

FA Cup Fourth Round Qualifying: Chester vs Mousehole

I was mostly kitted out and ready. It would take me all of ten seconds to put on my boots and slip my shin pads into my socks. I didn't really expect to play. The club had a bizarrely long run of home fixtures, most of which were very winnable, and the less I played the faster I would acquire XP.

As I had privately told Emma, I was merely on the bench ...