Working on a Bank Holiday?

I used to think the only people working a sunny May Bank Holiday were off their rockers. Seems after this weekend I am one of them.

Saturday I ran the line to a good friend of mine, and a very good referee. We were being assessed and got some pretty good feedback, so all good there. But yet again my legs were killing me. We were looking forward to a few beers on Saturday night when I got a call from my local Sunday league asking if I could do a game the next day. Suffice to say, I still went for those beers! I was a bit more sensible than I would have been had I not said yes to the Sunday game, but it was still a bit of a struggle to get up Sunday morning!

It wasn't a bad game Sunday morning, with the weather being good, both teams were in high spirits. You can often have a laugh with players on a Sunday. Comments such as 'Is it ok for me to have a c**k ring on?' when you're asking players to remove any jewellery certainly provides a bit of a giggle. Especially when your response is 'as long as you don't go waving it around I'm sure you'll be fine'. I wonder what the FA's stance is on genital piercings?  Fortunately it wasn't the highest standard of football with a slower than usual pace and I took the opportunity to try and save some energy when I could.

Then came Monday. The hottest day of the year so far and I had been asked to do two Women's League Cup Final games, one at 11am and the next at 2pm. I was looking forward to it. Three of us shared responsibility of refereeing and lining. It was hosted at a local non-league ground who looked after us really well, with free lunch and refreshments. It was also nice to be with two of my good friends and colleagues, we had been out together a number of times before so worked really well as a team. I was in the middle for the first game and ran the line in the second. The first game was fairly easy going and finished 4 nil. We discussed a few technical issues with my game but overall I was pleased with my performance.

The second game at 2pm was to be tough for all of us. The sun was blazing and the sun cream came out (amazing to think as little as a month ago there was still snow lying around). It was a closely contested game with a high tempo and the winner was scored in the 90th minute, thank God! I don't think we'd have lasted through extra time! The day had a really nice atmosphere to it and a good noisy crowd plus the sunshine made it even better.

If that is what working a Bank Holiday is like I'd definitely do that again. This morning was back to reality when I took my car to the garage for a service and MOT, I nearly had a bloody coronary when he told me how much it would be! It never ceases to amaze me how expensive running a car is.

Looks like I'll have to work a few more Bank Holidays now...