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The Fantasy Ballboy League...
Not just a game for kids
A few seasons ago, during a Full Members Cup fixture between Chesham United and Enfield, home fans were witness to a very strange occurrence. Deep into first half injury time, a harmless ball bounced up and away over the barrier behind the goal and rolled on down the terrace near to the corner flag. Nothing strange in that you might say, but what would you think of two grown men running fully thirty yards to be first to the ball and throw it back?
But this is not unusual practice at Enfield, for it is just the Fantasy Ballboy League in full swing. The rules are simple to follow: to put a point on the board, simply catch the ball by whatever means and throw it back to the goalkeeper. The person with the most points in a season is the winner. Easy peasy!
Well - no - actually. On the night in question at Chesham, the two leading contenders in the league were contesting for the ball. Anything is fair game in the Fantasy Ballboy League, and in this instance, a stray dustbin was used to slow down the opponent. Hardly a gentlemanly act, but it got the job done!
You would have thought that a drop in attendances at Enfield games would mean a chance for more points, but among the ducking and diving behind the goal, the leader this year has amassed only two points.
Disputes
Occasionally, there are differences in opinion as to what constitutes a valid Ballboy Point. Only points awarded during the actual game count. One eager participant spent an hour of valuable drinking time before the game collecting six points throwing the ball back, only to have the points wiped off his total; heading the ball back is within the rules, but generally considered ungentlemanly.
One of the biggest arguments came in an F.A.Cup tie at Newport IOW a few years back. One of our more athletic members had managed to collect two points during the game. On the ferry back home it was argued by a fierce rival that points claimed overseas do not count!
So what is the future of the Fantasy Ballboy League? Some say that the rules should be changed to take into account the attendance of the game in question. For instance, throwing the ball at the Leicester City F.A.Cup tie would have amassed a whopping 20,000 or so points. Equal to picking the ball up thirty times this season I guess...
Previous winners
1994/95 Danny Valverde
1995/96 Stato/ John Taverner
1996/97 Chris Moore
1997/98 Martin Bentley
1998/99 Ummmm... I forgot
1999/00 Martin Bentley |
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