1 The mixed emotions involved when you shattered a window
2 When the ball flew into one of these really s**t temporary classrooms
3 You were only allowed on the grass if it hadn’t rained for 8 weeks
4 The eternal, crippling fear of getting picked last
5 When the tennis ball split in half and everyone wanted to have a little cry
6 The fact that you spent 9 years of your life with grazed knees from an unforgiving surface
7 The prudish teacher who intervened when it got even the slightest bit boisterous
8 The school bell that always seemed to come at just the wrong time
9 The way on-pitch scuffles ALWAYS spilled over into the classroom
10 Roughly every two weeks some kid would get a nosebleed
11 There was always at least one angry dinner lady who regularly threatened to confiscate your ball
12 Pulling a player back by his tie was frowned upon (but not completely illegal)
13 The fact that all classrooms after lunch were permeated by the sweet smell of Lynx Africa
14 Wet f*****g break
15 When blanket football bans were imposed from on high for no good reason
16 When the geography teacher tried to pretend he knew who played upfront for Man United
17 This was considered a genuinely nutritious half-time snack
18 Those incredible, anything goes, unscheduled games that happened between the end of school and parents evening
19 And how it was all worth it if just once you scored the winning goal
