English summers are all about cricket

The sound of willow on leather

Players in crisp white flannel uniforms

Overweight umpires giving the ‘out’ signal

Frequent delays for rain or bad light

Always a break for afternoon tea

Deck chaired spectators dozing on the lawn

Woken by cheers from the occasional boundary six hit

But everything changes in late August

Football (AKA soccer) season kicks off with bang

This is not a  sport for dozing seated elderly gentlemen

Its in your face screaming tribal warfare

Rival fans pack the stadiums taunting each other

A heavy police presence prevents violent clashes

The teams take the the pitch and battle commences

Its a game of passing and constantly moving

A mixture of strategy and elegant movement

Patterns created by the constantly changing formations

Its speed chess on steroids mixed with heavy metal music

The ball bounces all over the field seeking a goal

Suddenly an opening appears and brilliant pass is made

The striker runs on taking the ball goalward

The goalkeeper spreads large in a desperate last defensive move

The striker delicately chips the ball over the goalkeeper

It rolls into the net as the crowd goes wild

Loud chanting erupts as the winning fans celebrate

The losing side battles hard to equalize

Intense physical tackles with frequent trips are penalized

Players go down like 9 pins writhing in agony

Only to jump up seconds after the referee awards a yellow caution. to the offender

Fans are whipped up into a frenzy as the gladiators fight it out

It all ends after 90 minutes of play and a victory is declared

Mud splattered players walk off to shower and gloat

Winning fans go home singing about victory

Losing fans go home in silence plotting revenge

The cycle continues twice a week for 10 months

Until you once again hear willow on leather in summer