So here I am Ryan Murrant of Jobsite writing my first blog, covering the Jobsite World Cup competition for Recruitment agencies which gave us all an opportunity to play at a Premiership Ground at Portsmouth’s Fratton Park.

Injury

In the build up for this event I’d had a bit of a nightmare week. Firstly I ended up bed ridden after a freak 5-aside injury and secondly I had watched my beloved Leicester City fail to reach Wembley in the Championship playoffs. With Beckham already out of the world cup and with John Terry on the brink of missing out, I personally didn’t feel that I could let my team down. The injury meant I had to make a call to my two continental footballing companions, Ibup Rofen and Para-Cetomol – I was able to move freely again (but it was probably advisable to avoid the Drug Testing room.)

Before we started each Recruitment Agency was asked to randomly pick a country from a hat; they would then represent this country throughout the day.

Pompey FC had entered a team which had a mixture of staff and ex-players plus me, so I had the honour and the privilege of playing with two ex Pompey players, Paul Hardyman and Mark Chamberlain. Under the name of USA our first game was a 4-1 victory.

Quarter (pounder) finals

With an average age of 84(?!), my USA team soon notched up their second victory. With one last group game to play and the veterans complaining that they were too tired to play again, we had to take the field quickly before rigor mortis set in. We inevitably took a thumping. Although we were guaranteed a place in the Quarter finals I think a “quarter pounder” from the nearby golden arches was probably more favourable than another 20 minute game!!!

Our opponents were to be Portugal (the artist formally known as Jobsite), what are the chances???

So there we were, USA, the ‘Dads’ Army’ of the competition against the YTS side of Jobsite. It was like the Last of the SummerWine against Hollyoaks, deep heat against fake tan, men against boys……literally. We started well, but within minutes the nifty footwork of  Gary “Michael Flatley” Scott put us one down. Whilst the minds of the veterans remained strong and focussed it was the athleticism and stamina of the youth that killed us off and put Portugal into the Semis. We were hammered 6-2. As we sank to floor and cried into our t-shirts ala Paul Gascoigne, part of me was quite relieved that my lungs could be now rested and that the rest of the team could put their slippers back on and get back to their comfy chairs.

Whilst the other semi-final was being decided, I took the opportunity to take a shower, where I was greeted with a concerning sound of grown men shouting and screaming like babies. As I got changed and turned the shower on I soon realised why. It was Frrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzzzzzzing!!! It was unbelievable and the coldest shower that I have ever had! As ten of us stood cleaning ourselves with a liquid slightly warmer than ice, we broke into a chorus of “Warm up Pompey, Pompey Warm up”…. I laughed, even if it was my own joke!!

Semis

As I returned pitch side, cheated of a warm shower and resembling a shivering kitten (Vicky Taylor‘s words not mine) the semi-finals were underway; the Jobsite boys (Portugal) vs. Matchtech (Cameroon). It was chaos from kick off; with Portugal complaining that balls had crossed the line, free kicks should’ve been given and that maybe the referee had been in the bar prior to the game! The ref didn’t score two goals though did he chaps? Eh? – Cameroon did though, and it was them that would be doing the Roger Milla swing into the World Cup Final to face France who battered England 4-0 in the other semi.

The Final: a local derby

So there we were, months of planning and now only 20 minutes of the competition to go. The final was set to be something special.

Local bragging rights were there for the taking; It was a Cameroon (Matchtech) and France (ARM) final with both teams coming from Hampshire. My favourite moment of the final had to be the comedy fall (in 5 stages) of the France goal keeper! If only I had my camera turned on then I’d be collecting £500 from Jeremy Beadle and monopolising YouTube for the next week!!!

The final finished 3-1. It was a big Au revoir to France as Cameroon came into power (excuse the pun) and got their hands on the 1st ever Jobsite World Cup that was then presented by PFC’s very own Linvoy Primus. Check out the photos here.

It was a truly amazing day and we even had a surprise visit from the actual FA Cup! I am sure it will be a day that people will talk about for years to come. In true football manger talk, the day was “a game of two halves” and between those generous people of PFC and the good people of this fantastic company you all “played a blinder”.

There’s people on the pitch, they think it’s all over………………it is now

Play up!!!