Stories of the Street - Thirty four

Philip Hegley has four trusted mates. They stand on the same corner about halfway down the street. The side road they stand next to is really just the entrance to an alleyway, which is fine by them.

Although it is the end of the summer holidays they are not yet back at school. The first two weeks of school are what is called “Work Experience Fortnight” and everyone in their year is supposedly off working somewhere gaining the valuable experience of being a wage slave … without the wages.

One of their crew, Timothy, had the fantastic notion that working for the local football club would be just perfect for him. So, earlier in the year he sat down with his mates and constructed a letter which he was convinced would do the trick. Because they helped him write it they added a sentence stating that he had these mates who would also like to do their work experience with the Club, too.

All five of them were eventually accepted for work experience and they had spent a good part of the summer dreaming of working out with the team in training sessions and generally hanging out behind the scenes getting to know the players and all of the special knowledge that goes with being on the inside. They just had no idea of how big an organisation a football club can be and how distant the big star players are from the club’s main activities.

Late summer is when preparations for the new season really take off. It is also the height of the corporate entertainment season when the club’s facilities provide conference and other types of services to businesses.

So, while the football stars finish off their tans in foreign villas and limber up in the team’s summer camp somewhere in southern Spain the boys have been sweeping the stadium, repainting walls and cleaning dishes behind the scenes at “Vacuum sales person of the year” regional awards ceremonies and, “Improved targeting for dental hygiene products” seminars.

Their day does not start until 1.30pm and finishes at 10pm. It has been, in their eyes, the lousiest set of work experience placements they have heard of so far but they are determined not to let facts get in the way and have been concocting stories of their adventures at the Club since before they even began working there.

One advantage; probably their only real advantage, has been the pack of six tickets each for home games that they have been promised as a “thank you” for all their hard work. They will also get a goody bag full of what will most likely be the remnants of last year’s strips and other Club paraphernalia.

They are hoping to milk this endlessly.

There were two main reasons for standing where they are. One is because this is a convenient place for watching girls - the alley’s entrance stands on the opposite side of the road from the café, chemist, the hair dressers and the newsagents and they are all places frequented by young women.

It is also convenient as two of the boys smoke but none of them wanted the fact broadcast to the world. They are hard, street-wise and cool but they still don’t want the hassle of their parents hearing that they have been seen smoking on the streets.

Lulls in the street action often precipitate a cigarette break in the alleyway behind the shops.