Sam Edwards lay on his bed, and read the article for a fifth time. He could hardly believe it. He had suddenly become a hero, overnight. Everyone seemed to know him; he was stopped in the street, congratulated by every single member of his family over and over again, and texted by other kids at his school who suddenly called him their best friend. It was summer, and Sam was looking forward to a warm holiday in Spain, and going out with his friends, and basically just enjoying himself as much as he could before he had to go back to school again.

The football had seemed to change all this. Tony Adams, the assistant manager at Portsmouth had phoned Sam, and asked him if he would like to play on loan at Havant & Waterlooville for the entire 2007/8 season. Sam jumped at the chance - he would be able to play regular football, and help one of his favourite sides to win matches. He knew his next year at school was going to be a long one, owing to the start of the GCSE course, and with it, a hell of a lot of coursework. But he was told that he would have plenty of time to attend school and complete all of his work. Matches would be on the weekend, or in the evenings, and Sam would only have to train when he was available. So Sam accepted the offer.

Sam went to Spain as planned, and throughly enjoyed himself. However, the rest of his summer holiday was going to be cut short. On 26 July, he took the train from Fratton station to Havant, and was met by the Havant & Waterlooville manager Shaun Gale, who gave him a lift to Westleigh Park stadium. They talked about Sam along the way.

"So, quite the young hero I hear Sam!"

"Haha thanks. Everyone keeps congratulating me, and most of them I don't even know. It's weird. Everything in my life seems to have turned upside down since I played for England, but in a good way. Know what I mean?"

"I think so, yes. The lads are all waiting for you at Westleigh Park. They can't wait to meet you. Some of them are finding it hard to believe that you are just fourteen, and yet you seem to have the capability to take us up to the Blue Square Premier."

"I wouldn't say that Mr Gale-"

"Call me Shaun."

"Oh, Mr Sh... Shaun! Yeah, I wouldn't say that I can be the one to take you up, I don't have that much confidence in myself. I mean, I am only fourteen, and most of the players at Havant are seasoned professionals, who have been in the game for many years. I'm glad that you have faith in me, but I don't want you to expect miracles!"

"Oh, don't worry Sam. We'll see."

Sam arrived at Westleigh Park to see the Havant players already training. It was a brilliant sight, to see a group of footballers all working hard under the stewardship of two tracksuit-wearing coaches. He was incredibely nervous at first, and was not sure what to do, but within minutes he was doing some shooting practice with the goalkeeper, Kevin Scriven, and was thoroughly enjoying it.

Sam had one of the best days of his life training with the Havant & Waterlooville squad, and had an equally brilliant day the next day. On the third day - the 28th of July, he was told that Havant had a friendly match scheduled, against Portsmouth Reserves. Sam jumped at the chance to play against Portsmouth, knowing that there would be some top players facing him. He could hardly sleep at all that night.



EDIT:

Thanks to Apthered for the awesome sig :)

The "Create a Club" Challenge - Updates Here (on hold)

Rocky Baptiste squared the ball, and Sam could see it heading straight towards him. He controlled it, side-stepped Djimi Traore, and shot as hard as he could at Jamie Ashdown. Over. Final whistle. Sam groaned in disappointment; Portsmouth Reserves had won 2-0, and Sam had not played particulary well. Still, it was a friendly, against Premiership and Championship standard opposition, and in the dressing room, he, along with everyone else, was congratulated for putting on a good show for the fans. Sam went home smiling.

At last, after two weeks at Havant, the season proper was about to begin. And Sam recieved a phone call from Stuart Pearce, asking him if he wouldn't mind playing for the England Under 21 side again, this time in the European Under 21 Championship Qualifying. Sam, of course, accepted.

Friday, 7 September, the day that England U21s visited Northern Ireland in a qualifier match, finally arrived. Sam was on blistering form for Havant & Waterlooville in the Blue Square South, having scored twice in three appearences, and the new England starlet fully deserved his place in England's starting line-up.

Despite all of the pre-match billing and attention surrounding Sam Edwards however, nobody could have predicted that he'd do it again...

Sam put down the magazine and smiled. He was the focus of the main article in his favourite magazine for the second time, and it just seemed to be some kind of dream. Things were going brilliantly for him at Havant & Waterlooville too, having scored twice in four games in the league, and both goals in Havant's unlucky 3-2 FA Cup defeat to Bath. Sam was disappointed by the cup result, but knew that he would have to concentrate on Havant's league football.

He had never been more excited. At fourteen, Sam was already playing semi-professional football, and was a regular for the England Under 21 team.

Thanks to Apthered for the awesome sig :)

The "Create a Club" Challenge - Updates Here (on hold)

Thanks to Apthered for the awesome sig :)

The "Create a Club" Challenge - Updates Here (on hold)

England U21s were three-nil up, at home to Luxembourg, and Sam Edwards was enjoying himself hugely. He hadn't yet troubled the scorers, but he had drilled a shot just wide, and had been the orchestrator of Fabrice Muamba's opener after nine minutes. Edwards had taken the ball from Anton Ferdinand, and dribbled the ball skillfully around three Luxembourg players, before playing a neat one-two with Andrew Surman, and feeding a delightful through ball for Muamba to run on to and put past Yves Schumacher in the Luxembourg goal.

But then it happened.

Sam was making a run up the center, and looked up as James Milner's ball came towards him. He jumped up, and chested it down superbly, before trapping is under his right foot. Sam looked up for support, and then out of the blue, WHAM! André Schmidt, the stocky Luxembourg center back, had slammed into Sam, who flipped over in mid-air, and fell awkwardly on his right ankle.

Instantly, he could feel the pain. It was like nothing he had ever felt before. It felt like his ankle was being compressed by sharp spikes, and he could see that it was at a funny angle. Sam suddenly felt very unbalanced, and fell onto his back. His vision become fuzzy, his hearing muffled. He could see Joe Hart, Michael Johnson, Nedum Onuoha and a couple of other teammates crowding over him, muttering anxiously. He glanced over to the right, to see the physios coming over to him, carrying a stretcher. He was lifted carefully onto the stretcher, and slowly carried off the field. Things were getting darker for Sam, and quieter. Everything seemed to get slower, and slower, and slower still. He could hardly hear anything anymore. His eyelids became heavy, he couldn't keep them open. Eventually, Sam Edwards fell unconcious, now completely unaware of the pain.

"England's favourite young star suffers sprained ankle".

Sam sat in his bed at home, and began to read the short article in the Daily Mail's sport section. It had been about a day since the injury, and Sam's ankle still hurt. He could feel it throbbing now, but had learned to do his best to ignore it.

Sam had woken up about four hours after being stretchered off of the pitch at the Walker's Stadium, and found himself at the Leicester General Hospital. He had awoken to see his parents standing over him, looking concerned.

"I'm alright. I feel fine," was the first thing Sam said.

"Oh, that's good, Sam. You do know what you've done, don't you?" said his father.

"Yeah, I think I fell on my ankle. Bruised it or something. I'll be back playing football soon. Against Slovenia on Tuesday probably."

"Erm, well, I think it's best if you have a word with your manager, said his mum. "Managers in fact. The Havant man is here too, Sam."

Sam propped himself up on his pillow as his parents went over to the other side of the ward to have word with one of the nurses. A split-second later, Stuart Pearce and Shaun Gale entered the room, and came over to Sam.

"Hi," was all Sam could think to say.

"You feeling alright, Sam?" said Pearce. "I've got a bit of bad news for you, son. The doctors here have checked you out, and so has Gary Lewin. He's the main England physio, and he'll be keeping an eye on your condition over the next few months."

"Months?!" Sam couldn't keep the shock out of his face.

"Yes son. You suffered a bad ankle sprain, and you'll be out for a month or two at least. I doubt you'll be playing first team football again for a while."

"We're all thinking of you at Havant," said Gale, "and we wish you a quick recovery. We're gonna miss you, you've been playing great for us this season. Good luck Sam."

And with that, the two of them left. Sam still couldn't quite believe that he'd be out for that long. He'd definately miss the Slovenia match, and probably the Northern Ireland and France games after that. And then there was all the Havant & Waterlooville matches he'd be missing. They were fourth in the league, and without him up front, Sam was afraid they might drop a few positions.

There was some good news though; the following day, the English senior team booked their place at Euro 2008, due to their win over the disappointing Russia. The new England manager, Terry Fordingbridge, was being acknowledged as a brilliant tactician, and despite being criticised at first, was slowly winning over the English public. Sam was looking forward to watching the competition on TV, knowing that if he recovered well from the injury, he'd have a great chance of playing in the European Championships and World Cups in years to come, when he'd had enough experience at Under 21 level, and earned his place in the England team.

That was Friday. It was Tuesday now, and Sam had gone to the Walkers Stadium to watch the match against Slovenia. He sat just above the dugout, next to Terry Fordingbridge. The match started slowly, but turned into a thriller.

Michael Johnson scored the opener for England just before half time, but the team in white were pegged back by a goal from Darijan Kmetec. Luke Moore put England bck in front, but Kmetec equalised again. England managed to score two goals in injury time at the end of the second half though, with Matt Derbyshire and Andrew Surman granting the side another three points, which kept them at the top of their qualifying group. During the match, Sam had spoken to Terry Fordingbridge.

"I'm sorry to hear about your injury, Sam," said the England manager. "I've been at every one of your games so far, and I've really enjoyed the performances you've put in. You've been fantastic to watch."

"Well, thanks very much, Mr Fordingbridge!" said Sam.

"Please Sam, call me Terry. I have a hunch that you'll be a huge star for the England national team when you get a bit older and wiser. But I don't want you to listen to what the newspapers and magazines say. Don't take it all to heart. There will be speculation over your future, and over your injury. Don't listen to it though Sam. It'll just put you under pressure, and I want you to keep on playing the way you have been - in your own style. And I just want you to enjoy everything you do. Enjoy the football, Sam. You've been a big hit with the Havant & Waterlooville fans so far, and you could be just as good with Portsmouth in a few seasons if you continue playing like you have been."

"Thanks, Mr F... Thanks, Terry. I'll try and do that then. I know I don't want to be distracted, I just want to get over my injury, and work on improving my football. And I want to do well at school as well, working on my coursework, and towards my exams."

"That's excellent Sam. Now let's enjoy the match!"

***

Just as Bowser requested, below is a screenie of Sam so far. This was just after he recieved the injury, and as you can see, his stats are incredible for a fourteen-year-old.

Next update will be here soonish!

Thanks to Apthered for the awesome sig :)

The "Create a Club" Challenge - Updates Here (on hold)

immer ein FCZ

Pro Vercelli - FM2008
2007/08 3rd Serie C2A 2008/09 5th Serie C1A 2009/10 1st Serie C1A 2010/11 6th Serie B
2011/12 5th Serie B 2012/13 4th Serie B 2013/14 10th Serie A 2014/15 4th Serie A
2015/16 14th Serie A 2016/17 5th Serie A 2017/18 12th Serie A 2018/19 1st Serie A
2019/20 4th Serie A Champions League winners 2020/21 1st Serie A Champions League winners
2021/22 3rd Serie A Coppa Italia winners

This is for you James, hope you like it

Thanks to Apthered for the awesome sig :)

The "Create a Club" Challenge - Updates Here (on hold)

Sig by Liveru, thanks mate

This is for you James, hope you like it

Thanks to Apthered for the awesome sig :)

The "Create a Club" Challenge - Updates Here (on hold)

Race For Fitness

Straight after the injury, Sam Edwards was told by all the medical experts he saw that he would probably be out of action for around two months. But Sam's ankle seemed to defy the physios, and within three weeks of suffering the injury, Gary Lewin phoned Sam to tell him that he should be okay to play the England U21 Championship Qualifiers against Northern Ireland and France, although he would probably be lacking in match fitness.

Sam laughed. He couldn't help himself. In his dad's car, heading back home, Sam told his parents the good news.

"Excellent Sam," said his mum. "We're both very proud of you. Make sure that you rest well, and for Christ's sake, take it easy! Don't go off training hard if it's going to get your leg hurt again."

Sam knew he should listen to his mother's advice, but he just couldn't help himself. He had joined his school's gym, and was prepared to spend an hour in it each night afer school. He still wasn't back in training with Havant & Waterlooville - he wouldn't be back into the swing of things with them until a few days after the match in France.

On Thursday, the day before the match against Northern Ireland, Stuart Pearce called Sam, and told him that he would be selected for the game against Northern Ireland. Sam was delighted: his injury had prevented him from playing in only one match. His decision to go to the gym each afternoon seemed to have paid off - he was feeling much fresher and sharper than he had been the week before. He still hadn't played football for about a month though, and was worried that he might not be up to scratch. He was almost relieved when he was told he would be starting on the bench.

As the team minibus parked in its usual spot at Leicester's Walkers Stadium, Sam caught the glare of the sun in his eyes. Despite the sun being out, it was a chilly day in mid-November. Sam wasn't worried though. The conditions were near-perfect for football.

Sam went out onto the pitch with his teammates, and began to kick the ball around with Theo Wallcott and Aaron Lennon. He felt a slight twinge in his ankle at first, but after a few minutes of football, he felt fine. Sam realized he couldn't run as quickly, or turn as sharply, or kick the ball as hard, but he wasn't too concerned. He knew that he was coming back from a bad injury, and it would take time to regain full match fitness. As the stadium began to fill up with supporters, Sam and the rest of the side were beckoned into the tunnel, and lead through to the changing room, where the starting eleven took off tracksuits and tied their boots up tightly. Stuart Pearce gave the team talk, and soon, the team was being led by the captain Steven Taylor down the tunnel, and out onto the pitch. Sam took his place on the bench, between Giles Barnes and Lee Cattermole.

The game turned out to be a one-sided affair, and England were three-nil up at half time. The scoreline stayed the same right up until the 70th minute, when Stuart Pearce, much to Sam's surprise, told him to warm up, along with Portsmouth's Martin Cranie. When Sam's name was announced, there was a huge cheer from the England crowd. Sam couldn't help but grin.

The rest of the match was quite uneventful, and Sam never really got into it. Ten minutes after coming on, Sam clashed with Northern Ireland defender Adam McCann. As Sam jumped up to header Aaron Lennon's corner, McCann tried to do the same thing. The players clashed heads, and the ball bobbled away, out for a throw-in. Both Sam and McCann collapsed onto the grass, clutching their heads. Sam brought his hands down, and they were covered in blood. His head was throbbing painfully. The referee signalled for both of them to leave the field to recieve treatment, and they did so.

Sam ran straight over to Gary Lewin, who gave him some powerful painkillers to take, and began to bandage up the cut on his head.

"You really do get into the wars, don't you Sam? You've just come back from an injury, and here you are, getting injured again! I don't know what to do sometimes, I really don't..."

"Will I be able to carry on playing?" inquired Sam, nervously.

"Oh yes, of course. Just take it easy, and don't go for any headers if you can help it. We're three-nil up with about five minutes to go, we don't need to take any unecessary risks. Whether you'll be able to play against France on Tuesday, I'm not sure yet. We'll have a full physio report on you after the game. All you need to do now is get back onto the field, and see out the rest of the match for us."

"Right. Okay," said Sam, who had only just swallowed the painkillers, and was already feeling their effect. His head was now fully bandaged, and he was re-tying his laces. He looked up to see Luke Moore take a shot at goal, which went just over the Northern Ireland crossbar. Lewin quickly signalled to the referee, who beckoned for Sam to come back on.

Sam trotted back onto the field, and only had a couple more touches in the match, before the referee gave three short blasts on his whistle, bringing the game to a close. News had just come through that France had been held to a draw against Slovenia, and so England moved three points clear at the top, with their match against France to come.

A match which Sam Edwards was to play no part in.

After an extensive medical examination from Gary Lewin and another England physio who Sam didn't know, it was adjudged that Sam should probably take a couple of weeks rest, to allow for his head, and ankle, to completely heal. This meant that Sam wouldn't be able to play for England again until February, when the England U21s were to entertain South Korea in a friendly. Young Everton striker James Vaughan was called up to replace Sam before the France match, which England were to win 3-1, much to the surprise of many.

Sam sighed. He was disappointed by Lewin's decision, but knew that it was for the best. He would have a chance to get back to fitness with Havant before playing for England again, and in the long term, taking a rest would be beneficial for his general fitness, and help to ensure that his ankle injury would not be at a high risk of re-occuring.

Besides, he was falling behind with his schoolwork, and was glad of the chance to catch up.

Thanks to Apthered for the awesome sig :)

The "Create a Club" Challenge - Updates Here (on hold)

Thanks to Apthered for the awesome sig :)

The "Create a Club" Challenge - Updates Here (on hold)