#WeAreTheChampions

tom.kelk

Apologies for the photoshopping!

After finishing a respectable 3rd in their first full season, We Are Social’s new-look five-a-side football squad were primed and ready for anything that could be thrown at them. The 2013-2013 season brought many new challenges: The new territory, new players (and most importantly a new local pub) should have made life difficult but the squad took to it like a duck to water. Despite a rusty defeat in the first game of the season, the ‘Social Warriors were not deterred and they began to grind out win after win. A month went by without defeat and word spread quickly. Before we knew it, faces were splashed across tabloid back-pages, challenges were coming in from left, right and centre from BBH and then Jaguar; everyone wanted a piece of the We Are Social cake. The fame clearly went to the heads of the inexperienced We Are Social squad and the resultant drop in concentration encouraged a mid-season drop in form.

A narrow defeat against the 4 men of Letzbe Avenue (league leaders at the time) sparked a barren run of 3 games without a win. A well-concealed Pandagirl trolling (aka Tarryn) compounded this negativity.

Injuries struck the squad; Rob had a grazed face and went to recuperate in the USA, Nick hurt his toe, Ed was getting some headaches, a ‘sober’ Tom H fell down some stairs and Andreas actually did get injured. Heads were down, and luck was out. Sitting 7 points back in second place, the prospect of finishing 3rd was becoming a distinct possibility as the dream of adding to We Are Social’s trophy cabinet was fading fast.

However, when the chips are down, the real men emerge. We Are Social exploded back into the race with a 7-0 demolition of De Wolf and, with Letzbe Avenue losing their first game of the season, the cat had been thrown well and truly amongst the pigeons. It was plain for all to see that the pressure on Letzbe Avenue was too much to bear. With We Are Social constantly breathing down their necks, any slip-up was magnified and before the press could print ‘dark-horses’, We Are Social had overturned the 7 point deficit and now sat high and mighty atop of the Kennington 5 a side table.

With just 3 games remaining, We Are Social were not to be denied. With Letzbe Avenue’s dramatic plight fresh in the memory, there was a ruthless mentality from all on display. The squad was competitive, and with that there were players keen to taste the Champions glory (special unrelated shout-out to Ollie O and Gareth…). A fiercely fought 3-3 draw confirmed We Are Social’s place in the Hall of Fame and wrote the names of 13 men into the history books.

The remaining fixture allowed for some samba-style exhibition football with tricks and flicks galore alongside some wonderful quotes: John “You can’t say ‘mine’, ref”, and the opposition’s optimistic “let’s try and concede a good goal tonight lads”. The 6-1 destruction of league new-boys AA Athletic showed the We Are Social at their best however, despite the performance being one of the highlights of the season, it was insignificant – this was party time.

The post-season tour kicks off on the 15th May against BBH. It’s time to strut our stuff away from Kennington and take on the world.

For the fun and games this season – a big thank you to: Joe Weston, Nick Mulligan, Rob Hyde, Ardel Amani, Tom Hargreaves, John Crozier, Andreas Plastiras, Jerome, Jake Lee, Ed Kitchingman, Joe Seymour and Joe Faul. Also, big thanks to Jim, Robin and Nathan for bankrolling our success!

End of season mentions (as voted by the team):