Getting Less Young

[Hardy]

Roy Keane swore by yoga in his later years

I can't stand the taste of it.

[Milltown Row2]

Different types of yoga, so he'd need to find the one that suits him. Was perfect for him. would lovd to try it.

[theskull1]

juice you need to take a good look at yourself. 28 .....man up will you.

That just a bit of tough love you'll understand 

[saffron sam2]

Be more physical, more aggressive, and shout lots of instructions at younger players. Check out the opposition before you line out, and choose the wing with the slower looking man to mark. Slow things down with frees. Don't give the ball away. Hold jerseys. Throw punches if necessary. Do your best work between your own 21 and 45, bailing out your full-back and applying the deadener as required. Win breaking-ball, lots of it. Talk about how good you are at "marking space" to anyone who'll listen. Shout a lot. And when you make your occasional foray forward, make it count.

You've spent too long watching goldenyears.

Packed it in at 28 myself, after a dozen years of senior club football. Discovered alcohol instead and haven't looked back. Good decision.

[Mario]

Be more physical, more aggressive, and shout lots of instructions at younger players. Check out the opposition before you line out, and choose the wing with the slower looking man to mark. Slow things down with frees. Don't give the ball away. Hold jerseys. Throw punches if necessary. Do your best work between your own 21 and 45, bailing out your full-back and applying the deadener as required. Win breaking-ball, lots of it. Talk about how good you are at "marking space" to anyone who'll listen. Shout a lot. And when you make your occasional foray forward, make it count.

You've spent too long watching goldenyears.

Packed it in at 28 myself, after a dozen years of senior club football. Discovered alcohol instead and haven't looked back. Good decision.

A late bloomer i see, most decent young players discover alcohol about 12 years earlier than yourself. Then try and make a comeback in their mid 20s when they can drink no more

[brokencrossbar1]

Be more physical, more aggressive, and shout lots of instructions at younger players. Check out the opposition before you line out, and choose the wing with the slower looking man to mark. Slow things down with frees. Don't give the ball away. Hold jerseys. Throw punches if necessary. Do your best work between your own 21 and 45, bailing out your full-back and applying the deadener as required. Win breaking-ball, lots of it. Talk about how good you are at "marking space" to anyone who'll listen. Shout a lot. And when you make your occasional foray forward, make it count.

You've spent too long watching goldenyears.
Packed it in at 28 myself, after a dozen years of senior club football. Discovered alcohol instead and haven't looked back. Good decision.

goldenyears has a few years yet before he matches the master, goldenyears senior

[irunthev]

The Juice, you have so much to look forward to if you are that bad at 28. I'm 41, no longer play but played senior for 14 or 15 years and nowadays I walk with a limp in both legs, left knee is shot to bits, the right ankle has chronic arthritis in it and the surgeon is mad to get at it to fuse it together so that the ankle is permanently at right angles. He tells me it will get rid of the pain but will mean that the limp is even more pronounced and I have a collpased disk in my back. Throw in four broken teeth and the pain that is developing in my hips (probably due to the fact that I am limping on both legs) and you can get the picture as to where you are heading in the next ten years. Enjoy the little aches and pains you have now.... you will look back on them fondly in a few years times and wish that they were all you had to bother you And I haven't even mentioned the post traumatic stress disorder I have from some of the mistakes I made in big games while accumulating most of these injuries!!!!

[Banana Man]

The Juice, you have so much to look forward to if you are that bad at 28. I'm 41, no longer play but played senior for 14 or 15 years and nowadays I walk with a limp in both legs, left knee is shot to bits, the right ankle has chronic arthritis in it and the surgeon is mad to get at it to fuse it together so that the ankle is permanently at right angles. He tells me it will get rid of the pain but will mean that the limp is even more pronounced and I have a collpased disk in my back. Throw in four broken teeth and the pain that is developing in my hips (probably due to the fact that I am limping on both legs) and you can get the picture as to where you are heading in the next ten years. Enjoy the little aches and pains you have now.... you will look back on them fondly in a few years times and wish that they were all you had to bother you And I haven't even mentioned the post traumatic stress disorder I have from some of the mistakes I made in big games while accumulating most of these injuries!!!!

so this nov and dec ban for burnout is a good thing it just came to late for you 

[saffron sam2]

Be more physical, more aggressive, and shout lots of instructions at younger players. Check out the opposition before you line out, and choose the wing with the slower looking man to mark. Slow things down with frees. Don't give the ball away. Hold jerseys. Throw punches if necessary. Do your best work between your own 21 and 45, bailing out your full-back and applying the deadener as required. Win breaking-ball, lots of it. Talk about how good you are at "marking space" to anyone who'll listen. Shout a lot. And when you make your occasional foray forward, make it count.

You've spent too long watching goldenyears.

Packed it in at 28 myself, after a dozen years of senior club football. Discovered alcohol instead and haven't looked back. Good decision.

A late bloomer i see, most decent young players discover alcohol about 12 years earlier than yourself. Then try and make a comeback in their mid 20s when they can drink no more

Assuming you are referring to me as a decent player, that would be the third complimentary thing written about my footballing career. At 17, I was described as 'sound' and at 21 as 'promising'. You've made my day.

[screenexile]

Have to say I agree with you Juice. . . last year I found it very difficult to get up to any sort of level to compete for a spot on our Senior team and every time I got close some sort of niggle would get at me whether it was a back or a groin or a hamstring. The body just isn't functioning properly anymore.

Having seen the lads who are able to cope with it in their formative years it would seem that you need to have a decent lifestyle. In other words I would say start eating right and get horsing at the weights!!! A good weights programme will help strengthen the muscles and prevent those niggly injuries you are likely to pick up. Having a decent diet will help to give you more energy to cope in games.

I myself have started the long road back in the last 2 weeks and I know it's going to be a killer. I have been playing football about twice a week for the last 2 months and it helps but any decent cardio I've done apart from that is definitely tough, and I need 2 days to recover. I'm hoping this will get easier in the coming months but who knows. Best of luck!!!

[Down Follower]

Juice i know where your coming from on this one.

I'm 30 now and have been playing on the senior team since i was 18.  Someone mentioned earlier that you can be flying one game and have the legs feel like lead the next. That is so true it is unreal.

I keep myself in good nick but go out every weekend for a few pints.  I find i get out of shape so quickly now if i dont do anything, so started up the winter training about 4 weeks ago. 5 a side, weights, road running, racket ball etc etc. Basically anything goes with the only consistent being the gym session twice a week.

I fully intend to play on for another 3-4 years at senior level so to do this i believe i have to train harder than all the younger fella's, or at least the majority of them. Pints the night before sunday morning training are now a distant memory but these are the steps i believe must be taken.

[the colonel]

The Juice, you have so much to look forward to if you are that bad at 28. I'm 41, no longer play but played senior for 14 or 15 years and nowadays I walk with a limp in both legs, left knee is shot to bits, the right ankle has chronic arthritis in it and the surgeon is mad to get at it to fuse it together so that the ankle is permanently at right angles. He tells me it will get rid of the pain but will mean that the limp is even more pronounced and I have a collpased disk in my back. Throw in four broken teeth and the pain that is developing in my hips (probably due to the fact that I am limping on both legs) and you can get the picture as to where you are heading in the next ten years. Enjoy the little aches and pains you have now.... you will look back on them fondly in a few years times and wish that they were all you had to bother you And I haven't even mentioned the post traumatic stress disorder I have from some of the mistakes I made in big games while accumulating most of these injuries!!!!

If you were a dog you'd have been put out of your misery

[irunthev]

The Juice, you have so much to look forward to if you are that bad at 28. I'm 41, no longer play but played senior for 14 or 15 years and nowadays I walk with a limp in both legs, left knee is shot to bits, the right ankle has chronic arthritis in it and the surgeon is mad to get at it to fuse it together so that the ankle is permanently at right angles. He tells me it will get rid of the pain but will mean that the limp is even more pronounced and I have a collpased disk in my back. Throw in four broken teeth and the pain that is developing in my hips (probably due to the fact that I am limping on both legs) and you can get the picture as to where you are heading in the next ten years. Enjoy the little aches and pains you have now.... you will look back on them fondly in a few years times and wish that they were all you had to bother you And I haven't even mentioned the post traumatic stress disorder I have from some of the mistakes I made in big games while accumulating most of these injuries!!!!

If you were a dog you'd have been put out of your misery

The irony of the whole thing was that I played in goals all my life. Don't worry the dog's banjaxed as well... I'm not going down alone.

[passedit]

The Juice, you have so much to look forward to if you are that bad at 28. I'm 41, no longer play but played senior for 14 or 15 years and nowadays I walk with a limp in both legs, left knee is shot to bits, the right ankle has chronic arthritis in it and the surgeon is mad to get at it to fuse it together so that the ankle is permanently at right angles. He tells me it will get rid of the pain but will mean that the limp is even more pronounced and I have a collpased disk in my back. Throw in four broken teeth and the pain that is developing in my hips (probably due to the fact that I am limping on both legs) and you can get the picture as to where you are heading in the next ten years. Enjoy the little aches and pains you have now.... you will look back on them fondly in a few years times and wish that they were all you had to bother you And I haven't even mentioned the post traumatic stress disorder I have from some of the mistakes I made in big games while accumulating most of these injuries!!!!

If you were a dog you'd have been put out of your misery

The irony of the whole thing was that I played in goals all my life. Don't worry the dog's banjaxed as well... I'm not going down alone.

How the hell did you manage to get hurt? You certainly didn't strain yourself kicking the ball out!

BTW Juice ye're a pussy. Wobble's got it dead right, although a move into full forward is definitely on the cards, then you can add complaining loudly about the 'delivery'. I knew my number was up when I started dreading hot sunny days.

[illdecide]

I'm 37 and was playing senior 1st division football this year. However, that only lasted 4 matches when injury kicked in and i had to throw the towel in. Every individual is different, lads could play to they were 45 and other lads are for the scrap heap when they're 28

I still feel good and strong enough to keep playing only for the piece of bone i have growing into my achilles and if that wasn't there i'd be away at it again, as someone stated we'll all pay dear for it later in life but so F**k. I wouldn't change a thing if i had to do it all over again