“Ah want me name printed on the back o’ me shirt!”
Thompson leaned his spindly, tall frame into the wind and rain that blew directly into his red, cadaverous face. The hissing and keening of that wind and rain blended with the squeaking of his boots on the sodden grass as he ran full pelt towards the ball. He thumped the ball hard. The connection of his boot on the heavy brown ball made a sound like a brick being thudded into wet cement.
“What tripe ye talkin’ now, lad?” McMaster growled in his thick, taciturn Aberdonian accent. “Names on shirts? What would be the bloody point in that? The fans that come tae the ground week in, week out will soon know who ye are, son. They’ll learn tae recognise ye. Specially if ye start slinging the ball in the back o’ the onion bag week in, week out. Don’t you worry about that. Names on a shirt! Never have I heard anything so bleedin’ silly! Besides, if they don’t sing yer praises from the terrace, they can always look up yer number in the programme to find out who ye are. In case they need their memories refreshed. Or if they want tae single ye out for a slaggin for bein’ shite!”
McMaster wiped a beading curtain of rain off his forehead. It formed a neat suture at his hairline, starkly indicating where it began to recede. He watched as the ball plummeted out of the grey sky and bounced on top of the crossbar with a hollow clanging sound. The white crossbar trembled once with the impact, then shivered like a dog shaking the rain out of its fur. The ball plopped into a puddle and stood perfectly still.
“Besides, if ye don’t score goals and keep oan doin’ things like ye just did the now, the fans won’t need tae ken yer name. Because ye’ll no be in the startin’ 11. Ye’ll be dropped faster than a hot shite and the folk on the terraces will be only too glad to forget yer bloody name. And then will ye be wantin’ ‘who the hell was he?’ plastered all over the back o yer shirt, eh, sonny?” McMaster waddled up to Thompson and, reaching up with his outstretched arm, playfully cuffed the lanky aspiring centre forward round the ear.