New season, new badge

There is a particular kind of quiet in our house the night before a new season starts. Boots by the door, shin pads found at the last minute, and a very small footballer who claims he is not excited while asking six times what time we are leaving.

This season Xander pulls on two badges: Bilston Town Warriors U9s, the club that gave him his very first team, and DMC Leipzig U9s in the JPL. We are proud of both for completely different reasons — one is where he learned to love it, the other is where he gets to test himself every single week.

Pre-season has been all about first touch and playing with his head up. The coaches keep telling him to take the extra half-second and look. Slowly, it is landing. We have already lost one shin pad.

Whatever the results look like in May, he gets to spend a year playing the game he loves with people who look after him. That will do us just fine.