It was a bright, sunny afternoon in April and Robert Andrews was dashing home from school heading an imaginary football as he practised for the five-a-side game he and his mates were going to have that evening at the leisure centre. Robert was football mad. Every available free minute he had, he spent kicking an old, leather football around the back garden and as a result his Dad's lawn was worn and bald instead of green and lush.
As he turned into Benson Street, he saw a battered old van parked beside a telegraph pole and a man up at the top of a ladder hammering a nail into a piece of hardboard on to which was pasted a poster. Robert slid to a halt at the foot of the ladder and stared intently at the man. "Hey, mister," he shouted at the top of his voice, "what"re you up to?" The man, who hadn't spotted Robert until then, almost jumped out of his skin and nearly fell off the ladder. "Don't you know better than to startle somebody when they are up a ladder. I could have got killed!" snapped the man. "If it's any of your business, I"m putting up this poster about the charity football match next Saturday to raise money for the local hospital.".
Robert's ears pricked up when he heard the man mention a football match. "Who's gonna be playing, mister?" he asked excitedly. "You"ll never guess," the man said. "It's a match between the Loxford Thrashers and Manchester United." .
"What!" exclaimed Robert. "Manchester United playing here in Loxford! I don't believe it." "I don't care whether you believe it or not," replied the man. "That's who's coming and I"m sure there"ll be plenty of people to buy the tickets if you don't want one." And with that the man clambered down the ladder, packed it into the back of the van and drove off down the street in a cloud of dust and exhaust fumes.
Robert stepped back into the road and craned his neck backwards to see the poster better. Sure enough, it said that this Saturday at 3pm there was to be a special, charity match at the local football ground and Manchester United would be there.
