17th May 2017
Gleadless, Sheffield, England
In a small terraced house on a side street, an elderly man with tattoos covering his body from head to toe was sitting watching Sheffield Wednesday vs Huddersfield in the playoff semi-final.
97th minute 2-0 (2-2) on aggregate
The ball came to a boy with a mane of dark hair on the right flank. He took one touch, looked up, and saw two defenders pressing him. The first one came sliding in
The elderly man, hands covering his face, whispered, "Go on, boy, do it."
The boy just scooped the ball over him; however, the second was right behind him, ready to clean the ball up before it hit the ground.
The boy did something that would go down in football myth.
He just tapped the ball mid-flight through the legs of the defender. He then looked up and saw space and drove in the field towards the edge of the box, where he still had two people and the goalkeeper to beat.
Most people would have slowed and looked for a teammate.
But not this boy, he accelerated into the box, faked a shot to draw the defenders in, just to chop the ball.
Left
Right
1 on 1
BANG
Crossbar in
Andy Giddings' voice roared through the TV, "WHO ELSE! WHO ELSE!" His voice cracking under the noise of the Wednesday supporters, "BUT A BOY SHROUDED IN DOUBT AT THE START OF THE SEASON IS NOW SHEFFIELDS SALVATION!"
"THAT IS THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF GOAL, JUST LIKE HIS NAME PROPHESIED!"
Even though his grandson had just completed a hat-trick to qualify for the finals, he couldn't celebrate because he could feel it. The cancer had finally caught up to him. As he slowly closed his eyes, he saw a jersey with the name Choi stitched across the back. As the camera switched, he could be seen shouting into the camera, asking if he saw what he did.
"Yes, yes, I did, boy."
As the final whistle was blown in Hillsborough Stadium, it was like an air raid siren after last season's heartbreak.
(Hi Ho Sheffield Wednesday, have a listen to the stadium version)
"GOING DOWN THE BUMPY HILLSIDE,
IN YOUR HIPPIE HAT,
FLYING ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND GETTING FAT,
SAYING EVERYTHING IS GROOVY,
WHEN YOUR TIRES ARE FLAT,
AND ITS,
HI HO SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY,
ANYWHERE YOU GO NOW, BABY
I SEE YOUR SUN IS SHINING, BUT I WILL MAKE A FUSS,
THOUGH IT'S OBVIOUS "
Andy's co-commentator Brian Laws came in, "You just can't take anything away from this club. The fans show up to every game and believe." Taking a look at number 27, "just imagine how that young man is feeling scoring a hat-trick for your club to put them in a position to get in the top flight of England in 17 years."
Through the speakers came a voice announcing the man of the match, "Your man of the match is number 27 Alex Choi."
Barry Bannan ran up behind Alex and jumped on his back, "YOU'RE FUCKING INSANE MAN", hopping down off his back, he hugged him and told him he's got a pitch side interview.
Alex approached the backdrop with the championship logo and sponsors plastered everywhere. Two staffers approached him and passed him a mic and an earpiece.
The reporter took a while to think about what to ask.
"Alex Choi, Man of the Match," he took a breath, then asked, "How do you feel?"
Slowly, a smile crept onto his face.
"I feel… sound," he said, chuckling. "I can't get too giddy yet, we've still got a final to play in Wembley."
The reporter couldn't help but laugh at how unbothered he looked.
"You've just become the fourth player to score a hat-trick in a championship semi-final. At just 17 years old"
Alex glanced over to the pitch, where there were players with their family and he thought about the only person he had, causing his face to stiffen a bit. He shook his head and looked back at the reporter.
"None of this would have happened without my grandad, who raised me on his own, so if you want to thank anyone, thank him. He should be watching now, so when I get home later, we will celebrate my birthday and my hat-trick," he said, flashing a grin.
Causing the reporter to smile and get a cheer out of the crowd, trying to stay professional, the reporter thanked Alex for his time and for answering the questions.
"Alex," Jack Hunt called him from behind. "Come here, we're doing a lap around the pitch."
He turned around and jogged over to the rest of the team, and they slowly made their way around the stadium.
A small kid around 7 with a beanie on shouted, "Alex, can I have your shirt?" he made his way over, peeling his jersey off, exposing his chest that had a scar running down the right side.
As he passed him it he told the kid, "Don't sell it on Gumtree, mate."
After that, he slowly made his way towards the locker room with the crowd still singing his name.
The first thing he did was grab his iPhone SE and tried to call his grandad, but it went to voice mail 3 times. The team started walking in singing "WERE GOING TO WEMBERLY"
Barry Bannan, followed by Kieran Lee and Sam Hutchinson.
Sam approached him, giving him a hug. "That goal was crazy, do that every game, yeah?" he said with a chuckle.
Alex smirked, "Don't get used to it."
As everyone was calming down
Sam nudged him
"Grandad picking you up?"
"Yeah, but he isn't answering the phone, so I was gonna call a taxi."
Sam just started laughing at him, "You're gonna call a taxi in Hillsborough after scoring a hat-trick in a semi-final, I will drop you off, mate. Sometimes I forget you just turned seventeen."
In the car, Alex was thinking about how he got here. He got promoted to the first team in early January, then debuted against Leeds United in February, scoring and getting an assist from then on. His life just hasn't slowed down, with him currently having 23 G/A in 12 appearances.
But that's just football.
His grandad, who has raised him alone since he was four, because both his parents and sister passed away in a car crash, with him being the only survivor.
Before the crash, his grandad was a smoker, causing him to be diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in early 2015. The chemo kept him out of work for long periods of time, and struggling to pay bills.
"Alright, we're here. Take care of yourself, mate. Big day soon."
Snapping him out of his thoughts
"I appreciate you dropping me off. I'll see you at training."
Once he jumped out of the car, he made his way down the side street to the sixth house down with a stone patio that was worn down, and a door with some of the paint chipped. As he opened the door, he slipped his shoes off and made his way through the kitchen.
All of a sudden, he got a sense of dread, causing him to shout out, "Grandad!"
The sound of the phone ringing could be heard from the living room. "Hello, what's your emergency?"
A strained voice, as though choking on his own words, said "m-my grandad is not breathing i need an ambulance at 64 Gleadless valley" in the background, you could still hear the post-match analysis playing.
The next morning in Sheffield, people were making school runs and going to work, still hungover from the night before got news that no one was expecting.
"This is BBC Radio Sheffield, and we bring you the latest news. We've just been informed that after Sheffield Wednesday's teenage sensation Alex Choi's historic performance at Hillsborough to send them to Wembley on the 29th," you could hear Toby Foster exhale just before stating.
"Alex's grandad was found dead in his home in Gleadless, Sheffield, at just 55 years old. The cause of death was a heart attack after fighting cancer for the last 2 years."
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First time writing something like this, have no idea if it's any good. I ain't even past my English exam and failed 3 times, so don't expect Shakespeare type shit
Kope