Maybe I should start at the very beginning.
If my memory serves me right (some people claim I have a tendency to imagine stuffs hmm) I was exposed to the Beutiful Game at a tender age of 7. The time was 1986. The whole world was watching this little Argentine wizard single-handedly destroy every challenger that stands between him and ultimate glory - the World Cup 1986. I remember being in Kelantan (Pasir Mas to be precise) in the living room of my grandma's place. All the relatives were crowded in front of the small tv shouting and screaming at it. No one would tell me anything as they were all obsessed with that "thing" they were watching. Out of curiosity (and boredom) I decided to just sit down and watch and find out what the hell is it that is keeping dad away from his Chinese Wu Xia novels, cousin Ah Yao from his football practice and 2nd Uncle away from his favourite mamak stall nearby.
Although I didnt understand the game then, but I remember clearly the vision of this stout stocky fella in dark blue strips and black shorts with a funny hairstyle (I didnt know of the Alleycats back then) running around other white fellas. I could have been forgiven to think that that was a game of catch-me-if-you-can. But even though i didnt really understand the game, I was somehow glued to this fella. Watching him made me feel good.
Later the next day, cousin Ah Yao brought me to the filed near his place and I was taught how to play this football game. Wow and I never looked back.
Though I never manage to emulate Soh Chin Aun and played for the country, I was hoever forever hooked to this beautiful game. Being in a chinese school, it wasnt easy to get a game back when I was in primary. Everyone else was playing basketball. But that didnt stop me. I used to play by myself, kicking the ball onto an empty wall and testing my reflexes in controlling the rebounding ball. This was a very good excercise. My touch improved and of cos my reflexes and football instincts as well. I would be able to gauge where the ball would end up if it was hit with a certain speed from a certain angle.
During secondary school, it was pretty much the same problem for the first 2 years. It was only in Form 3 ie during Euro 96 that I managed to pursuade some friends into playing. Hard time converting them from basketball:P But partly due to the Euro96 fever they got hooked as well very quickly. By the end of Form 4 we had our very own team (Taman MEgah FC we call it..thats where we played). Eventually we decided to get our own jerseys so that we would be able to distinguish teammates when playing others (our main rival then was the SM Tmn SEA team). So off we went to Asia Jaya one fine day. Yes there was this sports shop in Asia Jaya back then on the 3rd Floor. Cant remember the name. All I know is that it shifted to Amcorp Mall in 1998 and closed down sometime in 2002.
Anyway after browsing through the available selections at the shop, we all made our choice based on what all schoolgoers' main concerns were back then (and even now i should say) - $$$$. The branded ones were way off our league then. So we got this Line7 jersey instead:-
How much u asked? RM28.00 per piece. Including the numbering (stitched). I must say it was quite a good buy. I actually liked the stringed collar. Not common on jerseys nowadays. But back then I recall MU had one away jersey (green and yellow) with a similar collar.
And of cos you guys may have guessed why I took No. 10 la. :) Lets see if I can recall the players and their respective numbers in the "original" Taman Megah team:P
4. Hang Wu
6. Wye Luon
7. Ng Boon Yeaw
8. Ang Boon Yaw
9. Yee Siang
10. Mua
11. Onn Wei
12. Wen Feng
15. Jason
17. Michael
18. Buy Siang Pin
19. Jia Wan
23. Chin Weng Hong
Hope I didnt left anyone out...
This jersey served us faithfully for bout 2 years. Oh btw the "original" team was made up of mostly classmates and schoolmates from secondary school. After graduation, there was some changes in membership of the players..some went overseas, some shifted etc.. but those who stayed behind kept playing. We thought that we deserved a 2nd jersey and so we went to the same shop again. This time it had shifted. Again most of us were $$$-concious so we again opted for the cheaper Line7 jersey. This time we thought we will just stick to a conventional jersey. Picked red and black mainly cos I like striped jerseys:P
I thought it looked nice. I looked like Van Basten in Milan's jersey muahahah....
Anyway after that we didnt get any new jerseys.....our team has shrunk to a meager 12 members now..we struglle to get enough players for our weekly Sunday futsal games now. Anyone interested to join do let me know k? haha...
Ok thats wnough for the day...gonna share this jersey I wore for my School Prefect Team as well since it was from the "same era"...
cheers!
