Football My Story

This story belongs to Murdo and Ross

and their Papa Murdo.

It's a tiny tale about the things Papa Murdo used to do

when he was a footballer.

Murdo, come on over and have a shot on the slide.

Murdo and Ross are cousins.

Quick, before he comes. Quick, you go down.

Go down. Quick.

It's time for him to share his memories

and take Murdo and Ross on a journey of discovery.

Good. Well done.

And well done. Over you come, boys.

I've got a wee surprise for you. You stand there, Murdo.

Congratulations, that was super. Well done, Murdo.

And, Ross, you were super, as well. There you are.

Congratulations. I won these when I played football.

-Do you know what these are?

-A cap.

-Well done.

It's a Scotland international cap.

You get this when you play for your country. You get one a year.

Not every game you're playing. One a year.

I wonder how many years Papa played for Scotland? Count the caps.

One.

Two.

Three. Four.

-This one.

-Five.

-And this one.

-Six.

-How many altogether?

-BOTH:

-Six years!

-Oh, that's fantastic.

They talk some more about the caps

and what it was like to be a footballer.

Papa Murdo told Murdo and Ross stories

about how much he loved to play football when he was a little boy,

just like these children in this old film.

Playing football was fantastic when I was a boy.

I played football every day when I came out of school.

As soon as you got home, change and along to the park to play football.

Even with the weather wasn't good, we'd still play football.

Everybody joined in. It didn't matter what age you were.

Any time we got tired, we had a break for ten minutes,

went away and had a drink and came back.

We just played football until it got dark.

Papa Murdo took Murdo and Ross

to see the street where he lived as a boy.

Boys, when I was your age, I used to live in this house behind you.

Every day after school, I used to come home with my two brothers,

we used to get changed

and with all our friends, we used to go to the park and play football.

Where are the goalposts? Where are the lines?

We just used to take our jumpers off and use that for goalposts.

We didn't need lines because we kept the ball in the park.

-Would you like to play football? BOTH:

-Yeah!

Come on, then. A wee jog, a wee jog.

Come on, then. Right.

Right. Tops off, tops off.

Let's make the goals first. OK?

Right, Ross, give me your jacket. There you are.

I'll make this goalpost here, OK.

Right. You two that side. Come on.

Right. Who's first? Murdo, you get a wee shot.

Just pass it to Papa. Pass it to Papa. Well done.

Right, Ross, on you come.

Oh! Kick it again, Ross. Quick, kick it.

Yay! Quick, quick. Get the ball. Get the ball.

Quick, quick, quick.

Quick, quick, quick.

Put the ball in the net, Murdo. Quick. Score a goal.

Yes!

-Right, who wants a wee header?

-Me!

Header it, header it, header it.

Hey! Two! Well done.

Again, again.

I think you two could be football players.

-Want to see what it was like when Papa played? BOTH:

-Yay!

Get your jackets. Come on, then, hurry up.

Murdo and Ross are excited

as Papa Murdo is taking them to an old football stadium.

Here they are in the changing room.

When I became a footballer at a small club,

I was an apprentice footballer.

What's an apprentice, Papa?

You had to do all the jobs about the football club

to make it clean and tidy.

I used to clean football boots.

-Do you know how many pairs of boots I used to clean?

-10?

A lot more than 10. 30 pairs of boots

I had to clean all the time.

And I think we can get started now.

Ross. There's one for you, Murdo.

There's a brush for you, Ross.

A brush for you, Murdo. And I'll get started here.

Make a nice shine on them so I can see my face on them.

Scrub hard.

That's a nice shine.

The players will be very happy with their boots now.

What kind of other jobs did you have to do, Papa?

Apart from cleaning all the boots,

I had brush and tidy the whole stadium.

All the dressing room had to be cleaned

and everybody had to say you'd done a nice job.

Right, here's more.

Very good.

Cleaning all those boots must have been hard work.

It wasn't long before Papa Murdo got a job playing football all the time.

He got to play in a lot of games. These are some of his team-mates.

They had to train hard to get their bodies fit enough

to be able to run around for a whole match.

A match lasts 90 minutes.

Papa Murdo got even better at playing football

and he played for some of the biggest clubs in the country.

He also won medals.

Sometimes, his team even won trophies.

There he is, holding the trophy.

There were lots of celebrations.

Sometimes, people would cheer on the streets.

Papa Murdo got to play for lots of football clubs.

They all had different outfits with amazing colours.

-Come on in, boys, come on into the changing room.

-Yay!

Here we are. This is us in the changing room.

The team used to come in off the bus and come into the changing room.

It was a fantastic feeling. We were excited.

We were looking forward to the game, hoping we'd win the match.

Then we'd take our own clothes off

and put on the football tops. Do you know what you call this?

-A football shirt, Papa.

-That's right.

We used to wear the same colour all the time.

The opposition team wore a different colour.

-Do you know why, Murdo?

-No.

So we didn't pass the ball to an opposition player.

After every match, you'd shake hands with the opposition players

and sometimes, we would swap jerseys.

Look at all the different colours of jerseys up here.

-Murdo, what's your favourite?

-That one.

This is a Scotland top. That's a fantastic choice.

Oh, that's super.

Ross, what's your favourite colour? Would you like this one here?

This was a team I played for in Germany.

Let me see if that fits you. Oh, that looks fantastic!

Papa Murdo wore a Scotland strip when he played for his country.

The best players in the whole of Scotland were picked

and put into a team together to play against other countries.

Papa Murdo has brought Murdo and Ross to this stadium,

where he played football with the Scotland team.

This is the national stadium, Hampden Park.

I'm glad you've got on your Scotland tops.

-Wow, Papa, this is huge!

-Absolutely massive.

Come on over to the pitch.

This is the pitch at Hampden Park. Look at the size of it.

-Do you think you could run about for a full match?

-No. I'm too small.

I think when you get bigger, you could run about there for 90 minutes.

Well, Papa was here, ready to play for his country,

waiting to step over that white line.

It was the biggest thing in my life, to go to the white line

and actually from one side, not playing for Scotland,

and then to get onto the other side.

When I stepped over the line, I knew I'd play for Scotland.

-Would you like to step over the white line with me? BOTH:

-Yeah!

This is very special. Come on over.

Are you ready?

One, two, three, go!

CHEERING Yay! Yay!

Sometimes, Papa Murdo likes to sit in the football stadium

and remember some of the games he played.

Boys, let's get behind Papa on the park. Let me hear you shouting.

-BOTH:

-Go, Papa! Go, Papa!

-Come on!

-That's a good pass!

-A good pass!

Papa Murdo played for the Scotland team 20 times.

-And here he is, shooting at goal.

-Goal!

-Yes!

GROANING

-COMMENTATOR:

-That was almost a rebound.

Look at that one. I'm going to cross it.

-COMMENTATOR:

-Murdo MacLeod with it!

CHEERING Goal! Yes!

-COMMENTATOR:

-Scotland are one up.

Wow! What a goal!

Papa Murdo told the boys about the time he got a bump on the head.

When I was playing for Scotland, I had an accident on the park.

What happened, Papa?

We were playing against Brazil, a country really far away from here.

A player hit a free kick at 90 miles an hour, which is really fast.

It hit me on the side of the head and knocked me down.

-COMMENTATOR:

-That really went. It looks like MacLeod got it.

Was it like this, Papa?

MURDO LAUGHS

Yeah, just like that, Ross. That was very good.

After a few minutes, Papa Murdo was back on his feet,

playing football for Scotland again.

-Do you think 90 miles an hour is very fast?

-Yeah!

I think you two can try and hit the ball at 90 miles an hour.

Would you like to try? Go over to the line. Can you see this machine?

This machine measures how fast you hit the ball.

Oh, 18. Very good, Murdo.

A chance for Ross now. Are you ready?

On you come, Ross.

THEY LAUGH

Yay! 14. Well done, Ross.

Well, boys, that's the day over. Have you enjoyed yourself?

-BOTH:

-Yeah!

-What's been your favourite part?

-Hampden Park.

-Did you enjoy seeing the big stadium?

-Yeah.

-And the pitch?

-Yeah.

-Fantastic.

-Ross, what's your favourite part?

-When I kicked the football.

That was great. You were smashing kicking the ball.

-Do you want to be a football player, Murdo?

-Yeah.

-Ross, do you want to be a football player?

-Yes!

I've got a wee special prize for both of you.

Murdo, that's one for you.

And, Ross, that's one for you.

Boys, give me a wee cuddle.

Oh, thanks, Ross. Well done, Murdo, that was great.

What a fabulous heap of fun.

That was Murdo, Ross and Papa Murdo's tiny tale

about the things Papa Murdo used to do and why he has special caps.

Papa Murdo has shared his story with Murdo and Ross

and now they're starting their own stories.

Do you know someone who has a story to share?

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd