Football joy in Megabreak pool hall

You may know. I have been coming to this pool hall for many years now to organize a pool billiards tournament with English friends three times a week. Of course I also play - at a low level - and occasionally I win a prize.

At the weekend we follow all kinds of sporting events on large TV screens, including the Premier League of England, while I keep a close eye on developments in the Dutch football league. All decisions of this season in England and the Netherlands are not yet known, but we already had something to celebrate. To celebrate something on a tournament evening, we only need a small reason, but that aside.

Leicester City FC

Enough has been written about the fairytale of this club, also on this blog. The club, owned by Thai billionaire Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, chief executive of King Power, made history by becoming champions of England this season after a year of battle against relegation.

Oliver, owner-partner of Megabreak, is from Leicester but is not a real football fan. His interest is more focused on snooker, for example, and the new world champion Selby is also from Leicester. Still, his interest in “The Siamese Foxes”, as Leicester City is affectionately referred to in the Thai press, grew as the season progressed and it goes without saying that he is proud of the title achieved.

Burnley

Barrie, also owner-partner of Megabreak, is from Burnley and like his father, who spent a while in Pattaya earlier this year, is a big fan of Burnley. This club was relegated from the Premier League last season and is already certain that after playing football in the Championship League for a year, they will play at the highest level again next season.

Heracles Almelo

Heracles Almelo's performance this season is somewhat comparable to that of Leicester City. Heracles Almelo also fought against relegation last season and started the 2015/2016 season energetically. For a long time they were more or less equal with Leicester City, but due to a dip after the winter break, Heracles Almelo fell back from the real top. Nevertheless, they managed to make it to the play-off for a European ticket. For me as a former Almelo player, reason enough to be proud of my old club Heracles Almelo.

Underpants

Let's hope for me that Heracles Almelo can indeed play in the preliminary round of the Europa League, which would be a unique achievement for a modest club like Heracles Almelo.

At the start of this football season, English football icon Gary Lineker (once a Leicester City player) declared that he would appear on TV in his underpants if Leicester City became champions.

I now promise that I will play the next pool billiards tournament in underpants if Heracles Almelo does indeed win the playoffs for European football.

How is your favorite club doing, also something to celebrate?

About this blogger

Gringo

Bert Gringhuis (1945), born and raised in Almelo in the beautiful Twente. Later lived for many years in Amsterdam and Alkmaar, working in export for various companies. I first came to Thailand in 1980 and immediately fell in love with the country. Been back many times since then and moved to Thailand after my (early) retirement as a widower. I have been living there for 22 years now with my somewhat younger Thai lady Poopae.
My first experiences in Thailand as a kind of newsletter sent to family, friends and acquaintances, which later appeared under the name Gringo on Thailandblog. Many, many articles followed those first stories and that has grown into an almost daily hobby.
In the Netherlands still an avid footballer and football referee, but the years are starting to tell and in Thailand still avid, but the pool billiards is really of inferior quality, ha ha!

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