Chapter 28: Between the Years
Sunday, 28 December
The days between Christmas and New Year felt a little strange.
The Christmas lights were still hanging around Crawley, but most of the excitement was gone. The town was quieter, and everyone seemed to be waiting for the new year to arrive.
Training was much the same.
It was cold and damp at the training ground. The players' boots made a sharp sound against the wet grass, and most of the squad had arrived early.
Nobody had asked them to.
They just seemed to prefer being there.
The dressing room was quieter than usual.
There were a few tired smiles and the occasional joke, but not much else. The players were clearly tired after the busy schedule, but nobody complained.
Max walked through the corridor with a slight limp. His ankle was still bothering him after the knock he'd taken on Boxing Day.
Luka was sitting on a bench with his socks rolled down, carefully wrapping tape around both ankles.
Reece had already gone outside.
He stood near the edge of the pitch with his gloves on, hands tucked into his jacket pockets, watching the fog settle over the far side of the training ground.
Niels came through the dressing room a few minutes later.
He looked at the players and understood the mood immediately.
They were tired.
But they were still here.
That mattered most.
Niels stood in the meeting room with his sleeves rolled up and a pen in his hand.
The projector was off. There were no match clips today, just the whiteboard covered with notes and a small heater running in the corner.
"This game can catch us out if we let it," Niels said. "The holiday break can make you relax. You start thinking there's plenty of time and that the other team is just as tired."
He looked around the room.
"Maybe they are. But it doesn't matter. If they're ready before us, we'll be the ones chasing the game."
He put the pen down.
"So stay focused. We've worked too hard to throw that away now."
The players nodded.
Nobody said much.
Outside, the warm-up started without music. There was only the sound of boots on the grass and players calling for the ball.
Korey was still enjoying the confidence he had gained from his Boxing Day goal. He worked hard through every drill and smiled whenever something came off properly.
Nate was quieter. He looked a little distracted, but his passing was still clean.
Dev and Qazi worked through their patterns together, rarely needing to speak.
Then Niels noticed Ellis.
Ellis was usually one of the quieter players, often staying in the background.
During one drill, he noticed a mistake.
"Move earlier!" he called.
Nobody reacted.
Ellis tried again, louder.
"Move earlier!"
This time, the players listened and adjusted.
Niels watched from the side.
Ellis didn't look embarrassed or unsure.
He had spoken, and the others had listened.
That was another change Niels was starting to notice.
The team didn't need constant motivation anymore.
They were beginning to hold each other to a higher standard.
The second day back was easier.
There was no gym work or hard fitness training. The players spent most of the session working with the ball.
They practiced passing, movement and a few set patterns until they became familiar.
Niels mostly stayed on the side and watched.
When someone had a question, he answered. When he spotted a mistake, he usually just pointed or gave a quick nod.
There was no need to stop the whole session every few minutes.
During a break, Dev and Reece went over to the other side of the pitch.
They started talking about a pressing mistake from the Bradford game. They walked through the situation slowly, then tried it at half speed.
"Again," Dev said.
They did it again.
This time, the movement was better.
They ran it once more at full speed and finally got it right.
Meanwhile, Luka was in the physio room with an ice pack around his right ankle. Max was sitting beside him, showing him something on his phone.
"Look at this," Max said, replaying a clip from the Bradford match. "They were pushing really high."
Luka watched the screen.
"There was loads of space behind them," Max added.
Luka nodded.
Max looked at him.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?"
Luka smiled slightly.
"Play it again."
That evening, Crawley was quiet.
A few Christmas lights were still hanging in windows, and the occasional early firework could be heard somewhere in the distance.
Niels was at home with his laptop open on the coffee table.
His tea had gone cold.
He wasn't watching the goals from Bradford. Instead, he went through the moments that could have gone wrong.
He stopped on one clip where Reece was half a second late closing down.
Then another where Luka turned into pressure instead of playing the safer pass.
Small mistakes.
Things they could fix.
Niels leaned back and looked at the ceiling.
His phone buzzed.
It was a message from Elise.
New Year's coming up. Just so you know, we're putting the lanterns out in the garden like we used to.
Niels stared at the message for a moment.
He remembered those evenings. The lights, the smoke and everyone standing outside together.
He typed back.
Still remember how the smoke used to make Dad sneeze. Every single time.
Her reply came a few seconds later.
He still does.
Niels smiled.
It was a small thing, but it made the evening feel a little less empty.
He closed the laptop and sat quietly for a while.
By the day before the match, the mood at the training ground had changed again.
The players looked sharper.
The pitch was firmer, the passes came faster and the first touches were cleaner. Nobody was wasting time. Even during the warm-up, the jokes were shorter, mixed with quick looks toward the clock and the next drill.
Niels kept them on the pitch for a few extra minutes after the final drill.
No tactics board this time.
He called everyone into a huddle near the centre of the pitch.
Their breath showed in the cold air.
"Last game of the year," Niels said.
Nobody spoke.
"We've had a good run, but tomorrow doesn't mean anything if we don't finish properly."
He looked around the group.
"You're tired. I know that. Everyone is. But so are they."
A few players nodded.
"So tomorrow, we don't give them an easy start. We press together. We win the second balls. We keep moving the ball. And when we get our chances, we take them."
Niels paused.
"We've worked too hard to switch off now."
He looked at each player.
"Finish the year the right way. Make them remember playing against us."
There were no cheers.
Just nods, a few shoulder taps and the sound of boots moving across the grass as the players headed back inside.
The mood was different now.
This wasn't a relaxed final game before the holidays.
Everyone knew what was at stake.
That night, Crawley was already preparing for New Year's celebrations. Christmas lights still hung from houses, and fireworks could occasionally be heard in the distance.
But inside the club, nobody was thinking about midnight.
There was one match left.
One more chance to win.
One more chance to show that Crawley had really changed.
The new year could wait.
They had work to finish first.