ACT 4 OF VOLUME 1
The victory against Salford City Amateurs was a seismic event in the small, self-contained world of the Manchester County League. We were no longer just a feel-good story, a plucky underdog; we were a phenomenon.
The Moss Side Mourinho was no longer a local curiosity; I was a local hero.
The morning after the game, my face was on the back page of the Manchester Evening News, under the headline: 'THE MIRACLE OF MOSS SIDE'.
Emma's brilliant, passionate, and slightly biased match report had been picked up from her blog and syndicated. The story of our victory, of the triumph of community and spirit over money and cynicism, had captured the imagination of the city.
For the first few days, it was glorious. I was walking on air, a man drunk on the intoxicating cocktail of victory, of validation, of a deep, profound, and all-encompassing sense of communal joy.
