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MATCH DAY
Level 3 - A2/B1 Intermediate (1) Graded Reader from I Talk You Talk Press
Copyright
Match Day
Copyright © 2020 by I Talk You Talk Press
ISBN: 978-4-909733-54-2
Publisher: I Talk You Talk Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be resold, reproduced, stored inretrieval system, copied in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise transmitted without the prior written permission
from the publisher. You must not circulate this publication in any format, online orotherwise.
This is a fictionalised memoir. A fictional character is used to tell the story. While it isbased on the author's memories of a real event, the names, characters, businesses,organizations, products, places and incidents are either the products of the author’simagination, or have been used to enhance the story. We have no affiliation with any
existing individuals, companies or entities mentioned in this story.
Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the contentsof this book were correct at press time, the author and publisher do not assume andhereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused byerrors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident,
or any other cause.
For more information, see the Copyright Notice on our website.
The cover illustration contains an image from Adobe for which we have purchased theappropriate license.
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Acknowledgment

With thanks to Colin Dixon for sharing his memories of rugby and the match.
He is the original Old Jack.

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Introduction
Hello my friends! I’m Old Jack. Usually I write ghost stories. But this time, I am goingto tell you about an important event from my childhood. My hometown is in the north ofEngland. It is very famous for its rugby team. When I was a child, I went to the rugby
matches with my father.
Long ago, my town’s rugby team played at a stadium on Taylor Road. People outside
the town called the stadium “Taylor Road”, but in the town we just called it “The Road”.
It was more than 100 years old when I was young. “The Road” is gone now.
Yesterday, I was walking along Taylor Road. Now, there are houses on the oldstadium ground. It is sad. I miss the old stadium. When I walked past the houses, I
closed my eyes. I returned to my past. I could see the old stadium. I could hear the fansin the stadium cheering and shouting. I could see the tall lights on the stadium roof. Icould see my father and me, standing in our usual place, watching our team. I was backin my childhood. People called me Young Jack then. I miss those days. When I got
home, I wrote my memories in my notebook. These are my memories. I hope you enjoy
them.

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1. What is rugby league?
Maybe you know about rugby. But, do you know that there are two kinds of rugby?
There is “rugby union” and “rugby league”. Both kinds of rugby have a long history.
Before I tell you my story, I will tell you about the history of rugby.
In 1895, rugby was an amateur game. The players got no money. However,sometimes, when the players took time off work to play a match, they got a little money.
In the north of England, the players were working class men. They were poor. They
needed this money. But in the south of England, the players were richer. They didn’t
need the money to play rugby.
The organisation called the Rugby Football Union didn’t like the payments to theplayers. They said, “The sport must stay amateur. Stop giving money to players”. So, in1895, 22 rugby teams from the north of England had a meeting. They decided to leave
the Rugby Football Union and make a new kind of rugby. This new kind of rugby wascalled “Rugby League”. Over the years, they changed the rules a little. In rugby union
there are fifteen players, but in rugby league, there are thirteen. The players fromnumber one to seven are called “backs”. They are small and fast. The players from eightto thirteen are called “forwards”. They are big and strong. Now, rugby union and rugby
league are very different sports.
How are points scored? There are three kinds of points in rugby league. There is a“try”, which is four points. To score a try, the player has to put the ball down over the line
at the opposite end of the playing field. The playing field is called the pitch. A try is fourpoints. If a team scores a try, they have a chance to get a “goal”. To score a goal aplayer puts the ball on the ground and tries to kick it between H-shaped sticks. If theplayer does this, the team gets two points. There is also another kind of point. This is a“drop goal”. A player kicks the ball over the sticks, even if there is no try. This is onepoint.
The players have to pass the ball backwards to each other. They cannot pass it to aplayer who is in front of them. The other team try to bring the player with the ball to theground. This is called a tackle. After a tackle, the player with the ball passes it throughhis legs to a teammate.
My town’s team plays rugby league. The team is very important to the people in thetown. Watching the team play is a hobby and a passion for many people. I am going totell you about a match between my town’s team “Glass Town Rovers”, and a nearby© I Talk You Talk Press
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town’s team called “Pier Town Trinity”. These two teams are big rivals. When I wasyoung, they played a match every year on the 26 th of December. The towns are onlyaround 20km away from each other, but the rugby supporters in the towns don’t likeeach other. They always want to beat the other team.
So, come back in time with me, as I tell you about a rugby match in my town when Iwas Young Jack. The match was on the 26th of December. For me, this is an importantmemory. At that time, Pier Town Trinity was a very strong team. They were champions.
No other team could beat them. They had good players from the north of England andthey also had good players from Australia and New Zealand. My team, Glass Town
Rovers, had not won a major competition for over ten years. They also had players fromNew Zealand. But they still could not beat Pier Town Trinity. When we played them,everyone thought, “Hope for the best, expect the worst”. This means, “hope to win, butexpect to lose”. But one day, a long time ago, something special happened. Now I amold, but I can remember the match very well. It was a special day for Young Jack.
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