ask-afc-richmond

[ask-afc-richmond]

Happy sexy Christmas!!!! How did you guys spend Christmas this year?

Higgins: We had the usual Christmas dinner for the team, and we had another full house! I did learn from last year and bought a couple of fold-up tables so we didn’t have to make do with a pool table and surfboard again.

Dani: ¡Hola, anon! Firstly, I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and a fully sexy December 28th! Secondly, I spent Christmas con mi Richmond familia, at the lovely Higgins home. And I am happy to say, Thierry and I finally beat Terry and Kris in our Nerf war this year! 😁 Have a great New Year’s Eve, anon!

Rebecca: I don't think I would describe it as sexy, but it was perfectly adequate. Enjoyable actually. I did most of the same things as last year, giving out gifts and all. And of course I stopped by to spend some time with the team and the Higgins clan. Its always fun to see them all enjoying themselves, especially given how hard I know they've been training.

Sassy: Happy Sexy Christmas! (Honestly, that Keely is a genius … note to self: must do more Sexy Christmas going forward.)

Nora and I celebrated as we usually do with my family in the country, which I know sounds very Sandringham and isn’t terribly far off, actually (though I like to think I’m related to far more tolerable people and fewer pedos). My great aunt Verena has this enormous estate near the coast and every year, the kids and cousins descend for a week or two of reunion and celebration and fancy Christmas dinner and that excellent British pastime of getting a bit drunk and making snide comments about each other. It’s all great fun.

Beard: I spent Christmas with the Higgins family and the other members of the team. Jane tried to message me to get together but…nothing came of that. I also celebrated Yule with my pagan group, so needless to say, I will be hibernating for several weeks to recover from all the holiday cheer. Thank you for the ask!

[ask-afc-richmond]

This ones for everyone! What did you dress up as for Halloween?

Beard: Gandalf the Grey. It’s cliche, but I thought it was appropriate for a pagan gathering. Plus it was very cozy.

Dani: Ooh, this is a fun one, anon! Jamie, Colin, Richard, Bumbercatch, and I dressed up as the members of NSYNC! We got the idea from Coach Lasso teaching us that routine for Doctor Sharon’s goodbye party. (Now that I think of it, I wonder why that never happened?) Anyways, I hope you had a spooky Halloween yourself, anon! 👻👻👻

Jamie: Yeah, I was our Justin Timberlake ’cause I’m bringing sexy back.

Higgins: Julie and I dressed up as Shrek and Princess Fiona! The kids that came around trick or treating loved it!

Rebecca: I actually nicked one of the players uniforms and wore that for Halloween. Don't think they know. Only ones that do are the children I passed out candy to, but I don't think they got a laugh out of it nearly as much as the team would have.

Ted:

[ask-afc-richmond]

For Higgins: what’s on your Halloween playlist?

Higgins: It’s quite long, but here are some of the highlights!

Bat Out of Hell - Meatloaf

The Devil Went Down to Georgia - The Charlie Daniels Band

(Ghost) Riders in the Sky - Johnny Cash

Hammer Horror - Kate Bush

Hungry Like the Wolf - Duran Duran

Love Potion No. 9 - The Clovers

Psycho Killer - Talking Heads

Monster Mash - Bobby “Boris” Pickett & The Crypt-Kickers

I Put a Spell on You - Screamin’ Jay Hawkins

Thriller - Michael Jackson

Bad Moon Rising - Hayseed Dixie

Ghostbusters - Ray Parker Jr.

Ghost Town - The Specials

Pet Semetary - Ramones

[ask-afc-richmond]

Hi Dani! Do you still have Rebecca’s pink slippers?

Dani: ¡Hola, anon! I actually do not still have Ms. Welton’s slippers. Once I got home and took some painkillers, I realized how impolite that was of me to just take her things like that! (Dios me perdona) And the next morning, I bought myself some new slippers just like hers because though I may have eventually apologized to Ms. Welton enough so she took them back (only after I promised I’d get myself some of my own), they were still the comfiest things I’ve ever had on my feet. I even got them in pink! Muchisimas gracias por the ask, and have a lovely day! Futbol is life!!! 😁😁😁

[ask-afc-richmond]

does anyone have any plans for Halloween?

Dani: Ooh, muchismias gracias for this ask, anon! I am so excited for Halloween this year! We’re throwing a Richmond Halloween party for the team!!! It’s going to be SO MUCH FUN!!! We’re going to have costumes and karaoke and pumpkin carving, and face painting! (That last one way my idea, and I’m very proud of it 😄) It’s going to be a lot of fun, and I can’t wait!!! Anyways, I hope you, anon, have a lovely Halloween, and… futbol is life!!! (But so is Halloween 😉)

Beard: I’ll be missing out on the big team Halloween party. It’s not that I don’t enjoy spending time with the boys because I really do. I’ve just got plans to celebrate the Sabbat Samhain instead. A pagan group I’m a part of is having a bonfire and hosting a Dumb Supper. For those who don’t know, a Dumb Supper is a meal eaten in complete silence as a way to honor the dead. The following article gives a great overview for those curious to learn more: https://tinyurl.com/5edszp7v

Sassy: Scary movies on the couch and loads of candy, finishing up with a viewing of *Practical Magic* (I'm so proud Nora practically knows it by heart by now)

Jamie: I’m going to the Halloween party and I’m going to get absolutely hammered. Me and Colin found some recipes for Halloween cocktails so we’re gonna try them out. Maybe after the party we’ll watch some horror films, like Scary Movie or something.

Higgins: We’re going to be carving pumpkins during the day, with a Halloween playlist on in the background. Later on, after the boys have been trick or treating, we’ll be watching some spooky films like Hocus Pocus and The Haunted Mansion, and trying not to eat too many sweets!

Ted: I’ll be going to the Halloween party, and I’ve baked a few treats to take with me. I’ve got cupcakes with little ghosts on ’em, spider cookies, and eyeball cake pops. I made some pumpkin pie too, because I hear it’s not all that popular over here, and I figured what better time to try it than Halloween?

Henry’s gonna FaceTime me before he goes out trick-or-treating so I can see him in his costume, so I’d better try not to drink too much of whatever Jamie and Colin are cooking up before then. He’s actually going as Jamie this year, so if Jamie isn’t drunk as a skunk by then, I’ll try and get him to say hi. I’ll bet that’d brighten up both of their days.

Roy: I promised Phoebe that I'll take her trick-or-treating -- She's going as Hermione, and I'll be dressing up as the headmaster. And we'll be staying the fuck away from the Halloween party, 'cause I don't need anyone on the team seeing me or, fucking hell, taking a picture of me in that stupid fucking costume. Wearing those robes just makes me look like a fucking clown with a bed sheet wrapped around me; but Phoebe's very excited about the whole thing, and fuck if I'm gonna ruin her night.

Keeley's also been working really hard these past few months and I got her to take the night off. She's been doing fucking amazing at her job, but shit, I've missed having some proper time to ourselves. I'll be taking her out to her favourite Indian restaurant, a walk along the river, then home for some wine. And after that, hopefully, I can get her to come to bed before two in the fucking morning.

[ask-afc-richmond]

For Dani and Roy: what’s the biggest change you’ve seen in Jamie since last year?

Dani: Gracias por la pregunta, anon. That’s a good question. I didn’t know Jamie for as long as everyone else on the team, but I would say that the biggest change in him since his return is his humility and his ability to work with others. That is not something I saw in him before he left, but in my humble opinion, it is one of his biggest strengths now. I hope this answers your question, anon, and (por supuesto) futbol is life!!!

Roy: I don't feel the urge to headbutt him every time he opens his mouth, so that's one major change.

As much as I hate to fucking admit it, the prick's always been a good player. But in this last season, he's shown that he can be a good teammate as well. He's passing to the rest of them, he participates in activities that aren't about football, and he's got his teammates' back on the field, and in the locker room.

He's worked hard, and I don't just mean for the sport. We're not going to go fucking sing Christmas carols together anytime soon, but...I'm proud of the prick.

[ask-afc-richmond]

Rebecca, what would your karaoke song be if you got to pick it yourself??

Rebecca: I've always loved singing Piece of My Heart by Janis Joplin. Of course compared to her I probably sound like a wounded animal, but it's such a fun song to make a fool out of yourself with.

[ask-afc-richmond]

To the Diamond Dogs (including Roy): what’s your reaction to Nate leaving for Rupert’s new team?

Higgins: I was quite surprised about that, actually. Nate was here while Rupert still owned Richmond, and I’m sure he knows that Rupert isn’t exactly the nicest person in the world. I haven’t figured out why Nate would want to work for someone like that, but he may just have felt that he wanted to move on to something else. But I say good luck to him, and I hope Rupert treats him better than he treated the rest of us.

Beard: I was disappointed but not surprised. NPR talked about a study done by Canadian neuroscientist Sukhvinder Obhi back in 2013 about how a change in power effects the brain. They found that a lack of power increased a person’s capacity for empathy, but when they were empowered, their empathy decreased dramatically. There was emerging research that suggested that people in power who have lost that empathy can be coached back to a more compassionate state. One can only hope Nate is one of those people.

Ted: I think it’s a mighty shame that Nate felt the time had come for him to leave us. We’re gonna miss having him around here. But that’s just the way it is in this business, you know? Nate’s been offered a pretty huge opportunity, and I’m not surprised that he took it. I hope he finds what he’s looking for at West Ham, and I wish him all the best.

Roy: I don't fully get why Nate is leaving to join West Ham, mostly 'cause Rupert's a fucking dick. The man hired George as a fucking manager, he's clearly an arsehole.

But, if Nate thinks that this is the right move for him, I'm not going to stand in his fucking way. He's a good lad.

[ask-afc-richmond]

Ted, have you ever seen Coach Beard without a beard? and Coach Beard, have you ever seen Ted without a mustache?

Beard: I haven’t seen baby pictures to confirm, but I’m pretty sure Coach Ted was born with a mustache. I don’t think I’d recognize him without one.

Ted: In all the time I’ve known him, he’s only shaved it all off once. He was dating someone who decided they didn’t like the beard, and he just showed up to practice one day completely clean shaven. I’ve gotta be honest here and say even I didn’t recognize him at first. It really threw me off, it was like seeing Superman without his cape. Heck, I had to start calling him Coach Beardless.

He did make up for it once they broke up, though. He went through a phase where he didn’t want to shave at all, which probably caused a few mistaken Bigfoot sightings.

[ask-afc-richmond]

for everyone except Ted: what was your reaction when you first read/heard about the article by Trent Crimm (The Independent)?

Higgins: I was very worried about Ted. Having a private story like that leaked to the press would be tough on anyone, so I can’t even imagine what it’s like for someone already struggling with anxiety. I can’t tell you how relieved I was when he walked into Rebecca’s office that morning, and seemed to be handling it well. He’s just proven to everyone that he’s a lot stronger than a lot of people have given him credit for, especially whoever that anonymous source was.

Dani: The first thing I felt was deep, deep sorrow. I have done my best to keep my personal life out of the tabloids, but to see such an invasion into someone’s personal life- especially to someone as kind as Coach Lasso and for something so personal as anxiety made me incredibly sad. However, unlike some of my teammates, I chose to focus on being there for Coach and offering my support rather than hunting down the anonymous source. I think, in this case, we should take a page from Coach’s book and accept that trying to get vengeance will only lead to more pain. ❤️

Beard: When I first met Ted, I didn’t know what to think of him. He can be a bit of a force of nature, personality-wise. His coaching style was different but in a good way. Not long after we started working together, some information came out about my personal life that made some parents and university higher-ups…uncomfortable at the prospect of me being around their boys. I was prepared to resign, but Ted surprised me by telling the university that if I were let go, he would leave with me. At the time, we were on a hot streak, and the university did not want to lose Ted. So I was allowed to stay. What happened to me wasn’t as widespread as Ted’s, but I remembered that raw feeling, like being naked in the town square for all to see. He made me feel normal, like nothing had changed between us. So when the article dropped, I made it my mission that Ted would get that same feeling from me that I got from him.

Rebecca: What was my reaction to the article? Hm.. I think my feelings could best be summarized with the words “Blind Fury”. Truly I was furious on Ted’s behalf. He’s my friend and he’s a fantastic human being and coach, and he deserved better than to have one of his worst moments made public and used as fodder for entertainment or whatever they think they were doing by publishing that story. Listen, I get it. I understand why Trent Crimm felt the pressure he must have felt to write and print that story. Just as, with some time, I came to understand how the papers could publish all the stories they did about my marriage and divorce to Rupert. However because I’ve been where Ted is now, it makes me all the more appalled and angered for him. And I wish he would have allowed me to use my contacts to find out who the source was. Because that is the true villain of this story here. To think someone could be so cruel to go to a reporter about another human being’s suffering, their mental anguish as if they aren’t going through enough, its reprehensible.

Roy: Anger. More than anything else then, I felt angry. Knowing that a person is struggling, and then just handing that knowledge to a pack of vultures like the fucking press is fucking deplorable. He didn't deserve that, and anyone who's spent five fucking minutes listening to him talk in that stupid accent of his would agree.

I don't think I'm the best at the comfort part, but...I've got his back. The whole team's got his back.

And as for the source....well, he better hope the boys never fucking find him.

Jamie: I was a bit pissed off about it, to be honest. Still am. Maybe more than “a bit”, actually. I know the gaffer said it doesn’t matter and we should forget about it, but I still want to find out who the rat was. I know I can be a bit of a twat but I would never have done something as fucked up as that, even last year. Worst I ever did was tell the press I thought he was a wanker and a shit coach and an American rodeo clown, but there’s a line you don’t cross. What makes it worse is knowing that whoever it was is probably somebody the coach trusted. I hope they get what they deserve.

Sassy: I don’t follow news much and especially not sports, so it was a couple days before I saw it. This might sound strange, but after being initially angry about the insane invasion of privacy — no one deserves to have their mental health be treated as tabloid fodder, least of all a sweetheart like Ted — it actually put a lot about him in context. And then there was this sorrow that sank in my chest.

I knew he was still processing his divorce, I knew being away from his son was taking a toll, but I had no idea he was struggling like that.

What’s funny is that Ted had just called me the night before the article was published and didn’t mention a thing about any of it. I sort of wish he felt like he could’ve told me, but I get why he didn’t. He and I just aren’t at that place.

[ask-afc-richmond]

Sassy - did you and Rupert ever get along??

Sassy: At best, Rupert and I tolerated each other before he snuffed the light out of the most amazing woman I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting and the great fortune to call my friend. As much as it pains me, I understand why she married him, though. He made Rebecca comfortable when she thought that’s what she needed, but I wish she would’ve tried harder to find her One. I still hope she finds that. She deserves the fucking world.

[ask-afc-richmond]

copying one of your last asks and flipping it: Rebecca, what’s your favorite thing about Ted?

Rebecca: My favourite thing about Ted… Right, let’s see then. I.. This is rather difficult actually. Its like trying to choose the best part of a beloved pet dog. Not that I think Ted’s a dog or an animal, but.. Well you get the idea, right? He’s loveable and always so excited to see you. I mean I don’t believe I’ve ever met someone so determined, and wholesomely so, to make others feel seen and heard and give them confidence in themselves they might not have known they had otherwise. Ted has all of these wonderful qualities in him that its quite challenging to pick just one thing. Well, to be honest, I could probably do with his spit-takes a bit less. But that may be the only downside to his existence in my life. The rest of the time is filled with kindness, support, optimism, and surprising wisdom.

I suppose what it all comes down to is his spirit. Yes, that’s it. Ted’s spirit is my favourite thing about him. Okay maybe that being tied with his biscuit baking abilities.

[ask-afc-richmond]

This is for everyone:

What kind of skincare routines do you have? Especially for when you’re constantly exposed to the elements out on the pitch.

Dani: !Hola, otherbluefae! Skincare is one of my favorite topics, so muchisimas gracias for this ask! My skin is naturally oily and the sweat from training doesn’t help, so I use lots and lots of what, in English, I believe is called “astringent.” (We call it “astringente” en español, so not too far off!) But I also know the importance of moisturizing. I always make sure to use face lotion after I cleanse. I hope that answers your question, and have a great day!!! (Futbol is life!)

Ted: Good old soap and water haven’t failed me yet. But I’ve got a bottle of face wash in my shower for whenever I’m feeling fancy.

Higgins: I don’t do anything special, just a bit of face wash and moisturiser. Then again, it’s not often that I find myself out on the pitch.

Jamie: Alright, no guarantee that you’ll end up looking like me but it can’t hurt to try. Here’s what I do: Cleanser, toner, and moisturiser twice a day. Face scrub every couple of days (good for getting rid of all the extra dirt and sweat after a match or tough day of training). And the most important thing: a bit of SPF every day, even when it’s cloudy. Shoutout to Keeley for teaching me all of that.

Rebecca: After my divorce was when I really got better about developing my routine. Having awful photos taken by tabloids and put up next to Rupert's model flings was never fun to see but it rather gave me a kick towards finding ways to be better and possibly look better. So anyhow... Always, always, always wash your makeup off no matter how tired you may be. Find a cleanser that won't dry out your face, and remember a small amount of moisturizer can go a long way. Really look for products that have simple, clean ingredients. You don't have to break the bank. I like to switch up my products from time to time. So naturally Sassy thinks I'm some sort of beauty product hoarder. But I'm not, I swear.

Roy: Don't really have a routine. I just use a cleanser and moisturiser. And sunscreen, 'cause Keeley won't let me step out of the house without it. I don't really understand that part; we live in fucking London where the sun doesn't exist for half the year. But...it makes her smile when she sees me apply it before we drive to the club, so that's that. And besides, she would know better anyway. She always does.

[ask-afc-richmond]

this one's for Dani!

we all know football is life! is there anything else that's "life" to you other than football?

Dani: ¡Hola, anon! That is a great question! Futbol has been my life for so long that sometimes I forget to think about the other things that make me me. I would say… mi familia- and that includes my Richmond family too por supuesto 😁. The people that we love are what make life truly worth living, and I have been blessed with many of those. Thank you so much for asking, and have a lovely day!!! (Futbol is life!!! 😉)

[ask-afc-richmond]

hi this one is for Roy!

What's your favorite thing to do with Phoebe?

Roy: Reading to her. Especially after matches. Wouldn't matter if we'd won or lost, 'cause she doesn't give a shit about any of that. Sam said she'd love the Harry Potter books, so I got her the whole set a few months back. And now, Pheobe's roped me into dressing up as Dumbledore for Halloween. I had to promise her that I wouldn't swear when I'm in costume, 'cause she thinks that'd be out of character for the bloody geezer.

I'll be making Sam run extra laps at training tomorrow. To thank him.

[ask-afc-richmond]

this one is for ted! what's your favorite thing about rebecca?

Ted: I can only pick one thing? Come on now, that’s like asking me to explain the offside rule: I don’t even know where to start.

Rebecca is one of the strongest people I know. She’s an incredible boss, extremely generous, compassionate, talented, and quick-witted. She’s become one of my closest friends. She’s always been so kind to me, even when she wasn’t technically on my side. I think it says an awful lot about her as a person that even back then, she couldn’t help but stick up for me in the press room (more than once, because some of those reporters can be tougher than a two dollar steak), put up with all my chit-chat, give me advice about my divorce, and talk me through a dang panic attack. I don’t know if she realizes just how much her friendship and support mean to me, but I sure hope she does. I really do appreciate her.

Now I don’t know if this is cheating here, but I suppose I’d have to say my favorite thing about Rebecca is that she exists and I got to meet her. And I hope none of y’all are lactose intolerant because that was cheesy as hell.

[ask-afc-richmond]

hii, just found this blog and I wanted to pop on and say how excited I am for this to grow! I don't know if I'll be applying for anything in the future, but I definitely will stick around and ask questions :)

Thank you so much!! We appreciate you!!