Sunday League football is absolutely class, isn't it? You turn up either still pissed from the night before or severely hungover and it blows the cobwebs well and truly away, setting up a day of content to be spent watching two Premier League games back-to-back in the afternoon alongside a roast dinner and plenty of water.
The characters you find in the Sunday League version of the beautiful game are all sitcom-worthy. It is more than acceptable for lads of the larger variety, shall we say, to squeeze into a kit and lace up the boots on a public playing field on the lord's day; you would rarely see this on a Saturday.
The standard is mostly laughable, but the enjoyment levels are indisputable amongst the widespread Sunday League community; it is stories like this that completely solidify that point.
Duckpond FC, named after Cox's Pond in Harwich, won the Colchester and District Sunday League last season but instead of celebrating with a free bar down the local boozer, they hired an open top bus to parade the team around the town on Saturday afternoon.
Player-manager Michael Hammond - who also founded the club in 2011 - spent £4,000 hiring a double decker bus after his team won 15 of their 16 matches last term.
They rounded off their impressive campaign with a 3-0 win over Harts FC last month in the final of the Fowler Memorial Cup, in turn securing a domestic double.
"We want the world to know we won," said Hammond.
"We've won all the divisions now - we're officially the best Sunday League team in Essex.
"Grassroots football is dying, so many teams are folding or have quit.
"But it's on days like this you realise it's not the level of football but the passion and commitment," added the 29-year-old.
Due to their impressive exploits last season, Duckpond FC have now reached the highest possible level of Sunday League football in the county and are now rightfully calling themselves "champions of Essex".
A personalised banner, which draped down the front of the open top bus during Saturday's parade, read: "We conquered all of Essex, we're never gonna stop... ALLEZ ALLEZ ALLEZ" - a take on Liverpool's famous Champions League winning chant.
Great work from all involved, we wish Duckpond FC the very best of luck for the future.
