The Route

A red-gold rooster in a sage green sweater over a white shirt, seated like a gentleman in a leather wing armchair with his scaled legs crossed on a footstool, wing feathers resting on the armrests, a switched-off television and a glass of whisky beside him in a book-lined study

Divisional, early evening

Forty-one to six. The scoreboard was merely confirming what the opening kickoff had already announced. He switched off the set with the quiet satisfaction of a man whose reservation had been honoured.

17 January 2026