England’s dismal year in international soccer is about to be rescued by an amateur team of middle-aged Yorkshiremen, including a bank manager, two builders and a driver for a sausage-making firm. Wiped out of Euro 2008 and with no other major tournaments in sight, the country’s empty fixture list has been filled at the last minute by Harrogate Veterans FC.
Thanks to an unusual arrangement with the Football Association, the unpaid 11, whose combined age is more than 500, will take the field for England against Iran next week. Victory and good results against Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates will steer them into the knockout stages of the Seniors World Cup (SWC).
“It’s not quite the real thing, but we’ll line up to the national anthem and they’ll hoist the flag,” said Paul Bell, a chocolate company executive and the squad’s equivalent of England manager Fabio Capello. “We haven’t got Beckham or Rooney, but we’re tough and can go the distance.”
The Vets were picked to fly the red and white flag as one of the country’s leading over-40 clubs, who play by a modified version of the great game’s rules. Matches are 10 minutes shorter than professional soccer’s and if a team takes off a 54-year-old, such as Harrogate wine merchant Ian Skinner, they must substitute someone of a similar age.
The series in Bangkok, the third SWC but the first England have entered, is not televised, but England hope holidaymakers and expats will turn up to cheer and chant.
Veterans’ soccer is good to watch, says striker Robert Turnbull, a 49-year-old joiner who played for Newcastle United reserves.
“What we’ve lost in pace we’ve gained in skill and the referees tend to be that bit kinder as well,” he said.
Harrogate have two ex-Premier League players in their squad and the SWC has attracted real World Cup veterans in previous tournaments, including Felix Magath and Manfred Kaltz, who played for winners Germany last year.
Training after a 1-1 draw with Yorkshire village side Bardsey FC this week, players were optimistic about their chances.
Builder Ian Blackstone, 44, a former York City player, said: “We can give any side a good kicking, even if we just kick that bit more slowly.”
Skinner, billed as the side’s “Rio Ferdinand, only balder,” promised: “Passion — that’s what you get at our age.”
Success in Thailand is likely to see an England side selected for future contests by eliminators between veterans’ clubs, or a selection of star players from across the “mature soccer” board.
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