Younger Old for English football club
Former All Whites defender Steven Old has signed for Morecambe in the fourth tier of England’s Football League.
The 31-year-old son of former All Black No 8 Geoff Old has inked a one-year deal with the northwest Lancashire club, pending an international clearance.
Old, who earned 17 All Whites caps, has bounced around clubs in six different countries for the past decade.
A protege of former All Whites and Wellington Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert, Old had 16 A-league games for the Phoenix in 2007-08 - where he was largely used out of position at right back.
That followed an earlier ninegame stint with the Newcastle Jets.
The 1.91m centreback has also played for clubs in Scotland, England, China and Sweden where he spent the last three seasons.
Old had 61 games - his longest professional football stretch - for Ljungskile SK in the Swedish second tier before moving to league rivals GAIS where he had 33 games last term.
The Manawatu product has played in England before - at nonleague outfits Basingstoke Town and Sutton United, but Morecambe will be his first EFL club.
The Shrimps - as Morecambe are known - were promoted to League Two in 2007 after winning a playoff final at Wembley. They finished 18th in the 24-team division last season.
Morecambe manager Jim Bentley told the club’s website Old was ‘‘a very experienced player, who has had some really high points throughout his career’’.
‘‘He’s been a captain at previous clubs and has good leadership qualities, which we need within our squad.
Bentley, himself a former Morecambe centreback, said he had ‘‘done a lot of research’’ on Old, who came ‘‘very highly recommended’’.
‘‘I’ve also watched hours of games and clips from his time abroad and have been very impressed with what I’ve seen.
‘‘He’s a strong, physical player and technically and tactically very good.
‘‘We’re looking forward to getting him on board and working with him.’’
Old captained the New Zealand under-17 team in 2003 and then made his All Whites debut a year later.
He played for New Zealand at the 2008 Olympic Games tournament in China and was part of Herbert’s squad at the Confederations Cup finals in South Africa in 2009 his last year as an All White.