‘It’s like going back in time’
IT IS four years since Julio Arca hobbled away from professional football, but coming out of retirement has reminded the Argentinian of why he fell in love with the game in the first place.
South Shields v Cleethorpes at Wembley is the kind of big-time occasion Arca got used to in his days playing for Sunderland and Middlesbrough.
But it is the bread-and-butter side of things which Arca is most enjoying.
Having been forced to give up playing, it was turning out for pub team Willow Pond which reinvigorated him. “When I stopped playing professionally it never even crossed my mind to start playing Northern League, or Sunday league,” he admits.
“Things started happening. The Sunday league took me here, and then here last year we won the league.
“The plan this year was to win the league and get promotion (they did), that’s what the plans were. But to do so well in the other competitions (winning two cups and potentially the FA Vase too) is great.”
Modern professional football has become so distant from its supporters but the opposite is true in the Northern League, which the Mariners won this season.
“Playing here is like going back in time, going back 10 or 15 or 20 years when I was playing young and my mam used to come and watch me,” he says. “That’s the same here, you get a lot of fans that are close to you.
“It’s happened a few times this season where you’ve scored a goal and they’ve come on the pitch and celebrated with us. It’s just a different environment to when you play professionally.
“When you play professionally, you don’t get that connection with the fans because you’re not allowed to or because you only see them when you go into the stadium.
“But here you could come and have a lunch and see some fans and after the game have a few drinks with them.
“It’s more like a family club – the people working here are all really nice people.
“It would be fantastic to win the Vase for every player, but for the club it would be great.”