GOLDEN OLDIES SHOW THE WAY
England seniors on top of the world
ENGLAND have won the World Cup. It wouldn’t be so bad hearing those words again in a few weeks’ time, but for now the Three Lions Veterans have become global champions.
England triumphed at the Seniors World Cup in Thailand last week, which included many former Non-League players and two current managers.
The competition is organised by the Seniors Football Association of Thailand and supported by the Thai FA.
The inaugural tournament was played in 2006 after Thailand was struck by a tsunami two years earlier with the aim to re-establish tourism and provide football coaching for underprivileged children in the country.
Paul Bell’s England Veterans had a flawless campaign. Scotland, Taiwan and New Zealand were all dispatched in the group, setting up a semifinal clash with Iran.
England ran out 4-0 winners to meet old rivals Scotland in the final, where they repeated the trick with the same scoreline.
“It was a great set of players, really nice lads,” Dorchester manager and former Yeovil and Woking midfielder Steve Thompson told The NLP. “There were seven new players in the squad of 21, I think they lost a couple of 50+ players from last year, I got called in quite late in April.
“There’s three age groups: 38-42, 43-49 and 50+. In the XI you have three young players, three old ones and four from the middle group. The goalkeeper can be from any.
“I certainly felt the pressure because they’d won it the last two years and it was really taken seriously. We very much wanted to win it, and we did.”
Pressure
Eastleigh manager Andy Hessenthaler, striker Barry Hayles, who once represented England C before going on to play for Fulham in the Premier League, and former Dover midfielder and Maidstone assistant Nicky Southall were just some of the players representing England.
As part of the trip, the squad attended local schools in Hua Hin and donated shirts and kit to children after playing football with them.
“It was good to put something back into it and the kids loved it,” added Thompson. “I was amazed at how disciplined and how well behaved they were compared to kids in England!
“I gave them some Dorchester and Woking kit, they were delighted with that. It was a very warm welcome from the Thai people and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Winning it made it even better.”