RUSHIE’S BIG HELP FOR KIDS
BY
IAN RUSH is leading a campaign to take youngsters off the streets by buying up non-league football grounds to offer them top-class facilities to play different sports.
A tie-up with Irama Sport has already seen the purchase of Isthmian League Whyteleafe’s facilities, with grounds at Northern Premier League Brighouse Town FC and the Hellenic League’s Abingdon Town.
Amar Chopra, of Irama Sports, knows from personal experience how difficult it can be for an aspiring footballer and has joined up with
Rush to help ease the path for others.
Rush insists it is not about producing future professional footballers – it is letting kids enjoy decent facilities and fulfil any promise they have in various sports.
Ultimately it’s providing amenities normally beyond their reach – and without having to pay sometimes exorbitant fees.
He said: “Not everyone is going to go on to become a professional footballer, but if we can help these kids in some way, we’re ready to do it.
“Hopefully, it will help develop the talents of youngsters who haven’t really been able to play other sports because the facilities aren’t there or it’s too expensive.
“We’ve got to try and entice kids away from staying indoors and spending endless hours playing computer games.”
Rush, Liverpool’s all-time record goalscorer and now an ambassador for the club, has never forgotten his embryonic days being raised in Flint, North Wales and being spotted by Chester City.
He hopes his Ian Rush Foundation, linking with Irama Sport, can help young kids with nowhere to go.
“We’ve got to be aware of the temptations of drugs and mental problems which can arise if kids become bored and unable to express themselves in different avenues including sport,” he added.
“It’s about keeping youngsters fit and healthy and also being mindful of their mental state. What we are doing will help with all that, especially by joining up with local communities.
“By purchasing football clubs, we are giving local communities facilities to improve the lives of youngsters.
“Also the Ian Rush Foundation will allow these kids on certain days to play football or other sports.
“Now, hopefully, we can get them off the streets and enjoy playing whatever sport they enjoy for free.”
‘Looking after sport at the grass roots right now is more important
than ever’
LAWRIE McMENEMY once chatted about Southampton’s greatest day in their history... with the Queen.
Saints head to Bournemouth on Saturday for an FA Cup quarter-final clash that has fans dreaming of a repeat of 1976.
That year, McMenemy (below) led Saints to the FA Cup – the only major trophy in the club’s history – and to cap an unforgettable afternoon, skipper Peter Rodrigues was handed the trophy by a very special guest.
“The person who presented the cup wasn’t from the FA or Parliament like it usually was,” said McMenemy.
“It was the Queen. And when I saw her again years later [McMenemy received the MBE in 2006] she asked me about football and I brought up the FA Cup.
“I said, ‘The last time I saw you, Ma’am, it was 1976 and we were at Wembley’. She said, ‘Oh yes’ – I think she pretended she remembered!”
Anyone who knew anything about football in 1976 expected the Queen to present the cup to Manchester United skipper Martin Buchan that day.
Under Tommy Docherty, they had finished third in the top flight, while the Saints had ended up sixth in the second tier.
“We could have bought every ticket for the Final,” said McMenemy.
The United line-up included Steve Coppell, Sammy McIlroy and Lou Macari, while McMenemy had put together a team of “good players at the end of their careers, together with young legs”.
Matchwinner Bobby Stokes was the 25-year-old striker who did the impossible – he turned part of Portsmouth red and white!
Stokes grew up in Portsmouth as a Pompey fan, but it was at their neighbours where he made his breakthrough and ahead of the Cup Final, the area where he grew up was covered in Southampton’s colours.
Those streets – and half of
Wembley – erupted with joy seven minutes from the end of the match after Jim McCalliog lofted a pass into Stokes’s path and his angled leftfooted shot bobbled beyond Alex Stepney’s fingertips and into the corner of the net.
“What a great day for everyone,” recalled McMenemy. Southampton v Brighton
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