FROM BARE-FOOT TO GOLDEN BOOTS
CLIFF MOYO still has scars on his feet from growing up playing bare-foot with an improvised milk carton tied up with string for a football – now the Zimbabwe international is dreaming of more FA Cup magic with Guiseley.
The 25-year-old will take to the field for the Lions tomorrow night as they take on League One Fleetwood Town in front of the live BT Sport cameras.
It’s a far cry from his early childhood in Africa before moving with his family to England when he was nine.
“Sometimes you were lucky if someone bought you toys but we had to actually make our own football,” Moyo told The NLP.
“In Zimbabwe, milk came in a really tough like plastic paper. So instead of throwing it in the bin, we’d keep the paper, get sponge and form it around the milk paper.
“Then we’d get string to make that round shape and then a paper bag – that you get from shops – would be the outside of it. You had to make it as tight as you can. It was always my brother Carlos who knew how to make them.
“Once we had a ball we were out on the streets playing in our bare feet. The only shoes we had was for going out so you’d get a telling off if you scuffed them up! If a lad had a powerful shot, that would be the ball burst and it was gone!
“At school at dinner time, my mum used to tell me off about my shoes, we’d find a bottle for a little kick-a-bout.
“I even learned how to do skills like the flip-flap with a bottle. As a kid, all our toys and games we made them our- selves. It was a great childhood in Zimbabwe.
Moyo joined Barrow when he was 18 but decided to take a break from football to complete a degree in Sports Science at the Staffordshire University.
Celebration
He returned to football with Newcastle Town, Market Drayton and Nantwich Town as he set himself the goal of returning to Non-League’s top flight, which he did with FC Halifax before joining Guiseley in the summer. And last March he made his Zimbabwe debut against Zambia.
“Growing up I never once dreamed from kicking bottles I’d go and represent my country,” Moyo said. “It was fantastic for myself and my family. It will stay in my mind forever and, fingers crossed, there can be more to come.”
By day he teaches PE in two Congleton primary schools – Havannah and Mossley – and after his goal in Guiseley’s first round 4-3 win against Cambridge United, the kids are keeping an eye out for more heroics.
“A lot of the kids saw the Cambridge game and when I went to school in the days after they were mimicking my celebration, which was quite funny, Moyo, who was effusive in his praise for joint-managers Marcus Bignot and Russ O’Neill, said.
“They were asking when the game is so I told them to keep an eye out on Monday. Some said their parents will let them watch the first half !
“It’s fantastic for the club and the boys. I’ve been in the second round with Halifax but unfortunately got knocked out. It’s great to be back in the second round.
“It’s always difficult for Non-League teams but we’ve got that dream of now getting to the third round?”