When we last interviewed you, you were a nominee for the England Over 60’s Walking Football team and waiting to attend the trials. Did you find the trials harder than expected and how do you think that the fact that the players were trialling to represent their country affected their performances?
The trials were what I expected with lots of talented players competing for a small number of places. It’s not easy to do, but I had to treat it as any other match and continue to do the things that got me nominated in the first place.
What was the format for the trials? Did you just play a match or was there more involved?
The trial I attended took place at Solihull home of Birmingham WFC where there is a state of the art 4G pitch.
After a well organised warm up session we were split into teams of six. We then played ten-minute matches on two small pitches. Space was really limited, so a good first touch and moving the ball quickly was essential.
After this the full pitch was used for one longer match still in the same teams.
A good warm down session rounded off the day. I really enjoyed it.
How did it feel to find out that you had been selected and how did you actually find out?
Fortunately with ours being the last of the four trials we only had to wait 24 hours to find out our fate, those who had trialled in January had endured a long wait.
On receiving the email whilst at work on the Monday morning I was absolutely elated and spent the rest of the day on cloud nine.
After being selected to play for your country, what happened next?
We then attended a training day at Solihull where the team selection took place for the match against Italy.
Unfortunately, I just missed out on being selected for that match which was disappointing particularly as it took place at the AMEX home of Brighton and Hove Albion, the team I support. I still really enjoyed going there to cheer the lads on when they defeated Italy 3-0 though!
Are there costs involved in representing your country, such as paying for your own kit, travelling and hotel expenses or are these covered by the Association?
The playing strip is provided by the WFA but has to be returned after the match.
We keep our training top and polo shirt though and I’ve now had my initials put on mine.
It’s down to us players to make our own travelling arrangements to all matches and training days There was funding in place to cover hotel expenses for the Italy match but unfortunately we had to fund the hotel ourselves for the Wales match.
I’m fortunate that the company I work for Davis Derby Ltd covered my expenses and would like to thank Gerry Beetles, our chairman, for his support.
Thanks also to Sharon Stevens-Cash from Gravity Digital Ltd for helping to generate some publicity for Davis Derby on the back of it.
We are however looking for companies to sponsor our team, if there are any companies that are interested in sponsoring the team, Paul Carr would love to hear from them and can be contacted at paulcarr@thewfa.co.uk
How often do the international players get together for training sessions and how long do they last?
We have a training session every other month at present they last four or five hours.
The next one is taking place in Blackburn on Sunday 25th November.
What exactly is a shadow squad?
Just like the full England side, there are back-ups for every position and it’s up to us to prove to Stuart Langworthy and his team that were better than those currently occupying the same spot as us in the A team. This is of course easier said than done, as there are so many great players in that team.
In an ideal world Stuart would like to use both squads in every match but lack of funding may dictate otherwise.
You played in the 4-0 win against Wales playing in the Shadow Squad. Could you let the readers know how it felt to represent your country at your age, and did you ever think this would be possible 3 or 4 years ago?
Representing my country as part of a football team was something I dreamt of doing as a young child. I remember kicking a ball around with my dad, Bert Cooper, so when it finally happened it was a mixture of pride and sadness that he was no longer here to see it.
When I took up Walking Football 3 years ago I had no idea it would lead to this, but when it was announced in late 2017 that there was going to be an England Over 60’s team I was determined to be in it.
How would you rate your performance during the game, did you score or get any assists?
I thought it went well. I should have scored late on when I got through on goal, but the goal keeper for Wales came off his line and pulled off a really good save.
However, we can always look back on a match and wish we had done something different, but I am so happy that I scored two goals and named man of the match – happy and proud!
Can you talk us through the day of the match as a whole, and describe the memorable events that stand out in your mind when reflecting back?
I’d travelled down from the Midlands on the Friday afternoon and my son Andrew travelled from Brighton to join me.
We had Saturday morning to ourselves so we enjoyed a long walk along the sea front at Barry Island and had a breakfast baguette in Marco’s, that was made famous in Gavin & Stacey.
On arrival at Jenner Park, home of Barry Town FC, we were issued our kits and went through some warm up routines and training exercises with Charlie Wise, the assistant manager.
After some team photos and a pep talk from Stuart we lined up for the National Anthems.
As we sang God Save the Queen that’s when it hit me what a big deal this was.
After a tentative start we took the lead with a long range shot from Tom Moran. A couple of minutes later I scored from a free kick which Roy Gladwell took and rolled the ball for me to strike a low curler into the bottom corner with the keeper unsighted by bodies in the way.
A nice goal from Derek Thorp and a tap in from myself rounded off the scoring.
After handshakes all-round the presentation of medals and the trophy took place – which was a great experience. Then I received the news that I was named as man of the match and presented with a bottle of champagne by Paul Carr – I was thrilled.
After getting changed we watched the Over 50 and Over 60 A teams win their matches to make it a clean sweep for England. The Over 50 Shadow Squad won 5-0 at the same time as us.
There was a cold buffet laid on in the bar and we were treated very hospitably by the Welsh lads which was a great end to an unforgettable day.
How would you describe the difference between playing for your club Hartshill Strollers and playing for your country?
It is a definite step up from club football and there is more attention to detail in the England training sessions ie working on set pieces which paid dividends with my first goal.
When is the next match scheduled, and how many training sessions are planned beforehand?
There is an exhibition match taking place on Wednesday 24th October in Liverpool with an England Over 60’s team playing a Liverpool Community team and I’m looking forward to playing in that and watching Liverpool take on Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League afterwards.
There are away trips to Gibraltar and Italy in the pipeline but no definite dates or whether it involves one squad or two as yet.
Just the one training day planned at the moment in Blackburn on November 25th.
What advice would you give to another player who is interested in representing their country?
If you think you are good enough then go for it. The process now is to get yourself nominated by your clubs for a trial to get in the Regional Squads that are being formed over the next six months.
The Regional Teams will play against each other and the England squads.
It won’t be easy though because us guys that are already in the squad aren’t giving up our place without a fight.
Thank you so much for giving the members an update on your adventures and I would like to wish you the very best for the future and your forthcoming internationals.
Author: The Walking Football
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