Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Seniors World Cup

Thanks to an unusual arrangement with the Football Association, an unpaid team whose combined age is more than 500, will take the field for England against Iran next week.

Victory and good results against Taiwan and United Arab Emirates will steer them into the knockout stages of the Seniors World Cup (SWC).

"It's not quite the real thing, but we'll line up to the national anthem and they'll hoist the flag," says Paul Bell, a chocolate company executive and the squad's equivalent of England manager Fabio Capello.

"We haven't got Beckham or Rooney but we're tough and can go the distance."

The vets were picked to fly the red and white flag as one of the country's leading over-40 clubs, who play by a modified version of the game.

Matches are 10 minutes shorter than professional football's, and if a team takes off a 54-year-old, such as Harrogate wine merchant Ian Skinner, they must substitute someone of a similar age.

The series in Bangkok, the third SWC but the first England have entered, is not televised, but England hope holidaymakers and expats will turn up to cheer and chant.

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