Iran’s victory gives them five World Seniors titles, the same number as England, in a tournament that was started in 2006 by the Senior Football Association of Thailand, to promote tourism in the wake of the Tsunami. The tournament has become an annual event, held in different provinces of Thailand. In recent years the tournament has evolved considerably, with many countries fielding ex-professional and some ex-international players.
Teams are required to field players across three age groups for matches lasting eighty minutes, often played in heat exceeding 30°c. At all times, there must be at least three players aged 38-43, four players aged 44-49 and three players aged fifty and over, although there are rolling substitutes for the oldest age category, allowing them to come on and off.
Last year, the England Veterans squad featured Midsomer Norton goalkeeper, Steve Phillips, formerly of Bristol City, Bristol Rovers, Bath City and Yeovil. Steve was accompanied by former Somer Valley Sport Show host, Ian Nockolds, who acted as the team’s Media Officer, a role he repeated this year.
Ian said: “It was a shame I didn’t get to go back out to Bangkok with the squad for this year’s tournament, but ten days is a long time to be away from a young family. I’m pleased I had the chance to continue to be involved and promote the great work they do, on and off the pitch.”
This year, there was South West interest in the form of the former Bristol Rovers striker, Barry Hayles and midfielder, Alex Russell, who had spells at Torquay, Bristol City, Cheltenham Town, Exeter and Yeovil. Joining Barry and Alex for his first World Seniors tournament was Cheltenham Town Chairman, Andy Wilcox, leaving the Boardroom to lace up his boots with the rest of the playing squad.
The tournament started well for the Old Lions, with a 4-2 win over Taiwan, including a hat-trick for former Fulham striker, Barry Hayles. However, Hong Kong provided the reigning champions with a much sterner test, having to come from behind to salvage a point, thanks to a Deon Burton penalty.
Wednesday was a rest day, enabling the team to take time out of their training schedule to meet with local school children at Wat Chaimongkol School. During the visit the England players put the children through their paces and gave them t-shirts and book bags, before teaching them some chants for the following day’s Quarter-Final against New Zealand.
The match against the Kiwis threatened to be beaten by the weather, with the kick-off delayed by four hours due to torrential rain. New Zealand took an early lead, before England’s talismanic striker, Barry Hayles, put the Old Lions back in control with three goals in less than half an hour, his second hat trick of the tournament!
In the second half, England pressed home their advantage with a fourth goal from Cheltenham Town Chairman, Andy Wilcox. New Zealand finished strongly, scoring what proved to be a consolation goal ten minutes from full-time, but that wasn’t enough, and the Auld Enemy booked a Semi-Final place against Scotland.
In a re-run of last year’s final, the Scots looked to have exacted the ultimate revenge, taking the lead shortly after the half-time interval. England left it late to find a way back into the game, only for Barry Hayles to come up with the equaliser, his seventh of the tournament, with little more than five minutes of normal time remaining.
As the Tournament officials showed that there would be three minutes of added time, Deon Burton came together with the Scotland keeper and the referee awarded the England striker a controversial penalty which he duly converted, booking England’s place in Saturday’s Final.
Iran, England’s opponents in the Final, have historically been one of the stronger teams in the Seniors’ World Cup, and so it proved this year. In a cagey, often ill-tempered match, Iran were strong and well organised, enjoying greater possession in a climate they were much more accustomed to. England restricted their opponents to few genuine chances, two of which produced excellent saves from keeper, Steve Dickinson.
As the temperature dropped in the second half, the game became more evenly balanced, with England also testing Iranian keeper, Zarin-Saed, who along with a couple of his team mates, still plays professionally in his home country.
As penalty kicks started to become a possibility, Iran finally found a way past the England defence with fifteen minutes to go. Despite their heroics against the Scots in the Semi-Final, England could not come up with a goal of their own and Iran ran out Tournament winners.
Looking back on this year’s tournament, England Veterans Manager, Paul Bell, said: “Whilst the squad were disappointed not to return with the Seniors’ World Cup for a fourth consecutive year, they had to overcome so many challenges during the week, that to go so close again was still a great achievement.
“Playing five games in six days is difficult enough, but when you factor in extreme weather conditions, you need quite a few things to fall in your favour. Unfortunately we lost three of our four strikers to injury before we were half-way through the week.
“The players showed tremendous resilience throughout the competition. Over the five games, we had to come back from a goal behind in three of them, to achieve a result. We just did not have the time left to do that in the Final.
“Well done to Iran, they are a very good side. This week has shown just what a difficult competition this is, which puts our past achievements into perspective. Hopefully we will get the chance to return and try to reclaim the Cup next year.”
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