England draw with Lee Sharpe and Chris Waddle
Posted on 11/10/2007
It was fitting that the friendly match, sponsored by A4e, played on Tuesday 2 October at Sheffield FC’s Bright Finance Stadium, between the England Homeless team and Sheffield FC Veterans should end in a 4-4 draw. The score belies the fast paced action that took place on the pitch and especially the last nail-biting 30 minutes where Sheffield FC were determined to make up for plenty of lost ground earlier in the game.
Lee Sharpe, the ex-Manchester United and England winger, captained the Homeless England Team to domination of the first two thirds of the game: in the first hour, they gave Sheffield FC’s Vets plenty to worry about by scoring 4 goals – the first by Birmingham’s dynamic Luke Fuller which came in around the first few minutes of the game; almost immediately followed by a powerful goal from Brighton’s Nathan Bowen; followed by a great third goal from Newcastle’s Craig Hodgson and a nicely taken fourth goal from Ricardo Brandao of Rochdale, Manchester. But, as Sheffield FC were staring at a miserable defeat things suddenly came together and they showed what they were really made of, with Louis Axcell scoring 2 goals; and Wayne Biggins scoring 2 – all in the last 30 minutes of the game!
Lee Sharpe said: ‘The team did a great job and they played a terrific game. I’m proud to have been able to captain them tonight. One day some of these guys could be playing professionally - they certainly have the talent and the drive.’
Football legend Chris Waddle said: ‘Wow, what an amazing game! Those guys can move fast and they certainly piled on the pressure. That was challenging stuff.’
It was a touch and go whether Doncaster Homeless England Team player Kyle Hawthorne would be able to make it to the match as he struggled to combine a field trip for his college Sports, Tourism and Leisure course and attend this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: ‘I knew this was a chance of a lifetime and so once the college gave me permission, I just had to come along. It's an amazing thing to play with Lee Sharpe and Chris Waddle. I'm going back to the Lakes tomorrow to finish the rest of my field trip with the college and finish off my assignment. And now I've also got this big thing that I can add to my CV. I'm really glad I was able to come in the end.'
Goal scorer Luke Fuller from Birmingham especially sought out A4e organisers at the end of the game to say: ‘Thank you for making this happen. It was really great and we really appreciated it.’ Luke, who is currently playing semi-professional football for Sutton Coldfield Town and coaching Under 12’s said: ‘I already have a Btec National Diploma in Sports Science and my next aim is to get on an FA coaching course.’
Visit the England Photogallery for photos from the day: http://www.homelessworldcup.org/groups/england/gallery
