Veteran's Day: High Green Vets show a football life can begin at 40.

Words: Mike Bayly

Images: Mike Bayly

There is a point in every footballer’s career, be it a former international or Sunday League stalwart, when advancing years impact ability on the pitch. Pace declines, limbs are more susceptible to injury and recovery time stretches into days rather than hours.

Creeping doubt gives way to reluctant epiphany that even if the mind is willing, the body is not.

Wearing a knee strap in your thirties and facing a nippy 21-year-old winger becomes less a challenge to embrace and more an exercise in futility.

Even the most decorated of players eventually acknowledge the clock is ticking.

Speaking of his own retirement, Gary Neville said “I was looking at the other lads, the energy and speed of the game, it had shifted beyond me.”

©Mike Bayly/ Terrace Edition. High Green Vets.

Quitting the game has implications beyond 90 minutes of running around a pitch. For many players, football clubs are an essential fulcrum of physical and social activity – training sessions, post-match drinks, awards nights, team holidays – that offer a sense of purpose, identity and belonging.

Filling the void left behind can be a daunting prospect. There is of course the option to soldier on until the body is physically unable to continue.

Chris Waddle, arguably one of the finest players England has produced, played semi-professional football well into his 40s, while last weekend, 68-year-old Richard Downham played fifty minutes for Kirkby Lonsdale reserves in the Westmorland League.

Another option for older players seeking a more level playing field is to join a veterans’ club, which typically starts in the over 35s category.

That someone aged 35 is classified as a veteran speaks volumes about the perceived short-lived nature of a football career. Veterans’ leagues can be found across the country, especially in larger conurbations.

In Sheffield, one of the cradles of the Association game, the long-established Wragg Football League operates a three-division over 35s section and a two-divison over 45s section.

One of the Wragg League’s member clubs is High Green Vets, who run an over 35s and over 45s team. Based in the north of Sheffield at St George’s Park Thorncliffe, a state-of-the-art facility offering grass and floodlit artificial pitches, the Vets consist mostly of players local to High Green (although some travel from the south side of the city) including a few with senior non-League experience.

The over 35s suffered relegation to Division Two last season but an overhaul by manager Karl Wiley has put them firmly in promotion contention this campaign.

The squad – the oldest of which is 44 - have a diverse range of backgrounds (including a stand-up comedian and a striker who worked in the skateboarding industry) but all retain a common love of playing football.

“The lads still have plenty in the tank and it’s a better standard than Sunday League football” says Wiley.

High Green’s final game of the season is home to fellow promotion hopefuls Clowne Wanderers.

A draw would secure a place back to Division One for the over 35s. Kick-off is briefly delayed while the home team select a linesman from the substitutes, a dreaded scenario any seasoned amateur league player will be familiar with.

A commanding first half performance sees High Green lead 2-0 at the break. By this point, sunshine had given way to heavy rain, leaving anyone on the sidelines in summer attire scrambling for waterproof clothing.

An outstanding long-range goal from Clowne early in the second half might have changed the direction of the game, but two further strikes for High Green secure a 4-2 win and ultimately the title.

The nearby Pack Horse pub was the venue for a well-deserved post-match celebration.

Reaction from management and players clearly demonstrated the importance of the result and wider club.

Wiley praised the turnaround from last season and “the players who played for us, whether it be two minutes or every single minute” adding “the togetherness we have is like a family”, words echoed by assistant manager and goalkeeper Scott Varney.

The sense of togetherness really gets to the heart of what grassroots football can and should be about.

Results and trophies are undoubtedly important, but so are forging friendships and feeling part of a team.

Veterans football (and more recently, the growth of walking football) allows people, irrespective of age, to continue participation in our national sport far beyond what might be considered the traditional retirement point.

Optimists often say, “life begins at 40”. Whether this is true or not, playing football certainly doesn’t have to end there.